A Russian classified ads website has reportedly listed not one, but many of the purportedly leaked M4 MacBook Pro models yet to be launched by Apple.
M4-equipped MacBook Pros will be the highlight of Apple's late October event.
First there was a claim in September 2024 that a user in Russia had an unreleased M4 MacBook Pro. Then the same model appeared to be shown on YouTube, again by Russian users. Now it's reported that the device had been put up for sale on Avito, with several units available.
Just as it is still possible that the YouTube devices are fake, there is some doubt over the classified ad posting. All such listings appear to have been removed from Avito at time of writing.
Nonetheless, as first spotted by MacRumors, users on social media have been posting screenshots of the Avito listings.
MacBook Pro M4 ~$7500
-- Apple Pro (@aaplpro) October 8, 2024
MacBook Pro 14" M4 16/512 . pic.twitter.com/6k9oGPpNc2
In machine translation, the tweet says that the "yet-to-be-released MacBook Pro with the M4 chip could be purchased for ~$7,500 on Avito."
What's most significant is that the listing was reportedly not for a single M4 MacBook Pro. Instead, it had some number of them, which implies this leak is not just a repeat of how the iPhone 4 got accidentally left in a bar.
It's not clear how many units were offered for sale, but the implication is that a batch of them was intercepted. Or perhaps that thieves broke into a manufacturing plant.
Apple does not currently do business with Russia, so it won't be that a shipment to the country was stolen.
The purported M4 MacBook Pro comes with three Thunderbolt ports instead of two. It's colored Space Black, and has 16GB RAM.
Separately, Apple is expected to launch the new M4 MacBook Pro by the end of October 2024. The devices will then be shipping on November 1.