Apple to launch M4-based MacBook Pro models, more in October

Apple's next hardware event will take place in late October, with at least the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iPad mini expected to ship on November 1.

As has been rumored for some time, Apple is expected to show off its updated MacBook Pro lineup, offering a low-end 14-inch model with the M4 processor, as well as higher-tier 14-inch and 16-inch models with the M4 Pro or M4 Max chips in an event in late October.

The report by Bloomberg disclosing the dates also mentions the expectation of a new iPad mini.

M4 MacBook Pro & Mac mini — at least

Ever since the introduction of the M4 varieties of iPad Pro, there has been demand for Apple to do the same for its Apple Silicon Mac models.

Apple is expected to make big changes to the M4 Mac mini

Rumors predict a new smaller form factor that shifts away from its long-running design for something even sleeker. There's even talk of it having five USB Type-C ports instead of USB-A.

An M4 MacBook Pro could be arriving soon

A more obvious change would be to the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Updated in fall 2023, a one-year gap between updates would be reasonable for Apple's flagship Mac offering.

A revision to the iMac is possible, but almost nothing has been rumored about it recently, other than a possible 32-inch version. The MacBook Pro and Mac mini releases seem like a lock for November 1.

iPad, iPad mini

Both the iPad and iPad mini haven't been updated for quite some time. The iPad was last refreshed in the fall of 2022, while the iPad mini hasn't seen an update in three years.

While rumors haven't said much about the base-grade iPad's updates, the most likely change — if one arrives in October — will be a spec-bump update to a more modern chip. This makes sense as Apple would want to bring Apple Intelligence to as many devices as possible, and that would include the iPad.

Tablet displaying a colorful home screen with multiple apps and widgets, placed on a white surface against a purplish background.

The iPad mini hasn't been updated in three years.

For the iPad mini, there are a lot more possibilities, including a shift of the front camera to the side so it can be better used in a landscape orientation. There are also thoughts that the rear camera could be updated to a 48MP sensor to match the iPhone 16, rather than staying on a 12MP version.

19 Comments

h4y3s 85 comments · 9 Years

About 2 months ago

I asked ChatGPT "about what year did all the computers in the world equal to the computing power of an iPhone 16" and it calculated that would have required millions of computers from the late 80's or early 90's, so around then!

I was at Thinking Machines then, we had just sold a 1024 processor (each with 1 MB RAM!) machine with 1024 1GB hard drives, for $25M, which would become the world's most powerful computer by about 5x). We couldn't buy 1GB RAM though we scoured the Earth! It shipped with 512MB and we filled in the rest after 6 months!

My iPhone 16 ProMax is about 25X the power of that machine, and it runs off of a 1 ounce battery!

T.bias 3 comments · 5 Years

About 2 months ago

Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?

My internal Devil’s Advocate says that releasing too many M4s at the same time would put far too much pressure on M4 production line and could create a really bad backlog

chasm 3620 comments · 10 Years

About 2 months ago

T.bias said:

Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?

Mac Pro and Mac Studio likely to be updated in the second half of 2025, and thus likely announced at WWDC.

And without getting into a long-winded explanation, no it would not make any sense for Apple to release all its products at once for many, many, logistical and manufacturing reasons, among other factors. Even if you just wanted all the Macs (not anything else) released all at once, that wouldn't be practical from a production point of view.

Tim Cook was the wizard overseeing Apple's manufacturing and logistics before he became CEO, it is precisely because of what he did and his subordinates have done since that the company can produce so many products and categories of products across a given year.

blastdoor 3594 comments · 15 Years

About 2 months ago

chasm said:

T.bias said:

Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?

Mac Pro and Mac Studio likely to be updated in the second half of 2025, and thus likely announced at WWDC.
And without getting into a long-winded explanation, no it would not make any sense for Apple to release all its products at once for many, many, logistical and manufacturing reasons, among other factors. Even if you just wanted all the Macs (not anything else) released all at once, that wouldn't be practical from a production point of view.

Tim Cook was the wizard overseeing Apple's manufacturing and logistics before he became CEO, it is precisely because of what he did and his subordinates have done since that the company can produce so many products and categories of products across a given year.

I’m skeptical. The Mac Pro and Mac Studio have tiny volumes compared to just about every other product they sell. I seriously doubt it would be a big logistical issue to release these at the same time.

The only non-marketing reason I can think of for waiting until much later to release the high end desktops is if Apple is making a bunch of m4 ultras for ACDC purposes and wants to use every one they can get for that purpose.

netrox 1510 comments · 12 Years

About 2 months ago

blastdoor said:

chasm said:

T.bias said:

Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?

Mac Pro and Mac Studio likely to be updated in the second half of 2025, and thus likely announced at WWDC.
And without getting into a long-winded explanation, no it would not make any sense for Apple to release all its products at once for many, many, logistical and manufacturing reasons, among other factors. Even if you just wanted all the Macs (not anything else) released all at once, that wouldn't be practical from a production point of view.

Tim Cook was the wizard overseeing Apple's manufacturing and logistics before he became CEO, it is precisely because of what he did and his subordinates have done since that the company can produce so many products and categories of products across a given year.

I’m skeptical. The Mac Pro and Mac Studio have tiny volumes compared to just about every other product they sell. I seriously doubt it would be a big logistical issue to release these at the same time.
The only non-marketing reason I can think of for waiting until much later to release the high end desktops is if Apple is making a bunch of m4 ultras for ACDC purposes and wants to use every one they can get for that purpose.

I suspect that Mac Studio 2025 with M4 Ultra will be a significant upgrade for many users since I am sure Apple is ramping up the numbers of neural cores which do much better than GPU cores at machine learning.