According to current rumors, we can expect new Mac computers with Apple’s latest M4 chip later this year. This is expected at the end of 2024 and would mainly focus on AI (‘Artificial Intelligence’).
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple is nearing the production phase of its first M4 chips. According to him, Apple wants to release the M4 processor in at least three different versions and it will probably be added to 24-inch iMac and MacBook Pro later this year.
M4 chip specifications
It is not yet clear what specifications the M4 processor will have. The Neural Engine, which is responsible for the AI ​​part, may get a big boost. The CPU and GPU will probably remain more or less the same. Below you can view the specifications of the current generation M3 chip.
- 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
- up to 10-core GPU
- Up to 24 GB memory (standard 8 GB)
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Ray tracing with hardware acceleration
- 100 GB/s memory bandwidth
- Media engine: H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW with hardware acceleration
- ProRes encoding and decoding engine
- choice of up to 2 TB of storage
Specially for AI
According to Bloomberg, Apple will want to emphasize the AI ​​performance of the chip when introducing the M4 processor. Apple is said to be catching up in the field of artificial intelligence this year. Not only for the iPhone and iPad, but also Mac. AI will likely be the focus for iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 during WWDC 2024.
Apple wants to ensure privacy, and most likely many of the new AI features are intended to run on devices themselves rather than on remote servers. This requires faster and more powerful chips, which is why Apple will give the M4 chips, but also the A18 (Pro) chips in the iPhone 16 (Pro) a major AI upgrade.
Macs with M4
Rumors predict that Apple will add the M4 chip to the 24-inch iMac in fall 2024. The M4 Pro and M4 Max in the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro are also expected later this year.
Bloomberg reports that we will most likely see the M4 chip in the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air and the M4 Ultra in the powerful Mac Studio and Mac Pro next year. In addition, it is expected that the M4 will also be added to the Mac mini.
However, it cannot be ruled out that Apple will further expand the M3 this year with an M3 Ultra for Mac Studio, which is expected during WWDC. The Mac Pro would go to reportedly skip the M3 chip.