In a strange turn of events, Apple unveiled its next-gen Silicon for its iPads ahead of Macs earlier this year. The M4 chip does finally seem to be coming to Macs starting next week though, which should be good news for many.
In addition to the usual upgraded CPU/GPU performance and power efficiency claims, Apple does seem to have a few more major changes planned for the next-gen Macs, which will be discussed below.
Keep in mind that these are based on rumors and leaks, and are as such very likely to change.
What to expect from the M4 Macs
New iMac with the M4 SoC
As is with every year, Apple is set to launch a new iMac model housing the M4 chip within it. The iMac is otherwise expected to be largely unchanged in terms of physical appearance and functionality for the upcoming version.
The M4 chip does bring with it marked new improvements over the earlier M3 version though, across both CPU and GPU fronts. The processor is also expected to be a lot more efficient when compared to prior generations as well.
Redesigned M4 Mac Mini
Perhaps the most exciting update to expect from the M4 generation is the arrival of the redesigned Mac Mini. The Mac Mini design has remained largely unchanged, and is comically large for the M-series chips – with the units possessing a ton of unused space.
Apple may finally be out to correct this oversight at last, offering a fully redesigned Mac Mini chassis for the next generation of Apple Silicon.
The updated Minis are set to be exceptionally small, comparable to an Apple TV. They are also expected to ditch most of their IO in favour of USB C ports entirely – in addition to being equipped with the M4 chips.
16 GB of base system RAM
Apple is finally set to catch up to the rest of the world and release computers with a minimum of 16 GB RAM. The minimum 8 GB of RAM across all models (including the Pros!) has been a subject of controversy and for good reason – it’s just not enough.
With the minimum base configuration of 16 GB RAM though, the systems are sure to feel a lot more snappy and suffer less bottlenecks in general.
While the Pro models are definitely expected to come equipped with 16 GB RAM, it is suspected that the lower-tier Air model might still have an 8 GB configuration.
The arrival of Apple Intelligence
While iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia were released with much fanfare earlier this year, they lacked a crucial component – the AI driven Apple Intelligence.
But now rumors seem to point at the release of a stable version of Apple Intelligence to the public, which could very well shake things up a bit.
Unfortunately, Apple Intelligence requires an M-series chip for Macs – which means that Intel-based machines will be left in the dust.
