MacBook Pro and Mac mini’s M4 upgrade coming later this year

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Apple will reportedly launch M4-powered MacBooks and iMacs later this year. But the company will wait until 2025 to refresh its entire Mac lineup with its latest M-series chip.

The MacBook Air and other high-end desktop Macs will reportedly get their M4 upgrade next year.

M4 MacBook Pro should pack a faster chip and little else

Apple last updated its MacBook Pro lineup in October 2023. This year, it unveiled the M3 MacBook Air in March 2024. Seven months after the M3 chip‘s debut, the company announced its 2024 iPad Pro lineup with the M4 SoC, packing next-gen machine learning (ML) accelerators.

In the latest edition of Bloomberg‘s Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman claims Apple will refresh its MacBook Pro lineup with an M4 chip in 2024. The Cupertino giant has typically launched new MacBook Pros in late Q3 or Q4 in the last few years, so it should stick to the same timeline in 2024. This also corroborates a claim from Display Supply Chain Consultants’ CEO Ross Young about M4 MacBook Pros launching before the end of 2024.

The report claims that Apple won’t make any other meaningful upgrades to its upcoming MacBook Pro lineup besides the newer chip. Rumors suggest future MacBooks could sport super-slim designs, but apparently, there won’t be any such design improvement this year.

Apple’s M4 chip sports more powerful AI cores, which should help with Apple Intelligence. The company might also introduce new AI-focused features on its M4-powered MacBook Pros.

Interestingly, Gurman claims Apple will also refresh the Mac mini and iMac with its M4 chip this year. Updates for the MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro with its newest SoC will only arrive in 2025.

Apple may unveil the M4 MacBook Air in spring 2025 alongside the rumored iPhone SE 4. Other high-end Macs should get their M4 upgrades later in the year.