Apple Reportedly 'Just Started Formal Development' of M4 MacBook Pro
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today held a Q&A session focused on the Apple Car, in which he revealed that the vehicle's chip would have been equivalent to four M2 Ultra chips combined. He also said the vehicle had an underlying "safetyOS" system that was one part of the overall operating system, but he did not elaborate.
![m3 mbp space black](https://images.macrumors.com/t/6pnkS1I4DgiaeCEM4SE4vF9PNj0=/400x0/article-new/2023/10/m3-mbp-space-black.jpg?lossy)
Gurman also briefly touched on a few other topics, including that Apple apparently "just started formal development" of a new MacBook Pro with an M4 chip. He did not provide any additional details about the chip, which has yet to be announced by Apple.
Apple announced the M1 chip for Macs in November 2020, followed by the M2 chip in June 2022 and the M3 chip towards the end of October 2023, so there has been around a year-and-a-half gap between each of the chips being introduced. If that pattern continues, the M4 chip would be released in the first half of 2025. However, a late 2024 release is also possible if the interval shrinks to one year.
Apple last updated the MacBook Pro lineup in October with M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips. As part of that refresh, Apple discontinued the 13-inch MacBook Pro and replaced it with a new base model 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 chip. Apple has also updated the iMac and MacBook Air with the M3 chip, leaving the Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro as the only current-generation Macs still equipped with the M2 family of chips.
|
Current Chip |
Last Updated |
Next Chip |
ETA |
13" MacBook Air |
M3 |
March 2024 |
M4 |
2025 |
15" MacBook Air |
M3 |
March 2024 |
M4 |
2025 |
14" MacBook Pro |
M3/M3 Pro/M3 Max |
October 2023 |
M4/M4 Pro/M4 Max |
Late 2024/2025 |
16" MacBook Pro |
M3 Pro/M3 Max |
October 2023 |
M4 Pro/M4 Max |
Late 2024/2025 |
iMac |
M3 |
October 2023 |
M4 |
2025 |
Mac Studio |
M2 Max/M2 Ultra |
June 2023 |
M3 Max/M3 Ultra |
2024 |
Mac Pro |
M2 Ultra |
June 2023 |
M3 Ultra |
2024 |
Mac mini |
M2/M2 Pro |
January 2023 |
M3/M3 Pro |
2024 |
Apple's chipmaking partner TSMC is expected to begin volume production of chips based on its 2nm process in the second half of 2025, so the M4 chip will likely remain 3nm like the M3 chip. However, the M4 chip will likely be manufactured with an enhanced version of TSMC's 3nm process for improved performance and power efficiency.
Last month, the Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News reported that the M4 chip will feature an upgraded Neural Engine with "significantly" more cores for artificial intelligence tasks, but no other specific details are known about the chip at this time.
Popular Stories
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
Apple has previously announced three new iOS features that it said are coming to the iPhone later this year, as outlined below. The new features include the ability to install iPhone apps on the web in the EU, RCS support in the Messages app, and next-generation CarPlay. Web Distribution Apple recently announced that eligible developers will soon be able to distribute their iOS apps to ...
iOS 18 will feature a revamped Home Screen that is "more customizable," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He revealed this information in his Power On newsletter today, but he did not provide any specific details. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple will announce iOS 18 at its annual developers conference WWDC in June. Other features and changes rumored for...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models concurrently, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
We're getting closer to the launch of new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, while rumors about iOS 18 are continuing to ramp up with this week's surprise revelation that Apple has been talking to Google and others about potentially helping power the generative AI features expected to be a major part of this year's update. Other news this week saw the release of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1...
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Top Rated Comments
It can handle literally anything and everything I throw at it.
Battery is OK, 87% with 300 cycles.
At this rate, I’ll just wait for the M6.
The M1 and M2 rollouts were slowed by Covid supply chain issues, especially lockdowns in China that didn't end until late 2022, plus TSMC's 3nm rollout delays, so looking to those upgrade cadences might not be accurate. Apple debuted the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max in one event and thus kept a roughly annual upgrade schedule for the MBPs.