Apple recently unveiled a significant update to its MacBook Pro line, featuring the all-new M4 family of chips and a personal intelligence system called Apple Intelligence. This marks a significant leap in performance for professionals and creatives.
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M4 Chip Delivers Blazing Speeds
The M4 family of chips offers three tiers – M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max. Each chip leverages second-generation 3-nanometer technology, making them the most advanced chips ever built for a professional laptop.
The M4 family is composed of faster unified memory, enhanced machine learning accelerators, and a powerful Neural Engine, making it ideal for tackling tasks like editing massive videos and music, rendering intricate 3D scenes, and running complex AI workloads.
Here’s a breakdown of what each M4 chip brings to the table:
- 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4: Ideal for entrepreneurs, students, creators, and everyday users, this model offers a powerful 10-core CPU, a faster 10-core GPU, and starts with 16GB of unified memory (expandable to 32GB). It delivers significant performance improvements over previous models. The Neural Engine is over 3x more powerful than M1, significantly boosting performance for Apple Intelligence features and other AI-intensive workloads.
- 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro: Designed for researchers, developers, engineers, and creative professionals, the M4 Pro offers a significant performance boost. It features a powerful 14-core CPU and up to a 20-core GPU, doubling the graphics processing power of the M4. 3x faster performance compared to models with M1 Pro, making it ideal for tasks like geo mapping, structural engineering, and data modeling. The M4 Pro offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, including:
- Up to 4x faster scene rendering in Maxon Redshift compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9.
- Up to 5x faster simulation of dynamical systems in MathWorks MATLAB compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9.
- Up to 23.8x faster basecalling for DNA sequencing in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Core i9.
- 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Max: Caters to professionals like data scientists, 3D artists, and composers. The M4 Max integrates a 16-core CPU, up to a 40-core GPU, and a staggering over half a terabyte per second of unified memory bandwidth. The Neural Engine in M4 Max is over 3x faster than M1 Max, enabling on-device AI models to run at turbo speeds. This makes up to 3.5x faster performance compared to M1 Max for heavy creative tasks like visual effects, 3D animation, and film scoring. The M4 Max also supports up to 128GB of unified memory, allowing developers to seamlessly work with large language models with nearly 200 billion parameters. the M4 Max delivers exceptional performance gains, including:
- Up to 7.8x faster scene rendering in Maxon Redshift compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9.
- Up to 4.6x faster build performance when compiling code in Xcode compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9.
- Up to 30.8x faster video processing performance in Topaz Video AI compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9.
Advanced Display Technology
The new MacBook Pro retains the stunning Liquid Retina XDR display, renowned for its exceptional contrast ratio and vibrant colors. This time, Apple introduces an all-new nano-texture display option that significantly reduces glare and minimizes distractions from reflections. Additionally, the display has an increased peak brightness of 1000 nits for SDR content in bright lighting conditions, making it perfect for outdoor use.
Apple Intelligence: Personalized Power at Your Fingertips
Apple Intelligence is a new addition to the MacBook Pro. This personal intelligence system is designed to assist users in writing, expressing themselves, and getting tasks done effortlessly. It prioritizes user privacy with on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute for complex tasks. Here’s a glimpse into what Apple Intelligence offers:
- Writing Tools: Refine your writing with features like rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text across various applications.
- Enhanced Siri: Move seamlessly between spoken and typed requests to accelerate tasks throughout your day. Siri can also answer a vast array of questions about Mac and other Apple products.
- Image Playground: Unleash your creativity with this new feature that allows you to generate fun and original images.
- Genmoji: Design custom emoji in seconds to express yourself in a unique way.
- ChatGPT Integration (Coming in December): Gain access to ChatGPT’s expertise for writing.
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macOS Sequoia: Redefining Mac Experience
The new MacBook Pro comes with macOS Sequoia, the latest version of Apple’s desktop operating system. macOS Sequoia comprises a range of exciting features, including iPhone Mirroring, allowing you to wirelessly interact with your iPhone directly from your Mac.
Safari gets even better with features like Highlights, a redesigned Reader, and a new Video Viewer for distraction-free video watching. Gamers will appreciate Personalized Spatial Audio and improvements to Game Mode, along with upcoming titles like Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
The new MacBook Pro comes with the Passwords app, a dedicated app for managing your passwords, passkeys, and other credentials. This app offers a centralized location to store and access your sensitive information securely. This app is designed to work seamlessly across all Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Here are some of the key features of the Passwords app:
- Secure Storage: Your passwords and passkeys are encrypted and stored securely on your device.
- AutoFill: Automatically fills in your credentials on websites and apps, saving you time and effort.
- Password Generation: Generates strong, unique passwords for your accounts.
- Password Sharing: Share passwords with trusted individuals or groups.
- Cross-Device Sync: Syncs your passwords across all your Apple devices using iCloud Keychain.
- Security Alerts: Alerts you to weak passwords or passwords that have been compromised in data breaches.
Improved Video conferencing
Video conferencing just got a whole lot better. The new MacBook Pro features a 12MP Center Stage camera, offering exceptional video quality even in low-light situations. This innovative camera automatically keeps you centered in the frame as you move around, ensuring you’re always in focus during video calls. But that’s not all! Desk View, a new feature, utilizes the wide-angle lens to showcase your workspace, perfect for presentations or demonstrations.
Immerse Yourself in Sound
The audio experience on the MacBook Pro is nothing short of phenomenal. Studio-quality microphones capture your voice with crystal clarity, while the phenomenal six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio support creates a truly immersive soundscape. Whether you’re listening to music, watching a movie, or participating in a conference call, the audio will be rich, detailed, and transport you right into the action.
Battery Life and Connectivity
The new MacBook Pro got the longest battery life ever seen in a Mac – a staggering 24 hours. For situations where a quick boost is needed, the MacBook Pro supports fast charging, reaching 50% capacity in just 30 minutes.
Additionally, all models come with a variety of ports, including Thunderbolt 4 on the M4 model and Thunderbolt 5 on the M4 Pro and M4 Max configurations, offering blazing-fast data transfer speeds for connecting to high-resolution displays and external storage.
Availability and Pricing
Available in Apple Stores from November 8th. You can pre-order online on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in 28 countries and regions, including the U.S.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 starts at $1,599 and $1,499 (U.S.) for education, while the 14-inch with M4 Pro starts at $1,999 and $1,849 (U.S.) for education. The 16-inch model with M4 Pro starts at $2,499 and $2,299 (U.S.) for education.
14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Max is priced at $3,199 and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Max is priced at $3,999. All models come in space black and silver.
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