Forget the new MacBook Pro, Apple has something much better

October 13 update with MacBook Pro spec details from Russia.

Later this month, Apple will launch three new MacBooks. These ship with Apple Silicon's latest M4 chipsets and, much like the recent iPhone launch, place a heavy burden on the platform to deliver a successful generative AI experience to Apple's loyal community.

But while all the attention is on the MacBook Pro range in general and the entry-level M4-powered MacBook Pro, the real game-changer is yet to come. If consumers are looking for the macOS laptop best suited to their needs, they should wait.

Update: Sunday, October 13th: Apple is facing an unprecedented hardware leak this weekend as several M4-powered MacBook Pros go up for sale via Russian classifieds. The models have 512 GB of storage and 16 GB of RAM. That's a step up in storage over the frankly paltry 8GB or RAM found in the current entry-level MacBook Pro with its M3 chipset.

The M3 configuration consists of a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina display with a resolution of 3024 x 1964, three Thunderbolt 4 ports (USB-C) as well as an HDMI port and an SDXC card reader. The retail packaging of these laptops also lists a 70W USB-C adapter with a USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable.

Apple did not comment on the availability of these MacBook Pros before the official reveal. It was expected that this would happen very late in October, but personally I wouldn't be surprised if Tim Cook decides to bring forward the launch so that Apple can take back ownership of the story of the new macOS laptop.

In the early generations of the Mxx Apple Silicon series, Apple released the base chipsets with two MacBook Air models (a standard model and a lower-spec entry-level model) as well as a consumer-oriented MacBook Pro. After teardowns by companies like iFixit, it turned out that the MacBook Pro models with the first M1 chipsets were, by and large, little more than the MacBook Air with some active cooling from a fan.

When the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models were released with different physical configurations, it was clear that the first M1 MacBook Pro was an upgraded Air and not a true MacBook Pro.

The same applies to the M2 MacBooks. The MacBook Pro with the vanilla M2 was more Air than Pro. With the M3 generation, Apple used a clever trick and launched the M3 MacBook Pro in November and waited until March of the following year to release the M3 MacBook Air. Consumers were denied the immediate and direct comparison that would help them make their purchasing decisions.

Apple seems to be using the same trick again with the M4 family.

Three new MacBook Pro models are expected to appear at the upcoming launch in October. The professional-focused 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro have options to use the more advanced and powerful M4 Pro and M4 Max chipsets. At the same time, the cheaper, consumer-oriented MacBook Pro ships with the still relatively powerful but more entry-level M4.

The MacBook Air is nowhere to be seen, although there are many reports that it will be released in March 2025. If you're looking for the base model, check out the MacBook Air… but Apple won't officially show you that model for another six months. Instead, you're left with the M4 MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air in all but name, and far removed from the technology and performance of the original MacBook Pros, which are also available.

There is a silver lining in all of this. Apple is repeatedly criticized for launching the MacBook Pro series with a meager 8 GB of RAM. That's likely to change as the base model M4 MacBook Pro ships with the aforementioned 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. Why the increase? Apple Intelligence requires more memory to work.

With the aim of providing Apple Intelligence across the platform, Apple will be forced to include the same RAM boost in the upcoming MacBook Air models, just as it did in the Pro models. Just as the iPhone 16 benefited from the performance demands of generative AI, the MacBook Air will benefit from it too.

The M4-powered MacBook Pro may look like an attractive alternative to the mighty M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pros, but if you want a powerful MacBook Air-equipped laptop, why not wait for the original?

Now read more about Apple's generative AI hype and how it's hurting the iPhone Pro brand…