Apple is apparently pushing harder with testing four new M4-toting Mac models ahead of their rumored release later this year – and seemingly there’s a big update for the entry-level MacBook Pro coming in terms of the base loadout of RAM (and a potential twist in the CPU stakes, too).
All this comes from the latest report written by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (via MacRumors), an ever-present source of Apple leaks, who tells us that Apple is busy ‘ramping up’ the testing of a quartet of Macs with the M4 processor.
The leaker has previously informed us (multiple times) that we can expect MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac models with the M4 SoC to launch later in 2024, most likely in October.
Gurman’s latest clues are based on digging in developer logs which has turned up four Macs that are powered by entry-level M4 chips. The report states that three of those Mac models use a 10-core CPU with 10-core GPU, and this same M4 SoC that’s in high-end iPad Pros is going to be used in some of the new Mac M4 machines.
The other M4 spotted has an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU, which would be a new configuration for the M4 silicon, not used in the iPad Pro models on shelves now.
Here’s where we’re told about that potential major RAM upgrade, as these M4 Macs are all loaded up with 16GB or 32GB of unified memory – there are no 8GB configurations here. At the same time, note the twist on the CPU front – Gurman only mentions the vanilla M4 processor, and not the more powerful M4 Pro or Max variants.
Analysis: Why more RAM across the board makes some sense
Remember that these are entry-level Mac models, and so the clear hint coming through here is that Apple is going to have the base-level MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 specified with 16GB of RAM (matching the 16-inch version, which already does). And, quite possibly, 16GB will hold as a minimum for the Mac mini and iMac too, and by extension when it arrives next year, the MacBook Air M4.
And in some ways, it makes sense for this memory upgrade to be applied across the board with Apple’s Macs for the M4 generation. For sure, with the MacBook Pro, a professional-targeted laptop meant for heavier duty computing workloads, having models with 8GB of RAM seems a bit ridiculous in 2024 – and indeed cynical (a move to get buyers to pay through the nose for a necessary upgrade to 16GB).
However, more broadly, we have to look at Apple’s current course with its devices, which is to leverage AI with a big bet on Apple Intelligence. As we’ve seen before, there are already AI-related features for coding (in Xcode 16, Apple’s app development platform) that require 16GB to work, and in the future, Apple Intelligence functionality in macOS could well be more demanding along these lines. By making the move to a base configuration of 16GB all-round, Apple would also be keeping up with the AI Joneses – namely Microsoft and its Copilot+ PCs which require 16GB as a minimum memory configuration.
We feel this is a distinct possibility, then – 16GB for all Macs – although certainly for the MacBook Pro 14-inch M4, it seems very likely to happen. For that laptop, the move is long overdue, really.
Naturally, we must be careful about reading too much into this – it is leaked info which could be wrong, anyway – and the same is even truer when it comes to the processor-related nugget aired here.
The fact that no M4 Pro or Max models were spotted may just reflect that these weren’t in the developer logs for whatever reason (they may exist, but be a bit further behind in testing). It could suggest only Macs with vanilla M4 models are coming in 2024, but we doubt it. Why? This would seemingly rule out the MacBook Pro 16-inch, and by all accounts, screens for this are already shipping – according to another well-known Apple leaker (who has doubled-down on this rumor).
So, we’d probably push the CPU speculation aside for now, although with peppier AI performance very much expected from the M4, coupling it with 16GB of RAM across all Macs makes some sense – the question is, particularly in the case of the entry-level MacBook Pro 14-inch, how will that affect pricing? Hopefully not to anything like the same extent that an 8GB upgrade sets you back right now.
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