Those keen on seeing new Macs with M4 chips will doubtless want to catch up on the very latest from the rumor mill on these incoming devices which are expected to be launched in October.
Mark Gurman has provided an update in his latest Power On newsletter (for Bloomberg) noting that the launch event that’ll introduce multiple new Macs with the M4 processor is set to happen in the “coming weeks” and that it’s still following the exact same roadmap the leaker put forth in April 2024.
We get a few firmer details on the purported Macs in this leak dump, even if a lot of it is about covering old ground again.
To recap some of that old terrain, we are expecting new MacBook Pro models, a new iMac and an overhauled Mac mini all sporting the M4 chip.
Gurman underlines a few more specifics here, and we’re told that an entry-level MacBook Pro 14-inch (codename J604) is inbound with the vanilla M4 chip. That’ll be accompanied by higher-end MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch models (J614 and J616 respectively) with M4 Pro and M4 Max options.
Then we have the new iMac (J623) with vanilla M4, and a revamped, more compact Mac mini (J773) which will offer vanilla M4 and M4 Pro versions.
Gurman believes that most of these Mac models are already shipping, so Apple has everything in place pretty much, but will wait until all the planned M4 Macs are ready before launching this new bunch of computers (obviously enough).
Expect the launch event to focus heavily on the AI powers of the M4 chips and Apple Intelligence coming to the desktop (with lower-end iPad models also likely to be revealed, Gurman reckons, alongside these Macs).
Analysis: Exciting times
It’s good to hear that Apple’s plans for M4 Macs remain on track (and have done over the course of this year apparently) – add seasoning, of course – with these launches debuting some exciting new machines. We suppose it’s still always possible something could slip at the last moment, and plans could change, but Gurman sounds pretty convinced.
We’re intrigued at the prospect of the smallest Mac that Apple’s ever made in the form of a shrunk-down Mac mini M4, but even more excitingly, we’ve also heard that Apple might just equip all the new M4-toting Macs with at least 16GB of RAM as a baseline. (It is very definitely about time that the base MacBook Pro 14-inch was furnished with this amount of Unified Memory). This RAM rumor is backed up to some extent by the big AI play Apple is now engaging in, with AI features potentially needing more memory down the line.
Time will tell, as ever, and hopefully we only have just over a month to wait out at this point, leaving enough breathing room between this clutch of new Macs arriving and last week’s iPhone 16 phone launch.
Via MacRumors
