With the announcement of new MacBook Pro laptops earlier today, Apple unveiled a duo of new high-performance processors. The new M4 Pro and M4 Max are now official, promising "more power than any AI PC chip."
The entire M4 processor family is built using second-generation three-nanometer technology for better performance and energy efficiency. They pack more cores, faster graphics, faster memory, Thunderbolt 5 support (not in the base M4 chip), and more.
The base M4 processor offers eight or ten CPU cores and 10-core graphics. According to Apple, the M4 is 1.8x faster than the M1 in apps like Safari and Excel. Also, the built-in graphics are two times faster in games and high-taxing apps. Another update in the M4 is support for up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports and 32GB of faster memory.
The M4 Pro can be specced with up to 14 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores. It boasts similar performance uplifts of roughly 1.9 times more power than the M1 Pro. Apple also says that the M4 Pro is 2.1 faster than "the latest AI PC chip," which, in this case, is the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V.
The M4 Pro supports up to 64GB of unified memory at 273Gbps. Another important addition is Thunderbolt 5 120Gbps support. It also enables up to three external monitor support.
Finally, at the top of the line sits the M4 Max with up to 16 processor cores, 40 graphics cores, and 128GB of RAM at 546GBps. It is 2.2 times faster than the M1 Max and 2.5 times faster than the Core Ultra 7 258V.
| M4 | M4 Pro | M4 Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Up to 10 cores | Up to 14 cores | Up to 16 cores |
| Graphics | 10 cores | Up to 20 cores | Up to 40 cores |
| Memory | Up to 32GB | Up to 64GB | Up to 128GB |
| Memory speed | 120Gbps | 273Gbps | 546Gbps |
| Connectivity | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 5 | |
| Display support | 2x external monitor | 3x external monitor | |
Despite the immense horsepower, Apple"s new processors are the most efficient to date. Apple says technology improvement enabled it to increase battery life for up to 24 hours on a single charge and reduce energy consumption on the new iMac and Mac mini.
M4-powered Macs and MacBooks will go on sale on November 8, 2024.