With the news that "Apple Reportedly 'Just Started Formal Development' of M4 MacBook Pro" do you guys think we can expect M4 macbooks this October? The article has Late 2024/2025 ETA, but given M3 macbook pros were released last October, are we expecting the same timeline?
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MacBook Pro M4 release year
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I don't think we will see m4 MacBook pros this year.. They haven't gotten around to putting the m3 in the entire lineup yet... I can see m4 going to the studio and Mac Pro first this go around.. Maybe by spring next year.. they will be in the MacBook pros
Hope soon. Don't you feel the current form factor is 20 years old? My old Macbook Pro 2015 has all the ports, SD, fan etc and looks much better (thinner). What makes the current Macbook Pro lineup so thick? What is the component that they did not manage to make slimmer? It should look like the MBP 2020 M1 with the etra ports.
My 2022 (M2 Max) MBP is definitely not thicker than my 2015 Intel MBP was. It also has significantly better battery life, performance, display, and runs cool as a cucumber under virtually every use case.
In actuality, the 2015 13" & 15" MBP both had a thickness of 0.71 inch (1.8 cm). In contrast, both the M2 and M3 14" MBPs have a thickness of 0.61 inch (1.55 cm). The 16" models (again for both M2 and M3) are only 0.66 inch (1.68 cm) thick, which is still thinner than the 2015 model. This is all pulled directly from Apple's technical specification pages for the respective models of MacBook Pro.
Thanks, interesting, IMHO the fact that the latest MBP is not ticker than the old 2015 MBP but looks much boxier and thicker means that Apple got something wrong, just my opinion. Probably the tapered edges make the old MBP look much slimmer even if it isn't. The MB Air looks so much better than the latest MBP.
PS Of course I am not disputing that the latest MBP is a much better machine than a 2015 MBP
The M3 line of chips is pretty expensive for Apple to make and I believe they will want to move to a new process (N3E or N3P) as soon as possible. I'm thinking late this year, definitely by next spring. I think it will mostly just be a spec bump and the next meaningful change to the devices will come with the OLED panels probably late 2025 or 2026.
It's fun to revisit these threads after more information was announced. You win the Best Educated Guess award for being correct and for the right reasons, bravo!
100% this. I wouldn't have thought of the production cost of the M3, but all signs are pointing to the M4 being a spec bump for Macs (as opposed to more of a redesign like it was for iPads). Going based off of the release timeline for M2 and M3, I think it's highly likely we see M4 MacBooks this fall / winter, and no later than next spring. My bet is also on a fall 2024 release with it being primarily a spec bump.
I just hope they release the whole MBP lineup from M4 to M4 Max. I haven't read many rumors about the M4 Pro or Max, but I didn't see many leaks about the M4 before it was announced red with iPad, either, so who knows. I also think it's historically unlike Apple to release just one variant of the MBP, if memory serves me correctly.
They did with the iPad though. They haven't put it in anything else.
And right now, Apple's "Premium" products are the Studio and Mac Pro tower ... and the top CPU is the M2 Ultra. So how can Apple introduce notebook M4s and leave the premium desktops so far behind?
I think what OP meant was that Apple hasn’t separated the release of the Mx Pro and Mx Max chips upon release. There is a precedent for releasing the base Mx chips before the Pro and Max variant as well; if I recall correctly, the M2 was first released with the redesigned MacBook Air in summer 2022 before the M2 Pro / Max variants launched in early 2023.
Could be.
I noticed that some decent Apple refurbs were available for M3 Max notebooks. To me that means they'd be new, and that new Macbooks are coming sooner than I thought they would.
I reckon a Studio will last much longer than a Macbook. Because they are not moved around, they don't flex, and they run cooler. Plus not having a screen and hinges, and keyboard, and having ports that get pulled in and out, plus power supplies connections that get knocked around, there is less to go wrong in a Studio. But they have fewer and later CPU updates and typically are say ... 18 months behind Macbooks' technology upgrades.
For me I reckon I'd be better off (besides the more sensible PC option) to have a cheap 15" Air, and a Studio. But I'll likely end up with a macbook max of some variety. It'll have a later Apple "deletion via software date" than a longer lasting form factor of the Studio. Which feels bad to me. A desktop should be enable to last longer than a notebook.
It's also ironic that the cheapest computers Apple sells (like the iPad) have the longest potential life. I guess the iPad has the latest generation processor ... but its got the smallest battery life of all Apple products. I guess Apple is counting on its battery being that device's main cause of needing to be replaced.
I noticed that some decent Apple refurbs were available for M3 Max notebooks. To me that means they'd be new, and that new Macbooks are coming sooner than I thought they would.
I reckon a Studio will last much longer than a Macbook. Because they are not moved around, they don't flex, and they run cooler. Plus not having a screen and hinges, and keyboard, and having ports that get pulled in and out, plus power supplies connections that get knocked around, there is less to go wrong in a Studio. But they have fewer and later CPU updates and typically are say ... 18 months behind Macbooks' technology upgrades.
For me I reckon I'd be better off (besides the more sensible PC option) to have a cheap 15" Air, and a Studio. But I'll likely end up with a macbook max of some variety. It'll have a later Apple "deletion via software date" than a longer lasting form factor of the Studio. Which feels bad to me. A desktop should be enable to last longer than a notebook.
It's also ironic that the cheapest computers Apple sells (like the iPad) have the longest potential life. I guess the iPad has the latest generation processor ... but its got the smallest battery life of all Apple products. I guess Apple is counting on its battery being that device's main cause of needing to be replaced.