Macs to Get AI-Focused M4 Chips Starting in Late 2024

Apple will begin updating its Mac lineup with M4 chips in late 2024, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The M4 chip will be focused on improving performance for artificial intelligence capabilities.

Last year, Apple introduced the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips all at once in October, so it's possible we could see the M4 lineup come during the same time frame. Gurman says that the entire Mac lineup is slated to get the M4 across late 2024 and early 2025.

The iMac, low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, and Mac mini machines will be updated with M4 chips first, followed by the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models in spring 2025, the Mac Studio in mid-2025, and the Mac Pro later in 2025.

Apple is said to be nearing production of the M4 processor, and it is expected to come in at least three main varieties. Chips are codenamed Donan for the low-end, Brava for the mid-tier, and Hidra for the top-end. The Donan chip will be used in the entry-level ‌MacBook Pro‌, the ‌MacBook Air‌ machines, and the low-end ‌Mac mini‌, and the Brava chips will be used in the higher-end ‌MacBook Pro‌ and the higher-end ‌Mac mini‌.

The Hidra chip is designed for the Mac Pro, which suggests it is an "Ultra" or "Extreme" tier chip. As for the ‌Mac Studio‌, Apple is testing versions with an unreleased M3-era chip and a variation of the M4 Brava processor that would presumably be higher tier than the M4 Pro and M4 Max "Brava" chips.

M4 versions of the Mac desktops could support as much as 512GB Unified Memory, which would be a marked jump over the current 192GB limit.

The M4 chips will be built on the same 3-nanometer process as the M3 chips, but Apple supplier TSMC will likely use an improved version of the 3nm process for boosts in performance and power efficiency. Apple also plans to add a much improved Neural Engine that has an increased number of cores for AI tasks.