Apple Launches M4 Pro and M4 Max Chips

Apple has officially announced the introduction of the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, expanding the M4 family and enhancing the performance and capabilities of the Mac. These chips, built on cutting-edge, second-generation 3-nanometer technology, promise significant advancements in power efficiency and performance.

The M4 family features the world’s fastest CPU core, delivering unparalleled single-threaded performance and substantially improved multithreaded performance. The new GPUs enhance the groundbreaking graphics architecture introduced in the previous generation, featuring faster cores and a ray-tracing engine that operates twice as fast. For the first time, M4 Pro and M4 Max enable Thunderbolt 5 on Macs, with unified memory bandwidth increased by up to 75%. A Neural Engine that is up to twice as fast as its predecessor and advanced machine learning (ML) accelerators further enhance the M4 family’s capabilities, making it ideal for professional and AI workloads.

“Apple silicon has taken the Mac to unprecedented heights, and the rapid pace of innovation continues with M4 Pro and M4 Max,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “With the world’s fastest CPU core, immensely more powerful GPUs, and the fastest Neural Engine ever, the power-efficient performance and capabilities of the M4 family extend its lead as the most advanced lineup of chips in the industry.”

 M4: Exceptional Performance and New Features

The M4 chip offers phenomenal performance for entrepreneurs, students, and creators, featuring an up to 10-core CPU that includes four performance cores and up to six efficiency cores. It is up to 1.8 times faster than the M1, enabling seamless multitasking across applications like Safari and Excel. The 10-core GPU delivers graphics performance that is up to twice as fast as the M1, making it ideal for tasks ranging from photo editing to AAA gaming. Additionally, the 16-core Neural Engine is designed for Apple Intelligence and other AI applications.

M4 supports up to 32GB of unified memory with a memory bandwidth of 120GB/s. The enhanced display engine can support two external displays alongside a built-in display, and M4 also includes up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports for swift data transfer and peripheral connectivity.

 M4 Pro: Unmatched Power for Demanding Workflows

M4 Pro builds on the technologies introduced in M4, scaling them for users with more intensive workflows, such as researchers, developers, and creative professionals. Featuring an up to 14-core CPU, M4 Pro is up to 1.9 times faster than the M1 Pro and 2.1 times faster than the latest AI PC chip. The GPU boasts up to 20 cores, offering graphics performance that is double that of M4 and 2.4 times faster than its AI PC counterpart.

With support for up to 64GB of fast unified memory and 273GB/s memory bandwidth—a 75% increase over the M3 Pro—M4 Pro allows for rapid execution of on-device Apple Intelligence models. It also supports Thunderbolt 5 on Macs, providing data transfer speeds of up to 120Gb/s, enhancing performance for users dealing with large files in AI, video, and coding tasks.

 M4 Max: The Ultimate Chip for Professional Use

Designed for data scientists, 3D artists, and composers, M4 Max features an up to 16-core CPU, with up to 12 performance cores and four efficiency cores. It is up to 2.2 times faster than the M1 Max and 2.5 times faster than the latest AI PC chip. The GPU can have up to 40 cores, offering performance up to 1.9 times that of the M1 Max and an impressive four times that of the latest AI PC chip.

M4 Max supports up to 128GB of fast unified memory and 546GB/s memory bandwidth, four times the bandwidth of contemporary AI PC chips. This powerful combination allows developers to interact seamlessly with large language models with nearly 200 billion parameters. M4 Max also features an enhanced Media Engine, complete with two video encode engines and two ProRes accelerators, making it the go-to choice for video professionals.

 Apple Intelligence: A New Era for Mac

The M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max are designed for Apple Intelligence, which brings a new level of personal intelligence to the Mac. This system combines powerful generative models with industry-first privacy protections, allowing users to work, communicate, and express themselves in innovative ways while ensuring their privacy. Available in U.S. English with macOS Sequoia 15.1, Apple Intelligence operates on-device for most tasks and provides access to larger, server-based models for more complex processes while maintaining user data security.

 Environmental Commitment

The M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips exemplify energy-efficient performance, enabling the new MacBook Pro lineup to achieve up to 24 hours of battery life. This efficiency not only reduces energy consumption but also lessens the frequency of charging required. Apple’s commitment to sustainability includes a goal to achieve carbon neutrality across its entire operations and footprint by 2030, with current operations already carbon neutral.

With the introduction of the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, Apple solidifies its position at the forefront of personal computing technology, continuing to deliver innovative solutions for users worldwide.