Apple, the American tech giant, is reportedly moving forward with a new MacBook Pro model that will run on the M4 chip. The details come from sources cited by 9to5Mac, including insider information and remarks from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The chatter suggests Apple has entered the early development phase for a MacBook Pro powered by the M4, though specifics remain scarce as the project appears to be several months from release.
The last MacBook Pro refresh hit the market in October 2023, marking Apple’s shift to the M3 line, which uses the same 3-nanometer process as the A17 Pro chip found in the iPhone 15 Pro. In addition to the standard M3, Apple rolled out more robust options such as the M3 Pro and M3 Max to target power users who demand higher performance from portable machines.
Since then, the M3 family has expanded beyond the MacBook Pro to the MacBook Air and iMac. The company has also been expected to extend support for other desktop and mini devices like the Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro with future variants based on the M3 architecture.
Early talk on the M4 points to a larger neural engine and additional cores dedicated to AI workloads, with the OS ecosystems in focus for iOS 18 and macOS 15 integration. To put it in perspective, the Neural Engine in the A17 Pro already handles up to 35 trillion operations per second, a benchmark that hints at how Apple intends to scale performance and on-device intelligence with the next generation.
Industry trackers like 9to5Mac estimate a development-to-launch timeline of about a year, suggesting that a spring 2025 debut for an M4-based MacBook Pro could be plausible if progress remains steady. This kind of cadence would align with Apple’s historical patterns for major hardware refreshes during the mid-year quarter.
A point worth noting is that prior to a formal reveal, Apple appears to have proceeded with incremental platform updates, including iOS 18 releases, to prepare the ecosystem for enhanced hardware capabilities. While the company tends to reserve full specifications for its product announcements, the momentum around the M4 signals continued investment in high-end portable computing and a sustained push toward on-device AI acceleration for professional workflows.