Apple introduces M4 Pro chip

The latest addition to Apple’s first-party silicon lineup is being unveiled during the week of Mac announcements.

As an upgrade option for the recently revealed palm-sized Mac Mini, the new M4 is making its debut. 

The Pro comes after the original M4 was released in May. By making its debut on the new iPad Pro before it was added to the Mac lineup, that chip defied the usual Apple Silicon cycle.

Thunderbolt 5 more than doubles the speed of data transfer from 120 GB/s to 273 GB/s, and the new chip is the first piece of Apple silicon to support it. This indicates that while the M4 model is still Thunderbolt 4, the M4 Pro has five Thunderbolt 5 ports.

The M4 Pro is based on second-generation 3-nanometer technology. With 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, it has a CPU with up to 14 cores.

The Neural Engine has 16 cores and the GPU has 20. In contrast, the base M4 has a 10-core CPU with four performance and six efficiency, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. According to Apple, the CPU performs better in single-threaded performance tests. 

In the meantime, the ray-tracing engine of the system doubles in speed thanks to the GPU. This is Apple’s most recent attempt to make the Mac a powerful gaming device.

The upgraded Neural Engine is up to twice as fast as the previous generation, according to Apple. As the first wave of Apple Intelligence features go on sale, that will play a bigger role in the Mac experience. 

Notably, the M4 Pro costs a significant premium. At $599, the new Mac Mini M4 is available. The cost increases to $1,399 when the desktop is upgraded to Pro. Both of those are available for preorder and will be shipped on November 8.