With the launch of thelatest iMac , the redesigned Mac mini and the soup - up MacBook Pro , Apple has just reveal new Macs equipped with its former M4 cow dung , which bring more powerful performance and extra feature film to its computers . But this wo n’t be the first time the M4 has made an visual aspect — it ’s already out in the previous iPad Pro .

Is the M4 chip any goodness ? Should you upgrade your Mac or iPad to take vantage of it ? And what Modern features does it bringthe just MacBooksand Macs ? We ’ve set out to answer these questions and more , blending together what we ’ve learned from the M4 Macs and the iPad Pro with information sourced in our own review . That should give you everything you need to cognise about Apple ’s latest chip .

Price and release date

Apple opted for something of a staggered approach for the M4 chip ’s launch . Unlike most years , where Apple first releases its new chips in Mac computers , this time the company choose to ab initio put the M4 chip in the iPad Pro , which arrived in May 2024 . As for Macs equipped with the M4 chip , those have already started rolling out in the descriptor of theM4 iMac , theMacBook Proand theMac mini .

That ’s not the end of the M4 releases , though . The MacBook Air is due out in early 2025 , with the Mac Studio and Mac Pro accompany around the centre of the year . The MacBook Air will almost sure be limited to the M4 , while the Mac Studio and Mac Pro will come with more brawny variant ( such as the M4 Max and M4 Ultra ) .

As for the price of the M4 Macs , Apple has preserve starting price the same as the M3 generation , despite some pretty significant upgrade to its Macs . For illustration , the iMac ’s commence terms has n’t increase from $ 1,299 , despite the new M4 exemplar boast a Thunderbolt 4 upgrade , a better television camera , new coloration , and a nano - grain glass pick in accession to the improved M4 chip . The Mac miniskirt and MacBook Pro have also retain their respective starting toll of $ 599 and $ 1,599 , which is specially telling consider the comprehensive overhaul the Mac miniskirt has undergo .

That sets the timber for Apple ’s future M4 releases , but it does n’t mean that future monetary value increase are impossible . When Apple launched the M4 iPad Pro , it increased the price of both the turgid and minuscule model by $ 200 each . Granted , it change other things ( such as double up the start store and introducing a new Tandem OLED display ) that would have contributed to the price , but the fact remains that the cost to the consumer extend up . That means we might terminate up visit a like price tramp when the M4 chip comes to the rest of the Mac line .

Performance and features

In its press release , Apple says that the M4 chip in the previous iMac sack you 1.3 times the execution in Microsoft Excel and 1.1 times the gambling output of the M3 . In the M4 MacBook Pro , the M4 can process images in Affinity Photo up to 1.3 times faster than the M3 , accord to Apple . Every M4 Mac also follow with 16 GB of memory as monetary standard , boosting their power and performance .

That ’s all well and good , but what have self-governing review found ? Well , starting with ourM4 iPad Pro review , we saw significant improvements over both Apple ’s past iPad Pros and rival tablets . Part of that advance will be due to the second - coevals 3 nm process used to manufacture the chipping , which Apple says is more effective than its premature attempt . The M4 also contains an updated 16 - heart Neural Engine that can perform up to 38 trillion operation per 2nd ( whirligig ) . Apple enounce it ’s more powerful than any neural processing unit in any AI personal computer today .

But what about Mac public presentation ? We ’ve now been able to put both the M4 MacBook Pro and the M4 Mac miniskirt through their paces , giving us a clear opinion of how they do compared to past version and rival ware .

In the16 - column inch MacBook Pro , the M4 Pro fleck tally 179 breaker point in Cinebench R24 ’s exclusive - core mental testing and 1,752 point in its multi - core benchmark . In Geekbench 6 , we recorded 3,930 for undivided - core performance and 22,712 for multi - core output . Finally , the M4 Pro chip took 49 second to generate a video in HandBrake . In terms of graphical execution , the M4 Pro hit 81 frames per 2nd ( Federal Protective Service ) inShadow of the Tomb Raider , make it a solid gaming chip . In fact , the 20 - core GPU in the M4 Pro even tucker the 60 - substance GPU in the M2 Ultra that ’s inside the $ 4,000 Mac Studio , despite cost importantly less .

Ourreview of the M4 Pro Mac minifound it was a likewise telling performer , clock the same 49 seconds in the HandBrake test , while its Cinebench R24 outcome of 166 ( single - sum ) and 1,622 ( multi - heart and soul ) were more or less down in the mouth than those obtain by the MacBook Pro . However , the Mac mini really shone in the Geekbench 6 test , where it outstripped the MacBook Pro and scored 4,005 for unmarried - nucleus and 23,047 for multi - core .

We ’ve already take down that the M4 Pro has the power to beat the M2 Ultra , but what about last generation ’s M3 microchip ? Well , when we reviewed theM3 Max MacBook Pro , it recorded 53 mo in our HandBrake exam and Cinebench R24 scads of 139 ( individual - core ) and 1,522 ( multi - core ) , couch the M4 Pro well ahead .

Let ’s not leave that the M4 serial has double the start retentiveness of the M3 , up from 8 GB to 16 GB . As you move up through the configurations , the nonremittal retention amounts also increase , yield you a boost to multitasking and productiveness without an associated cost addition .

Many of these improvement — the RAM increase in particular — are potential to help Apple ’s gimmick plow AI duty . With the launching ofApple Intelligence , Apple has at long last enter the AI mainstream , and it needs its machine to perform well in this increasingly important area .

Those upshot are all more or less in line with what we saw when the M4 MacBook Pro leak out out ahead of time . One of the YouTubers who bewilder hold of one was a popular Russian technical school reviewer named Wylsacom , whoput the M4 MacBook Pro through its pacesusing a serial publication of Geekbench tests . Here , the M4 microchip ( rather than the M4 Pro that we screen ) convey a undivided - core musical score of 3,864 and a multi - core result of 15,288 , which are some 27 % and 31 % practiced than those achieved by the M3 cow chip , respectively . That ’s a sizable improvement .

Benchmarks for Apple ’s Metal APIhave also surfaced on Geekbench , and these shed visible radiation on the approaching MacBook Pro ’s graphic capabilities . In these tests , the M4 chip scored 57,603 , which is about 20 % in the lead of the M3 flake .

The most powerful crisp in the M4 range ( the M4 Ultra ) has n’t launched yet , but there ’s a potentially momentous changethat might be on the way . As take by YouTube channel Max Tech , the M3 Max reportedlydoes not have Apple ’s UltraFusion technical school . This is what has previously allowed Apple to run up two M2 Max chips together to create the M2 Ultra .

If the M3 Max does n’t have this feature , it suggest that the M4 Ultra could be its own standalone chip rather than two M4 Max chips fused together . That could mean better performance scaling compared to premature generation . or else , the M3 Max may have lacked UltraFusion because the M3 Ultra never launched , and thus there was no need to flux two M3 Max chips together for a non - existing higher - end chip shot . We might not bed for sure until the M4 Max and M4 Ultra launching in 2025 .

Which devices will get the M4?

We can make an educate dead reckoning as to which Macs will finish up with the M4 chip , as well as which will get the higher - end variations like the M4 Pro , M4 Max and M4 Ultra .

Starting with the M4 , this is currently available in the 14 - inch MacBook Pro , the iMac and the Mac mini . It ’s likely to land in the MacBook Air ( both13 - inchand 15 - in sizes ) , too . Given the chip is at the lower ending of Apple ’s hierarchy , it gain sense for it to be in more consumer - confront devices . That say , it ’s in the Modern iPad Pro , which Apple touts as a very muscular gadget .

Moving onto the more pro - grade chips , you could get the M4 Pro in the 16 - column inch and 14 - inch MacBook Pro and theMac minias an upgrade variant . The M4 Max , meanwhile , has arrived in the 16 - inch and 14 - column inch MacBook Pro and should be outfitted in theMac Studiowhen it establish in 2025 .

Finally , look for the flagship M4 Ultra inside the Mac Studio and Mac Pro . Those are n’t expected until around the middle of 2025 , though , so there will probably be quite a hold until we see them in action .