Considering Apple only made their M3 chip available back in March 2024, you might be surprised by speculation of the M4 series so soon after.
Although not officially confirmed by Apple yet, we’ve put together all the rumoured information we have so far about the upcoming Apple M4 chip and we’ll update this accordingly once we receive confirmation.
What is Apple M4?
The presumed successor to the recent M3 series, the Apple M4 is the expected name for the next generation of chips from Apple. Starting with the M1 series, the chips have been found on Apple’s computers, including MacBooks, iPads, Mac Minis, Studios and Pros.
The M4 series is heavily rumoured to be “nearing production” according to a report by Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, although it’s worth noting that the M4 series has not been confirmed by Apple yet and an Apple spokesperson had declined to comment.
What is new with the M4 chip?
According to Gurman, Apple’s big focus for 2024 is to “add new artificial intelligence features across its products” with a “large swath of those features designed to run on the devices themselves — rather than in remote servers — and speedier chips will help drive those enhancements.”
Apple is also said to be considering adding as much as half-a-terabyte of memory to the highest-end Mac desktops, which is particularly impressive considering the current Mac Studio and Mac Pro currently allow 192GB.
Which devices will have the M4 chip?
Reports indicate that the iPad Pro may be the first device to be treated to an M4 chip upgrade, which could be as soon as May 2024.
Gurman has also revealed that “there will be new iMacs, a low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and Mac minis — all with M4 chips.”
It is also expected that Apple will follow up with more M4 Macs throughout 2025, including updates to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air, the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro.
When will we have confirmation of the M4?
It’s difficult to know right now. Recent reports suggest the M4 chip could debut inside the next iPad Pro, which could be unveiled in May 2024.
Other reports indicate that the M4 will be shown off at Apple’s WWDC24 event, which takes place in June. Either way, we’re confident that we’ll see the M4 chip arrive before the end of the year.
