M4 MacBooks may fix my biggest Mac complaint, but at what cost?
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Apple's M4 Macs are just around the corner. Thanks to the Apple iPad Pro M4 model that launched earlier this summer, we have some estimations on the new chipset's performance. However, the fall launch should include multiple chip models and possibly a new base configuration for the MacBook Pro.
In his Power On newsletter last week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman confirmed that Apple is already in testing with a quartet of M4 MacBooks. According to his sources, there are three MacBooks with ten total cores in their CPUs and GPUs, while a base model features eight cores in its CPU and GPU.
The 10-core M4 CPU and 10-core M4 GPU specs for three of the MacBook Pro models in testing are the same version of the M4 processor in the iPad Pro, including the core split of four performance cores and six efficiency cores. The lower-spec model on the final testing MacBook features only eight cores, with an even 4-4 split on performance vs. efficiency cores.
While that all sounds great, the biggest takeaway from the report is that, "They all have either 16 or 32 gigabytes of memory." This means that the base 8GB RAM MacBooks should finally be gone, but there's a potential downside to that, too.
More Memory could come at an increased cost
The current Apple MacBook Pro with an M3 chipset comes with only 8GB of memory, but upgrades are available for up to 64GB of RAM. While 8GB isn't completely unsable, in 2024, a laptop starting at over $1,000 should feature at least 16GB of RAM.
A laptop with only 8GB of memory can struggle to keep up with the average workload, particularly in today's hybrid and remote work landscape, as video call programs and even web browsers can be memory hogs.
Of course, you can opt to upgrade the RAM on the MacBook Pro to 16GB, 24GB, 36GB, or even as high as 128GB. With the base M3 chip, a RAM upgrade from 8GB to 16GB costs an additional $200. So, Apple could easily use the RAM upgrade on the base chip to increase the price of the base MacBook Pro 14 unit from $1,599 to $1,799 or more.
A leap in memory will help the base MacBook Pro stand out against its Qualcomm Snapdragon X Copilot+ PC and AMD Ryzen AI competitors. And with Intel planning to launch its Lunar Lake AI PC chips in September, Apple has more reason than ever to change up the base MacBook Pro. Even if it means the starting price is closer to $1,799.
More Macs are expected this year
Bloomberg News also confirmed that Apple will refresh its entire lineup with M4 AI processors including a smaller Mac mini, new MacBook Pro models, MacBook Air models, and updated iMacs.
The first of the new Mac models are expected about a month after Apple's annual iPhone launch. The iPhone 16 and its variants are expected during Apple's "It's Glowtime" stream event on September 9, 2024.
