Apple MacBook Pro M4 and iPad Mini 7 launch on November 1st
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple will unveil several new M4 Mac models towards the end of October. The company plans to launch at least some of them as early as Friday, November 1. In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple will launch a new M4 version of the lower-end Apple MacBook Pro 14, as well as higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips.
Desktop Macs aren’t left out of the refresh either. Gurman reports that Apple plans to unveil a redesigned Mac mini with M4 and M4 Pro chip options. In addition, the iMac is expected to get an update, with Apple’s all-in-one machine finally moving to the M4 chip.
An updated iPad mini is also reportedly on the horizon, with a release date potentially in early November. This would be the first update to the smallest Apple tablet since its 2021 redesign.
Looking further ahead, Gurman outlined Apple’s hardware plans for the first half of 2025. The company is expected to unveil M4-powered 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models, a new iPhone SE with Apple Intelligence, and updated 11-inch iPad Air and 13-inch iPad Air with accompanying new Magic Keyboards and an updated AirTag.
Mac power users may have to wait a little longer for high-end desktop updates. While new Mac Studio and Mac Pro models with M4 chips are in development, Gurman said they are planned for later releases. The Mac Studio is expected around mid-2025, with the Mac Pro following toward the end of the year.
Apple MacBook Pro M4 unboxing video reveals multiple upgrades
Fittingly, an alleged unboxing video of the upcoming Apple MacBook Pro 14 with the M4 chipset also surfaced today on Russian YouTube channel Wylsacom. Llater, Gurman linked to to the video from his X-account.
It’s possible that this is the same Apple MacBook Pro box seen in the photos below, which were shared by tipster ShrimpApplePro last month and are said to show a MacBook Pro M4 being sold in a private Facebook group.
While we can’t confirm the authenticity of this leak, the packaging reveals four possible upgrades for what appears to be the base model of the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro.
- 25% faster M4 chip: The box lists the Apple MacBook Pro as having an M4 chip with a 10-core CPU, while the current model has the M3 chip with an 8-core CPU. An alleged Geekbench 6 benchmark result shared by the YouTube channel behind this leak suggests that the M4 chip runs up to 25% faster than the M3 chip. Apple introduced the M4 chip in the iPad Pro back in May. It actually has a CPU with up to 10 cores and up to 25% more performance compared to the M3 chip.
- 16GB RAM: There have already been rumors that 16GB RAM could become the minimum for all future Macs. The alleged packaging also shows 16GB RAM for the Apple MacBook Pro 14 in the video, but of course that doesn’t prove anything.
- Three Thunderbolt 4 ports: The packaging suggests that the base 14-inch MacBook Pro has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, versus two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the current model.
- Space Black: The packaging also suggests Space Black as one of the color options for the base 14-inch MacBook Pro. Currently, you only get this color on models with the M3 Pro or M3 Max chip.
