As Apple continues its streak of Mac announcements, the latest addition to its proprietary silicon lineup has been revealed. The new M4 chip is now available as an upgradeable option for the recently introduced palm-sized Mac Mini.
The Pro version follows the release of the standard M4 in May. This chip initially launched with the new iPad Pro, slightly altering the typical Apple silicon release pattern by entering the Mac lineup afterward.
The new chip is the first in Apple’s silicon family to support Thunderbolt 5, doubling data transfer speeds from 120 GB/s to over 273 GB/s compared to its predecessor. Consequently, the M4 Pro includes five Thunderbolt 5 ports, while the base M4 model remains limited to Thunderbolt 4.
Built on second-generation 3nm technology, the M4 Pro features up to a 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and four efficiency cores, a 20-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Meanwhile, the base M4 model offers up to a 10-core CPU with six efficiency and four performance cores, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine.
Apple claims the CPU in the M4 Pro excels in single-threaded performance tests, with its GPU doubling the ray-tracing engine speed, enhancing the Mac's gaming capabilities.
Apple has also highlighted the Neural Engine in the M4 Pro, which is reportedly twice as fast as the previous generation. This is increasingly vital to the Mac experience, as the first wave of Apple’s intelligence features was released to the public on Monday.
Notably, the M4 Pro comes at a premium price. The new Mac Mini with the base M4 starts at $599, while the Pro upgrade raises it to $1,399. Both models are available for pre-order as of Tuesday and will ship on November 8.
For comparison, the previous-generation M3 Pro chip had up to a 12-core CPU and an 18-core GPU.
Apple states the M4 Pro’s “blazing fast single-threaded performance” is achieved through what it calls “the world’s fastest CPU core.” It also promotes the M4 Pro’s graphics as being twice as fast as the standard M4 chip.
Apple has yet to release a direct comparison between the M4 Pro and M3 Pro chips, so benchmark results will shed more light on performance. However, Apple’s Mac Mini video claims the M4 Pro’s multi-core CPU performance is up to 1.6x faster than the M2 Pro and 1.9x faster than the M1 Pro chip.
Other features of the M4 Pro chip include support for Thunderbolt 5, allowing data transfer speeds up to 120 Gb/s, and increased memory bandwidth of 273 GB/s, which is 75% higher than that of the M3 Pro chip.
The first Mac powered by the M4 Pro chip is the newly introduced Mac Mini, also announced today. Apple is expected to unveil 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models later this week, offering M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chip options.
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