More memory and better display support make the $1,599 Pro more appealing.
Apple is sticking so closely to the design of the M3 MacBook Pros that even the default desktop wallpaper is the same. Credit: Apple
Apple is following the M4 iMac and the redesigned Mac mini updates with one more major refresh this week: a new lineup of M4 MacBook Pros. These updates mostly follow the template set by last year’s M3 MacBook Pro refresh: there’s a 14-inch $1,599 base model with the standard M4, and then beefed up 14- and 16-inch versions with the M4 Pro and M4 Max processors that also offer more RAM, storage, an optional nano-texture display finish, and other amenities for power users.
All three versions of the M4 MacBook Pro are available for preorder today and begin arriving November 8, the same date as the new iMac and Mac mini refreshes.
New chips, same designs
Even without the M4’s improvements, the new $1,599 MacBook Pro addresses the biggest gripe about the original: it upgrades the base model from 8GB to 16GB of RAM without increasing the price. If this was the only change Apple made, it would have been a good upgrade (and the company has taken exactly that approach to updating the M2 and M3 MacBook Airs, which also start with 16GB beginning today). Base storage still starts at 512GB.
This MacBook Pro gets the fully enabled version of the M4 with 10 CPU cores (four performance cores, six efficiency cores), which enables three Thunderbolt 4 ports, one port more than the M3 MacBook Pro included. The M4 also allows it to drive two external displays and the laptop’s built-in screen at the same time, for a total of three screens. The M3 MacBook Pro could use two external displays, but only if the built-in screen was turned off. As with the other M4 Macs, 24GB and 32GB RAM upgrades are available.
Ars Video
How The Callisto Protocol’s Gameplay Was Perfected Months Before Release
The additional Thunderbolt port and improved external display support have somewhat closed the gap between the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro and the $1,999 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro, but you still get some substantial upgrades. The M4 Pro can come with up to 14 CPU cores (10 performance, 4 efficiency) and 20 GPU cores, and it ships with 24GB of RAM by default, a 6GB boost compared to the M3 Pro. RAM can be boosted to either 48GB or 64GB, and the Thunderbolt ports support the 120Gbps Thunderbolt 5 standard, up from the 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 standard.
The M4 Pro version of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which starts at $2,499, gets you the fully enabled version of the chip with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
And finally, there’s the M4 Max. The top-end chip in the M4 family—until and unless we get an M4 Ultra in some desktop refreshes next year—the M4 Max includes up to 16 CPU cores (12 performance, 4 efficiency) and a huge 40-core GPU that’s twice as large as the one in the M4 Pro. The entry-level version is cut down to 14 CPU cores (10 performance, 4 efficiency) and 32 GPU cores. Prices start at $3,199 for the 14-inch Pro and $3,499 for the 16-inch Pro.
Those are the same core counts that the M3 Max tops out at, so we wouldn’t expect the generational performance leap to be as large as the leap from the M3 Pro to the M4 Pro, but architectural improvements and Apple’s claimed 30 percent boost to memory bandwidth should still provide a respectable boost.
The M4 Max starts with 36GB of RAM, and can be upgraded to 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB, though you’ll pay $1,200 to max it out. The M3 Max also supported up to 128GB of RAM.
Finally, the M4 Max offers support for up to four external displays, in addition to the laptop’s built-in display. Three of those can be 6K resolution screens with 60 Hz refresh rates connected to the laptops’ Thunderbolt ports, while an additional 4K 144 Hz screen can be connected via HDMI. You can also connect a single 8K 60 Hz screen to an M4 Max, but if you do this the laptops can only drive two other 6K 60 Hz external displays instead of three.
