Apple announced its newest MacBook Pro laptop computers which feature increased performance thanks to the M4 family of chips: M5, M4 Pro, and M4 Max.
Like all of Apple’s recent announcements, the new MacBook Pro — which is available in 14-inch and 16-inch configurations — is “built for Apple Intelligence.” The company says that combined with its machine learning accelerators in the CPU, an advanced GPU, and a faster and more efficient Neural Engine, Apple silicon is built to support high performance with AI tasks.
Most photographers and filmmakers will care more about how the technology improves or speeds up their workflows. PetaPixel has a detailed dive into the M4 family of chips but as a summary, Apple says that they are built using a second-generation 3-nanometer technology that features extremely high single-threaded CPU performance with what it bills as “the world’s fastest CPU core.”
“When compared to an Intel-based MacBook Pro, the new MacBook Pro provides nearly 10x faster performance for AI-based workloads, and for graphics-intensive workloads, users get up to 20x faster performance. With battery life on the new MacBook Pro now up to 24 hours, upgraders will also experience up to 14 additional hours,” Apple says. Comparing performance to the now very old Intel-based laptops isn’t the best metric for performance and benchmarks compared to the M3-series chips will likely have to wait for reviews.
Apple says that when combined with faster unified memory, these chips also get increased memory bandwidth so large projects run more smoothly while at the same time, power efficiency is even more improved: Apple says that MacBook Pro users will see up to 24 hours of battery life.
The MacBook Pro comes with the option to equip it with any of the three M4 chips. With the base level M4, Apple says that users can expect up to 7x faster image processing in Affinity Photo when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with Core i7, and up to 1.8x faster when compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1. It also provides up to 10.9x faster 3D rendering in Blender when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with Core i7, and up to 3.4x faster when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with M1. Finally, M3 brings up to 9.8x faster scene edit detection in Adobe Premiere Pro when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with Core i7, and up to 1.7x faster when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with M1.
M4 Pro, the next step up, promises up to 4x faster scene rendering performance with Maxon Redshift when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9, and up to 3x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro. Apple says it also offers up to 5x faster simulation of dynamical systems in MathWorks MATLAB when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9, and up to 2.2x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro. Finally, the last comparison Apple provides says it will perform up to 23.8x faster basecalling for DNA sequencing in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9, and up to 1.8x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro.
M4 Max, the most powerful configuration, promises up to 7.8x faster scene rendering performance with Maxon Redshift when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9, and up to 3.5x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max. Apple says it also can reach up to 4.6x faster build performance when compiling code in Xcode when compared to the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9, and up to 2.2x faster when compared to the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max. Finally, the M4 Max MacBook Pro promises up to 30.8x faster video processing performance in Topaz Video AI when compared to the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9, and up to 1.6x faster when compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max.
The M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro options also come with Thunderbolt 5, which more than doubles transfer speed capability to 120 Gb/s. All MacBook Pro models also feature an HDMI port that supports up to 8K resolution, an SDXC card slot, a MagSafe 3 port for charging, and a headphone jack, along with support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Apple’s 2024 MacBook Pro series also adds the option for a nano-texture display which reduces glare and reflections which was a welcome addition to the iPad Pro earlier this year. Apple says that in bright lighting conditions, the new MacBook Pro can show SDR content at up to 1,000 nits and HDR content at up to 1,600 nits.
Apple included a new 12-megapixel Center Stage camera on the new MacBook Pro which it says “delivers enhanced video quality in challenging lighting conditions.” The new MacBook Pro is made from a custom alloy that uses 100% recycled aluminum in the enclosure, 100% recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, and 100% recycled tin soldering, gold plating, and copper in multiple printed circuit boards.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 starts at $1,599 and the M4 Pro option starts at $1,99. The 16‑inch MacBook Pro, which is only available with M4 Pro and M4 Max, starts at $2,499. All models are available in space black and silver and will ship on November 8.
Image credits: Apple