New M4 Macs Launch Sequence Revealed: What to Expect!

An M4 Mac Keynote for Halloween?

According to Mark Gurman, Apple might be planning a special event this fall, likely towards the end of October, where it would unveil the first Macs featuring the M4 chip, aiming for an early November launch.

This chosen date seems quite typical. Just last year, Apple hosted a “Scary Fast” keynote on October 30, 2023. During this event, the MacBook Pro M3 and the iMac M3 were showcased, hitting the shelves a week later on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Moreover, this would mark the fourth occasion in the past five years that Cupertino has organized such an event in October.

Nonetheless, the journalist from Bloomberg offers a bit more detail on the release schedule:

Rumor Roundup

According to the latest whispers, Apple plans to launch new Mac models equipped with the brand-new M4 chips by the end of the year, as well as two iPads:

Except for the Mac mini, these updates across the computer lineup will be relatively minor, focused on chip upgrades. Currently, the only Apple product with an M4 chip is the iPad Pro M4! However, they could come with 16GB of memory, ending the stingy 256GB/8GB combination.

This year could be a big one for the Mac mini. Moving directly to an M4 chip without using an M3, it would benefit from a significant redesign: it would be much smaller than the current model, which hasn’t changed much since 2011. It might even be sized similarly to the Apple TV, possibly a bit thicker.

According to Mark Gurman, this 2024 Mac mini will not have any USB-A ports (for context, the current Mac mini M2 features two USB-C and two USB-A ports, and the M2 Pro version has four USB-C and two USB-A ports). The model with an M4 Pro could be equipped with five USB-C ports, but no USB-A ports. Three USB-C ports would be located on the back, and two on the front of the machine, much like the Mac Studio. There would still be Ethernet, HDMI, and audio (3.5 mm) ports and an internal power supply.