14-inch and 16-inch M4 MacBook Pro models are expected to be announced later this year, along with an iMac featuring the same chipset as the redesigned Mac mini. Today, Apple typically ships its basic portable Macs with chipsets with fewer CPUs and GPUs, which makes sense. This year is a little different, however, as while there are two M4 versions available in the iPad Pro lineup, Apple is going with the top-of-the-line version with a 10-core CPU.
A 10-core CPU version of the M4 MacBook Pro has been previously investigated and was shown to also include 16GB of unified RAM.
Equipped with a 10-core CPU, the M4 also has a 10-core GPU, and thanks to the improved 2nd generation 3nm process, Apple has packed more performance cores into the chipset than efficiency cores. This would explain why the 14-in. The MacBook Pro tested by a Russian YouTuber on Geekbench 6 received impressive single-core and multi-core scores. As for the rest of the configuration, Bloomberg’s Mark Garman highlighted in the latest “Power On” newsletter that the minimum amount of unified RAM these Macs need to boot is 16GB.
“At least for the base-level MacBook Pro, it appears Apple may omit the 9-core CPU configuration and only produce a version with a 10-core unit. For the first time, Apple has included at least 16 gigabytes of memory. Apple Intelligence, which may start shipping on lower-end Macs, requires only 8 GB but could use up to several GB at a time, leaving little for other tasks. .”
We previously reported that Apple accidentally leaked some M4 MacBook Pro configurations, with the base version featuring 16GB unified RAM and 512GB storage, and the top model featuring 28GB unified RAM. 8GB memory in 2024 will be laughable, especially after seeing how much RAM some programs consume, so I feel like Apple is finally taking the specs of its expensive machines more seriously. Masu. The 16GB configuration is also advantageous for developers to utilize effectively when loading high-resolution textures in AAA games, as the M4 is capable enough to run demanding titles.
Another improvement for productivity enthusiasts, introduced by another Russian YouTuber, is the ability to use two external monitors with the lid open on the M4 MacBook Pro, which is significantly lacking in the M3 version. That’s what was missing. The new SoC has twice the number of Thunderbolt controllers as the M3, which could make this possible. Stay tuned for further updates on other changes and features in the coming hours.
