Apple is expected to hold a Mac launch event in October, where it will unveil the next best Mac. The new devices will be part of the M4 Mac line-up. A new report suggests Apple is testing four M4 devices that would launch at the event, all with base-level chips.
Report suggest the October launch will see new versions of the MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac. And more recently, rumors suggest that the devices could finally ditch 8GB of RAM and start with 16GB. But the newest report about these Macs comes from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who says that Apple is currently testing four M4 Macs to launch in the fall.
Developer logs show that three of these M4 Macs are rocking a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU. Meanwhile, the fourth one is packing an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU – a setup that’s a bit of a mystery, considering we’ve not seen this configuration before. This could be for a cheaper Mac mini or iMac, that would be Apple's new desktop starting point.
The M4 chips in these Macs seem to mirror what’s in the higher-end iPad Pro models. The iPad Pro chips use a 9-core CPU and 10-core GPU for the 256GB and 512GB versions, while the high-end models with 1TB and 2TB tote the same 10-core CPU and GPU combo we’re seeing in these new Macs. This also confirms that they will be base-level M4 chips, perhaps even with an "M4 Lite" debuiting.
Where are the Pro and Max chips?
Gurman’s report is noticeably quiet on the M4 Pro and M4 Max front. If you were holding out for a souped-up Mac mini or one of the bigger MacBook Pros with all the cores, this might not be the news you were hoping for. That being said, just because they weren’t spotted in the developer logs doesn’t mean they’re not in the works.
Previous rumours have suggested that both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are due for a refresh, and Gurman hinted that the new, slimmer Mac mini will likely be available with both M4 and M4 Pro options. It could be that they arrive at this event after all, or are revealed at the start of 2025, as has been done before.
