We are all used to iterative upgrades by now. Each new generation of laptops, no matter how premium and shiny, at best carry a couple of meaningful upgrades year-on-year. Would that be true of the new Apple MacBook Pro as well? The device has been launched in three variants — the M4, the M4 Pro and the M4 Max. I’ve been using the MacBook Pro with M4 for a couple of weeks now, and here’s whether it has meaningful upgrades compared to last year’s version.
Design & Display
The new MacBook Pro (M4)’s design hasn’t changed much since last year. The 14-inch Space Black version i received, which looks elegant with its all-black matte finish, isn’t exactly sleek at 0.61 inches but feels compact nevertheless. The Liquid Retina XDR display remains as sharp as ever. However, the model I’m reviewing has the nano-texture display option on it. It lends the already stunning display a matte non-reflective finish and comes at an extra ₹15,000 upgrade when you’re buying the MacBook Pro.
I cue The Lost Children on Netflix, a gripping documentary about an indigenous family involved in a plane crash in the Amazon jungle, and the story of their rescue. The close-up visuals of the people, the all-encompassing canopies and the wildlife in the jungle really pop on the display. The sound quality is great too, thanks to the built-in six-speaker setup. By default, the display is set to the ProMotion option, which allows for adaptive refresh rates up to 120 Hz, something that wasn’t available in the previous generation.
Productivity
The typing experience remains unchanged on this year’s MacBook Pro with M4. You get the full keyboard layout and a rather spacious touchpad, given it’s a 14-incher. One significant upgrade is the 12 MP centre stage camera. It’s supposed to be a step up from the 1080p FaceTime camera, which I’ve found to be quite a joy to use in the past. The new webcam brings ‘Desk View’ to the MacBook wherein I can use the same webcam to stay onscreen, as well as simultaneously show something I’ve placed on my desk during a meeting or a presentation.
The MacBook Pro runs on macOS Sequoia, which offers easy wireless iPhone Mirroring. You can quickly drag and drop photos and files from your Mac to the iPhone and vice versa with this feature, no matter where your iPhone is. You’ll also be able to quickly see ‘Highlights’ on the Safari browser — essential information that you might want to glean from any webpage you are on.
A new ‘Window Tiling’ feature lets you play around with multiple windows you may have open onscreen and quickly snap into a side or corner when you drag it there.
The biggest new-age software, Apple Intelligence, adds a tonne of value to the MacBook experience. To start with, there are a bunch of additions to improve one’s writing style. The feature helps you rewrite, change your register from formal to friendly, proofread and also summarise any notes you have recorded.
Siri has also gotten smarter this year, with a deeper understanding of voice commands and works well with ChatGPT to address any queries. Those like me, who still find voice commands weird in public spaces, can now type and interact with Siri instead.
Tech Specs
A common grumble with last year’s MacBook Pro was the 8 GB RAM option still being the baseline variant. Apple has catered to that complaint in 2024. The baseline variant for all Apple MacBook Pros — and the MacBook Air too — is now 16 GB. You can also customise it with support for up to 32 GB. But the main starrer is the new powerhouse M4 chip on the system. The new processor features a more powerful 10-core CPU — with four performance cores and six efficiency cores — and a faster 10-core GPU. While it may not beat the last gen’s M3 Pro and M3 Max supercharged chips, it definitely surpasses the M3 base variant with its processing power and overall capabilities.
In terms of connectivity, there’s an extra Thunderbolt port on the MacBook Pro (M4), making it three in all. Unlike last year’s model, the display stays on while supporting two other external displays. So, you can use three displays at once.
Battery
While Apple never discloses the battery capacity of any of its devices, the MacBook Pro (M4) is said to be capable of “up to 24 hours of video streaming or up to 16 hours wireless web”. Obviously, I’m not playing 24 hours of video to check if this exact claim is true but in my mixed usage, the battery life on the device is stellar. My typical usage in a day consists of reading articles online, writing on Google Docs, watching YouTube videos and streaming shows for an hour or so on Netflix. With this kind of usage, I easily went up to 3-4 days before having to plug in the laptop to charge.
Verdict
Aesthetically nothing has changed but within, the Apple MacBook M4 has brought a tonne of significant software additions, better performance and even longer battery life to the table. If you’ve been looking to upgrade from an older M1 or M2-powered MacBook, you’d really be able to feel the difference with this device.
