On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to overhaul its laptop line. This is exactly the kind of rumor you don’t want to drop in the week between the announcement and launch of the new MacBook Pro. A deeper dive reveals that the planned reorganization will take place sometime in 2026.
That’s still a rumor/early report. This means that even if it actually happens, it may not happen in that time period. Especially in the home appliance field, a lot of changes can occur within 1.5 years. But not much has changed since Apple’s premium laptops launched this time last year.
In fact, MacBook Pro releases are now almost like clockwork. This is an annual event held whenever a new chipset is released, not unlike the iPhone release schedule. There’s no guarantee that Apple will continue its current release stream of M-series chips, but it seems to be working well for the company so far.
According to the report, Apple has its own work to do if it plans to launch iPhones and MacBooks that are “the thinnest and lightest in their category in the entire technology industry.” The M series brings much-needed performance to the line, making the MacBooks of the last few generations not only the most powerful, but also the best in every way the company has ever offered.
The efficiency delivered by Apple Silicon is at the core of the entire new Mac Mini, allowing the company to significantly reduce the size of its desktop. The question isn’t whether the M series will literally thin the lines. That much seems clear. But what is less clear is whether sacrifices are necessary.
First of all, because of the processing power of the Pro line, Apple had to include a fan that the Air has not had so far. Another thing is that battery life is now a distinguishing feature. I’m old enough to remember having to carry external batteries when liveblogging an event. These days, you don’t even have to think about plugging in your MacBook Air during a cross-country flight. That’s a really good thing. Because Delta’s seatback power outlets are and always have been a disaster.
Apple rates the new Pro for 24 hours of charging. If Apple wants to sacrifice literally all-day battery life to make laptops thinner, they’re going to have to snatch them from your cold, dead hands.
The question of whether to buy now or wait for the next upgrade will forever influence major appliance purchases. This is the nature of the annual release cycle. That said, early rumors of a major upgrade coming sometime in 2026 shouldn’t make much of a difference to those wondering whether they should pull the trigger today. This time next year it might be a different story.
MacBook Pro vs Air
For now, buying advice hasn’t changed much over the past few years. If you’ve budgeted for a MacBook Pro, now is a good time to buy one. The refreshed M4 chip delivers significant performance gains over last year as the line continues to evolve and improve.
The MacBook Air is still the best choice for the majority of users. It’s cheaper, lighter, and for most non-professional tasks the performance difference is almost negligible. The Air’s base RAM has been increased to 16GB, but everything else remains the same.
They are still sporting the M3 chip and it is unlikely that will change this year. If Apple Intelligence will be central to your purchasing decisions going forward, know that the new features are compatible with M-series Macs, now four-year-old laptops.
There’s a reason so much of the press material about the Pro revolves around things like 3D animation, music creation, and resource-intensive STEM pursuits. At some point, the increased performance at the high end will have little impact for most users. Of course, that’s not to say such updates aren’t welcome. For those working in video editing or science, for example, these innovations could dramatically reduce the time needed to execute those tasks.
“There’s never been a better time to upgrade,” Apple’s site suggests. Perhaps this is true given that these devices are constantly being improved. However, this is not the case when evaluating how dramatically the line has changed from generation to generation. From that perspective, the transition from Intel to M1 is even more significant.
It’s also true that upgrade cycles are generally longer for laptops than for smartphones, at an average of 5 years and 3 years. Obviously, like every other hardware company, Apple would love it if you upgraded more frequently. But you are a good person who is worried about e-waste and not making money.
M4 victory
By default, Apple compares the performance of the new M4 to the last generation Mac Intel processors released in 2019, with a dropdown that also includes the M1 model. Considering the standard lifespan of a laptop, that’s fair enough. In fact, Apple may be overly optimistic.
According to the company, the new M4 line is up to 9.8x faster than Intel models and up to 3.5x faster than the M1 Pro and M1 Max. Apple used the M4 chip with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 32GB of RAM for its own purposes. Testing involved using Adobe Premier 2024’s scene edit detection on a 3.5-minute clip. Results will almost certainly vary depending on hardware configuration, system settings, and given task.
The model Apple sent to TechCrunch for review purposes is the 16-inch M4 Pro with a 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 48GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. The laptop will run $3,649 as configured. That’s $1,150 more than the base 16-inch M4 Pro model, and $2,050 more than the base 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro. Nevertheless, the review model falls somewhere in the middle in terms of price. If you really want to go all out, the 16-inch Pro with a nano-texture display, 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 128GB of memory, and 8TB of M4 Max sells for $7,379.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when specifying your system: First, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is released in M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max. The 16-inch is only available in M4 Pro and M4 Max versions. It is currently the only MacBook with an M4 chip. The iPad Pro was the first model to feature the processor, but the MacBook Air was not. will do no. Get your upgrade in 2024.
You can read the full story on the differences between the M4 models here. The pros and cons are the number of CPU and GPU cores available (AI-centric neural engines have 16 cores in all modes) and memory bandwidth speed. Memory bandwidth is literally the speed at which the processor can read or write data to memory. Ranges from 120GB/s up to 410GB/s.
Another major difference between the chips is Thunderbolt support. M4 supports Thunderbolt 4 at speeds of up to 40GB/s. The M4 Pro and Max are the first Apple chips to support Thunderbolt 5, which is up to 3x faster. In most cases, this is future-proofing. The simple fact is that if you don’t know which Thunderbolt generation your cables and accessories support, it’s almost certainly not 5.
All three chips are capable of handling anything that most of us throw at our systems on a daily basis. Aside from the improved graphics processing for gaming, it’s hard to recommend the price increase that comes with the Pro and Max models for most users. In fact, it’s difficult to recommend the MacBook Pro over the Air to most people. Even if you don’t upgrade to the M4, the Air remains the best MacBook for most people.
One upgrade option that people no longer talk about is the addition of a nano-texture display to the MacBook for the first time. Apple Note,
The new MacBook Pro introduces an all-new nano-textured display option that significantly reduces glare and distractions from reflections. In bright lighting conditions, the new MacBook Pro can now display SDR content up to 1,000 nits, and can still display HDR content at peak brightness of up to 1,600 nits. All this creates a groundbreaking experience for users working outdoors.
Long story short: If you’re planning on getting a new Pro and going outdoors, spend an extra $150. I currently have two Studio displays on my desktop. One is nano textured and the other is not. There is a big difference indoors too. In fact, at one point we rearranged two screens in a way that minimized glare from one window in the room.
The Mac’s glossy display was one of the things we complained about a few years ago. But at a certain point, many of us have grown weary of Apple’s refusal to offer alternatives over the years. I gave up on that idea a few years ago. Now that it’s available, I plan on using it with every MacBook I buy going forward. Working outdoors twice a week is a great way to break the monotony of office work.
macbook tank
Maybe it’s because I’ve been carrying the 15-inch Air since I reviewed it in March, but the 16-inch Pro is a hell of a tank. At 4.7 pounds, it’s 1.3 pounds heavier than the 14-inch Pro and 1.4 pounds heavier than the 15-inch Air. The overall footprint is naturally larger due to the difference in screen size, but 16 inches is noticeably thicker. At 0.66 inches, it’s 0.05 inches thicker than the 14-inch Pro and 0.21 inches thicker than the 15-inch Air. .
That last part is a nod to the Air’s somewhat ironic lack of fans for cooling. This causes the Air to limit its performance. Some people may find themselves turning on the fan while gaming. Otherwise, it won’t make much of a difference to most users.
Ultimately, the 16-inch Pro is a match in spirit for what was once commonly referred to as a “desktop replacement.” If you often work outside of the office, getting around can be a pain. However, if you’re looking for something closer to desktop specs but with a bit of flexibility, the Pro is closer to that sweet spot.
Ports continue to be a differentiator between tiers. The Pro has three Thunderbolt/USB-C ports, an HDMI port, and an SD slot, while the Air only has a pair of USB-C. In general, the more ports the better, and it’s good to see Apple continuing to include SD readers in its laptops.
Both the M4 and M4 Pro chips support two external displays supporting up to 6K at 60Hz, 8K at 60Hz, or 4K at 240Hz. Upgrading to the M4 Max supports up to three 6K displays at 60Hz, or one 6K display at 60Hz and one 4K display at 240Hz.
Time to upgrade?
The annual MacBook upgrade cycle means there isn’t much daylight between this year’s model and its predecessor. If you have an M Series model, there’s little reason to have FOMO. The models released over the past four years have been some of the best laptops Apple has released, thanks to its silicon, product design, and general responsiveness to consumer requests and complaints.
It’s unclear what impact the line refresh will have in 2026, but for now the M3 Air is still the best MacBook for most people. But if money and back pain are no object, the M4 series or Pro are beasts.
