According to a report from Taiwan’s DigiTimes, Apple has begun mass production of new MacBook Pro models with 14-inch and 16-inch screens and M4 Pro and M4 Max chips.
This is consistent with information from other industry analysts such as Ross Young and Mark Gurman, who both expect the M4 MacBook Pros to launch later this year.
Apple hasn’t made any comment itself yet, though one cryptic statement during the recent earnings call did seem to suggest that MacBooks wouldn’t get a sales bump during the rest of 2024 — in other words, no new releases. Whether the comment itself was intentionally misleading or we misinterpreted it, we’d be all too happy to be wrong about this one — everyone wants the new MacBook Pros as soon as possible.
The timing also lines up with Apple’s usual release habits. The iPhone announcements typically happen in September (and an Apple event has just been scheduled for September 9), while the MacBook announcements tend to come around a month later in October.
Another rumor stemming from Gurman suggests that the new M4 MacBook Pro will only be available with 16GB or 32GB of RAM, removing the previous baseline of 8GB that Apple has been sticking to since 2012.
As for the design of the MacBooks, not much is expected to change. While an OLED MacBook is reportedly in the works, it’s still a few years away. Gurman also comments that Apple plans to make the MacBook Pro thinner in the coming years, but for now, owners of the 16-inch model will still be getting a workout every time they lift their laptop.
We don’t expect an announcement for a Mac-focused Apple event anytime soon, but it’s starting to feel like new M4 Macs are most certainly coming before the end of the year.
