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Image: Apple |
Apple has announced its new suite of MacBook Pros, which now come equipped with the M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max chips. The company is also making its ‘nano-texture’ matte display option available for the first time in its laptop lineup.
Apple says the new laptops also come with an upgraded webcam that supports Center Stage, a feature which crops in on the subject, keeping them in the middle of the frame even if they’re moving around.
The display can also now go up to 1,000 nits in SDR mode; previously, you could only attain that brightness while looking at HDR content. That should make it easier to see the monitor, even in harsh lighting conditions. If you consistently work outside or in front of a window, it may also be worth considering the $150 ‘nano-texture’ display option, which Apple says will “reduce glare and reflections in bright spaces.”
As with the previous generation, there’s one computer that stands a little apart from the others: the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the regular M4. It starts at $1,599 and includes a 10-core CPU and GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. While it has most of the features of the other models, it does miss out on Thunderbolt 5, instead getting stuck with the previous-generation connector.
The M4 Pro was announced yesterday alongside the refreshed Mac Mini, but the M4 Max is new to the lineup. CPU-wise, it starts at the same level as the top-end M4 Pro with 14 cores, but you can add two more. The GPU is also much more powerful; it starts at 32 cores and goes up to 40. This also allows it to support up to four external displays, while the M4 and M4 Pro models can only handle two.
The M4 Pro and Max models are available with both 14- and 16-inch displays; the base M4 is only available in the 14-inch chassis.
| M4 | M4 Pro | M4 Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 10 core (4 performance, 6 efficiency) | 12 core (8 performance, 4 efficiency) / 14 core (10 performance, 4 efficiency) | 14 core (10 performance, 4 efficiency) / 16 core (12 performance, 4 efficiency) |
| GPU | 10 core | 16 core / 20 core | 32 core / 40 core |
| Memory | 16GB base, up to 32GB | 24GB base, up to 48GB | 36GB base, up to 128GB |
| Storage | 512GB, up to 2TB | 512GB, up to 4TB | 1TB, up to 8TB |
| Connectivity | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 5 | Thunderbolt 5 |
One minor disappointment that won’t surprise anyone who’s been following the iMac and Mac Mini announcements: the new MacBook Pros are still using Wi-Fi 6E instead of the newer Wi-Fi 7. It’s an easier flaw to overlook on desktop computers that mostly come equipped with Ethernet ports, but on a mobile-first computer, it’s a bit of a strange decision. Otherwise, the MacBook Pros have very similar connectivity to their predecessors: three Thunderbolt ports, a headphone jack, an HDMI port, an SD card reader and MagSafe power adapter.
The new MacBook Pros are available for pre-order today and will ship on November 8th.
Developing… this story will be updated.