• 18 May, 2024
• Joshua Miller
• No comment

M4 Chip: Here’s Everything We Know About Apple’s Latest Silicon

Apple has just unveiled a new lineup of iPads, including an updated iPad Pro, which features the much-anticipated M4 chip. This gives us valuable insights into the capabilities of the M4 chip and hints at its potential impact on future Mac devices.

Price and Release Date

Apple typically releases new chips in the fall, about a year after the previous generation. This timeline seemed likely for the M4, with an expected release in fall 2024. However, Apple surprised everyone by launching the M4 iPad Pro in May 2024 at its Let Loose event. This marks the first time an iPad has received a next-gen Apple silicon chip before a Mac.

While this could mean M4 Macs are imminent, it’s more likely they will launch later. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests Apple introduced the M4 iPad Pro early to focus on iOS 18 AI updates at WWDC in June. Therefore, we might not see M4 Macs until fall 2024, with some predictions extending to early 2025 for certain models.

Performance and Features

The M4 chip is built using a second-generation 3nm process, offering improved efficiency over its predecessor. Here are some key details:

• CPU: The M4 features four performance cores and six efficiency cores, boasting a 50% speed increase over the M2.
• GPU: The 10-core GPU includes dynamic caching, ray tracing, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading, offering up to four times the rendering performance of the M2.
• Efficiency: The M4 delivers the same performance as leading PC chips in thin-and-light laptops while using just a quarter of the power.
• Neural Engine: The 16-core Neural Engine can perform up to 38 trillion operations per second, making it the most powerful AI processor in any current AI PC.

Apple’s focus on AI suggests the M4 will excel in handling on-device AI tasks, a key feature expected to be highlighted at WWDC with the introduction of iOS 18 and the next macOS.

Which Devices Will Get the M4?

We can anticipate which Macs will receive the M4 chip based on Apple’s current lineup and the positioning of the M4 within their silicon hierarchy:

• M4 Chip: Likely to be found in the MacBook Air (13-inch and 15-inch), entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini.
• M4 Pro: Expected in the 16-inch and 14-inch MacBook Pro and as an upgrade option in the Mac mini.
• M4 Max: Anticipated for the 16-inch and 14-inch MacBook Pro and Mac Studio.
• M4 Ultra: Reserved for the Mac Studio and Mac Pro, with a release expected in the latter half of 2025.

Conclusion

The M4 chip promises significant performance and efficiency improvements, with early indications pointing to a powerful new era for Apple’s silicon. While the M4 iPad Pro is available now, we’ll likely see M4 Macs arriving later in 2024 or early 2025, starting with consumer models and eventually expanding to the more powerful Pro and Ultra variants. Keep an eye out for more updates as Apple continues to push the boundaries of its chip technology.

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