Inside Apple Mac week: New power, smarter AI, bold innovations
Apple’s week of Mac announcements kicked off Oct. 28, and all the reveals are now official.
The lineup includes a refreshed iMac with the new M4 chip and updated color options, plus redesigned accessories — keyboard, mouse and trackpad — now featuring USB-C ports.
Apple also announced the rollout of Apple Intelligence, its latest artificial intelligence-powered feature suite for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Alongside these, Apple unveiled a redesigned Mac Mini and the M4 Pro chip.
All about the new iMac
The new iMac, announced Oct. 28, comes with the M4 chip, featuring an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU. If you remember Apple’s iPad announcement earlier this year, the M4 chip debuted with the iPad Pro (7th generation).
The new iMac now comes with accessories that use USB-C charging ports instead of Lightning. All USB-C ports also support the fastest Thunderbolt 4 standard, which means you can transfer large videos and other files faster. The display is still a 24-inch panel with 4.5K resolution, but Apple is now offering a “nano-texture glass” option for an extra $200, designed to reduce reflections and glare.
There are a few other updates, too. The base RAM has doubled to 16GB from the previous model, with an option to go up to 32GB on the higher-end version. The new iMac also includes a 12MP webcam and introduces Apple Intelligence features, which are finally rolling out. These include AI-powered writing and editing tools and a redesigned Siri, now powered by ChatGPT.
The M4 iMac now comes in new colors, including green, yellow, orange, pink, and purple. Silver remains an option too. It’s available for preorder now, with shipping starting Nov. 8. The entry-level model costs $1,299 and comes with two USB-C ports, while the higher-end models start at $1,499 and include four ports.
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Mac Mini also gets an upgrade
As the name suggests, the Mac Mini is a compact computer that can handle some serious workloads. First announced in 2005, it retained the same design until 2010, but Apple finally changed it with the latest model. They’ve shrunk the case, reducing the computer’s volume by half. The new Mini is now a five-inch by five-inch box that’s just two inches tall, while the older model measures 7.75 inches by 7.75 inches and is 1.41 inches thick.
The main upgrade for the new computer is the inclusion of Apple’s latest chips, either the M4 or a more powerful version called the M4 Pro. The M4 Mini comes equipped with two USB-C ports and a headphone jack on the front. These front USB-C ports support USB 3, with speeds of up to 10Gbps.
On the back, you’ll find three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports (up to 40Gbps), along with Ethernet and HDMI connections. The higher-end M4 Pro model also features Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, which offers transfer speeds of up to 120Gbps and the ability to connect up to three displays.
The starting price of the Mac Mini remains the same at $599. This baseline model comes with the M4 chip featuring 10 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, along with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. For $799, you can double the SSD to 512GB, while the $999 model bumps the RAM up to 24GB. These are solid prices, which isn’t something I say often about Apple products.
There’s also a $1,399 Mac Mini model that features the new M4 Pro processor, which boasts a 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU. It also supports up to 64GB of RAM and up to an 8TB SSD.
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The M4 MacBook Pros are here too
Apple has also dropped some big updates to the MacBook Pro lineup, bringing in more powerful chips and new features. Announced Oct. 30, the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are now powered by Apple’s new M4 series processors — the M4 Pro and the even higher-end M4 Max. The 14-inch base model now has an extra USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port on the right side, along with a new space black color option.
Both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M4 Pro and M4 Max are the first Mac laptops to feature Thunderbolt 5 ports, offering faster data transfer and connectivity. They also come equipped with a new 12-megapixel webcam that includes a desk view mode for a wider angle, plus an optional nano-texture display that reaches up to 1,000 nits in SDR and 1,600 nits in HDR.
The M4 Pro-equipped MacBook Pros start at $1,999 for the 14-inch and $2,499 for the 16-inch, both now upgraded from 18GB of base RAM to 24GB — meaning you’re getting more memory at the same price. The entry-level 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro still starts at $1,599, but Apple has upped the starting RAM to 16GB (a welcome boost from the previous 8GB). These new MacBook Pros hit stores Nov. 8, and preorders are already open.
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Kurt’s key takeaway
Apple’s updates to the Mac lineup bring impressive changes, especially for power users. The new iMacs, now powered by the M4 chip, offer serious performance boosts. But if you’re just using an iMac for general tasks like browsing or light work, you might be better off with an older model to save some cash. The M4 Mac Mini, though, is a great value option with a competitive price and an extra $100 education discount. For those needing even more power, the new M4 MacBook Pros feature both M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, with base RAM now starting at 24GB on the Pro models and 16GB on the entry-level 14-inch version.
What’s also worth mentioning is Apple Intelligence, which Apple announced way back in May but is only now rolling out. I tried some of these features, and while I found them useful, they’re not exactly earth-shattering.
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