August 16, 2024 – Recent revelations from display analyst Ross Young indicate that the display panels destined for the upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch M4 MacBook Pro models have been shipped to Apple in July and August. This suggests a potential release in the fourth quarter of this year, aligning with previous rumors about the launch timeline.
In a post on his X subscription service, Young confirmed these developments, backing up earlier speculation that new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models equipped with the M4 chip would arrive before the end of 2024.
Echoing these sentiments, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also reported earlier this month that Apple is set to refresh its MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac lineup with the M4 chip by the end of the year.
Rumors suggest that the upcoming MacBook Pro models will feature a range of M4 chips, including the base M4 for entry-level 14-inch models, and the more powerful M4 Pro and M4 Max for higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch variants. Apple first introduced the M4 chip in the iPad Pro in May.
While the new MacBook Pro models are not expected to undergo a redesign, the Mac mini is rumored to receive a significant overhaul. Expected to be updated alongside the MacBook Pro, the revamped Mac mini is anticipated to be Apple’s smallest computer ever, comparable in size to an Apple TV but slightly taller.
The M4 chip, based on the second-generation 3nm process technology, integrates a total of 28 billion transistors. It boasts a new display engine and features a 4+6 CPU configuration, promising a 50% increase in CPU speed compared to the M2. Additionally, the M4 chip comes equipped with a 10-core GPU, offering a 4x speed boost compared to the M2, and introduces dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading to the iPad. The M4 also packs a 16-core neural engine capable of performing 38 trillion operations per second, which is 60 times faster than the A11 chip.
