Is the new M4 MacBook Pro worth it? The latest models come with impressive power and unbelievable battery life. Even if you bought the M1 model, the new version may be a huge boost in performance.
Is it worthwhile to upgrade? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.
With the M4 generation, the time has come to move away from Intel, no matter which MacBook you have. Even if you have the last Intel MacBook Pros from late 2019 or early 2020, the new M4 MacBook Pro lineup will have something just right for you.
The entry-level MacBook Pro is no longer a compromised, previous-generation design -- all three models are a simple good, better, best. Even the base model is up to 7x faster at processing images in Affinity Photo compared to the last Core i7-based MacBook Pro.
Big leaps forward have been made in the last few years of Apple silicon. If you use your MacBook Pro for daily work in a high-performance field like video editing, 3D modeling or audio mixing, you'll appreciate the extra power of the M4.
The base model now supports two external displays, and comes with an additional Thunderbolt port. Compared to M1, rendering 3D graphics is up to 3.4x faster. The Pro and Max versions come with Thunderbolt 5 for next-gen storage and display connectivity. The M4 Max model in particular can be upgraded with up to 128 GB of unified memory. And with all that power, it raises battery life to a whopping 24 hours.
But of course, MacBook Pros are expensive. If you can't afford it, don't sweat it -- the M1 is still an excellent computer. And not everyone's day job involves cutting 4K120 fps ProRes video in Final Cut Pro.
If you're on an M2 or M3 generation MacBook Pro, don't worry -- this new M4 MacBook Pro is very impressive, but it's not worth buying a whole new machine over quite yet. Apple has been putting out new MacBook Pros like clockwork; saving up for the M5 or M6 MacBook Pro in the next year or two might be the better move.
The holidays are coming up -- check out our other upgrade guides if you're considering new Apple products for you or your family this year.