Mac week is well under way and Apple is in the process of giving its desktops and laptops an M4 turbocharge. So far, we’ve seen the iMac M4 launch, but rumors and leaks are also pointing towards a new M4 Mac Mini and M4 MacBook Pro to boot.
If you saw how the M4 chip performed in the iPad Pro, you’ll know why there’s a lot to be excited about. The performance gains seem mightily impressive — especially in single-core performance — and the Cupertino crew has seriously beefed up the Neural Engine to support the full breadth of what Apple Intelligence will bring to the table.
When the iPad launched, we all sat with baited breath to find out what the M4 would be capable of in a beefier Mac, and we are in the process of finding out over the next few days. Keep this page bookmarked, as we’ll be updating it with every new announcement as it happens.
When will M4 Macs launch?
The M4 iMac has a release date of November 8. Whatever else comes, I think it’d be a safe bet to say they will also release on the same date.
Where to pre-order M4 Macs?
- iMac M4: from $1,299 at Apple
iMac M4
iMac Announcement - October 28 - YouTube
Kicking off on Monday, Apple dropped a kind of mini keynote video to announce the iMac is getting an M4 spec bump. Normally, a minor update like this may be a small update, but there’s a lot more going on here that we’ve gotta talk about (as you may have seen when I compared the M4 iMac vs M3 iMac).
Here are the differences:
- The base model now comes with 16GB of RAM rather than 8GB (finally!)
- You’ve got seven new colors to choose from: green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver
- Thunderbolt 4 port count now stands at 4 — in the past, if you configured your iMac to 4 ports, you got 2x Thunderbolt 4 and 2x USB-C
- M4 now unlocks support for up to two external displays at 6K 60Hz, or a single 8K 120Hz panel
- The display panel can be upgraded with a $200 nano-texture glass option — vastly reducing display reflections and glare
Check down below for a spec table of everything we know, but beyond the above, this is business as usual. Except for one thing — the Magic Keyboard, Magic TrackPad and Magic Mouse are now armed with USB-C ports.
It’s taken Apple a while to finally kill Lightning, but here we are, though the underside port placement on the Magic Mouse remains (much to my annoyance). My recommendation would be to grab a Logitech MX Master 3S — easily the best mouse we’ve tested.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | iMac M4 2024 (starting) |
| Price | $1,299 |
| Colors | Green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, silver |
| CPU | 8-core CPU (up to 10-core) |
| GPU | 8-core GPU (up to 10-core) |
| Display | 24 inches (4480 x 2520) |
| Memory | 16GB (configurable up to 24GB) |
| Storage | 256GB (configurable up to 2TB) |
| Ports | 4x Thunderbolt / USB-4, 3.5mm headphone jack, Gigabit Ethernet (optional) |
| Webcam | 12MP |
| Size | 21.5 x 18.1 x 5.8 inches |
| Weight | 9.74 - 9.79 pounds |
Apple Intelligence is here
Another key announcement that Apple dropped is the launch iOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, and iPadOS 18.1 software updates that bring Apple Intelligence to the world!
This is very much a first wave of announcements, and it seems as if iOS 18.2 in December is where we’ll start to see AI kick into full gear. But with this update, you’ve now got features like Rewrite and Proofread, as well as a more conversational Siri, the ability to record phone calls, transcribe and summarize audio recordings, and improved intelligence in the Photos app that allows you to search for pics with natural language.
Oh, and the Clean Up tool is here to remove any unwanted objects or photobombers from the background of your pics.
M4 MacBook Pro
It is a week of Mac after all, and we're deep in the time you can usually expect to see new MacBook Pros. And thanks to one Russian YouTuber, it's looking more certain that we're seeing M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBooks.
Key upgrades we're expecting are that all-important chipset upgrade, Space Black being available across the entire range, that third Thunderbolt 4 port coming to the standard M4 MacBook Pro, and a 16GB RAM minimum (following the iMac).
M4 Mac Mini
So when it comes to the Mac announcements this week, the M4 Mac Mini seems to be the one causing the biggest stir in the rumor mill.
Expectations are high for a redesign that will make it a helluva lot smaller than its previous (already pretty small) sibling. Think like the small puck design of the Apple TV 4K and you'll be on the right tracks.
More from Tom's Guide
- I ditched my Windows PC for a Mac for the first time in almost 20 years — here’s why
- Forget M4 MacBooks — save up to $500 on these early Black Friday MacBook deals
- M4 MacBook Air launch timing just tipped in new report
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