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With the Apple M4 having been tested on the iPad Pro 2024 and about to arrive on Apple’s next round of Macs and MacBooks, it’s a fair question to ask: Is the M4 worth the upgrade?
This chip, or more accurately, a system on a chip (SoC), features Apple’s fastest ‘neural engine‘ ever, with the capacity to process 38 trillion operations per second. Apple claims that this is “faster than the neural processing unit of any AI PC today”.
The M4 is designed to perform artificial intelligence tasks on devices while also supercharging the iPad Pro and the incoming MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and iMac.
The M4 offers up to 1.5x faster performance than the M2 chip or, alternatively, can deliver the same performance while using just half the power.
But is it worth it? Join Techopedia as we explore the M4’s features in-depth and what they mean for the user at home.
Key Takeaways
- The Apple M4 chip debuted inside the new iPad Pro on May 15, 2024, and is coming to MacBooks.
- Packed with cutting-edge features, it uses a powerful neural engine capable of processing 38 trillion operations per second and a 10-core CPU with improved efficiency.
- With increased memory bandwidth and other improvements, the M4 enables better performance for apps and AI workloads than the M3.
- Early tests suggest the M4 chip will offer 20% better single-core performance and 37% better multi-core performance than the M3.
- While it’s currently exclusive to the iPad Pro, its impressive performance will be featured on other devices, such as the upcoming MacBook Pro and iMac.
- The M4 sets a new standard for on-device AI and performance, making it a significant advancement in Apple’s technology ecosystem.
When Was Apple M4 Chip Released?
The Apple M4 release date was May 15, 2024, when the chip launched alongside the iPad Pro.
The iPad Pro starts at $999 for the 11-inch model and $1,299 for the 13 inch model. Storage ranges from 256GB to 2TB.
We expect to see the M4 chip make its way to the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac as part of releases across 2025.
Apple M4 Chip Tech Specs
Under the hood, the M4 chip has a number of core features that help bring Apple’s on-device AI processor to life. These include:
- Fastest Neural Engine Ever: Apple’s fastest-ever neural engine, which can process up to 38 trillion operations per second.
- Machine learning accelerators (ML): The Apple M4 CPU uses machine learning accelerators to help perform AI inference tasks faster.
- 28 billion transistors: 28 billion transistors built using a second-generation 3-nanometer technology to optimize performance in a tiny form factor.
- New and improved display engine: A display engine designed to provide improved precision, color accuracy, and brightness for displays.
- 10-core CPU: An up-to-10-core CPU made up of four performance cores and six efficiency cores (three performance cores on iPad Pros with smaller storage sizes). Performance cores feature improved branch prediction, wider decode, and execution engines, and efficiency cores feature a deeper execution engine.
- Advanced Media Engine: The M4’s Media Engine supports video codes including H.264, HEVC, and ProRes while offering hardware acceleration for AV1. This allows for more power-efficient playback of videos and streaming services.
- Increased unified memory bandwidth: Higher unified memory bandwidth enables pro rendering apps like Octane to benefit from significantly faster performance.
Apple M4 Features & Use Cases
Apple’s M4 opens the door to some exciting use cases for end users.
1. Running AI Models
Using the powerful neural engine to run diffusion and generative AI models with solid on-device performance via Core ML.
2. Unlock AI-driven Features on Native App
The M4 will unlock native support for AI-driven features on each device.
For instance, the M4 chip brought AI features to iPad OS, such as Live Captions for captioning real-time audio, isolating subjects from their backgrounds in 4K videos Final Cut Pro, creating musical notation in real-time via StaffPad, and Visual Look Up for identifying objects in videos and photos.
3. Enhanced Game Performance
The M4’s GPU architecture offers users dynamic caching and hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which will offer improved performance to gamers whether they’re on an iPad or MacBook.
This means images will look more glorious than ever, bringing real-time execution of reflection, refraction, soft shadows, light scattering, motion blur, and other graphical features normally the domain of a top-end gaming PC.
4. Watching High Definition Video Content
Watch videos while the M4’s advanced media engine enables the power-efficient playback of high-resolution video content and streams.
5. Lower Power Consumption
Lower power consumption and increased energy efficiency are expected to give the M4 chip a huge performance kick without compromising battery life (still estimated at 10 hours of screen time).
Apple also says it will reduce the impact on the environment and supports Apple’s goals of carbon neutrality across its product lifecycle.
M4 vs M3, M2, M1: All You Need to Know
| Chip | Transistor Count | Neural Engine | Memory | CPU | GPU |
| M1 | 16 billion transistors | 16-core neural engine – 11 trillion operations per second | 128GB of unified memory | 8-core CPU (4 high-performance cores and 4 high-efficiency cores) | 8-core GPU |
| M2 | 20 billion transistors | 16-core neural engine – 15.8 trillion operations per second | 128GB of unified memory | 8-core CPU (4 high-performance cores and 4) high-efficiency cores). | 8-core GPU |
| M3 | 25 billion transistors | 16-core neural engine – 18 trillion operations per second | 128GB of unified memory | 8-core CPU (4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores) | 8-core GPU |
| M4 | 28 billion transistors | 16-core neural engine – 38 trillion operations per second | 128GB of unified memory | 10-core CPU (up to four performance cores and six efficiency cores. | 8-core GPU |
What the Specs Mean in Real Terms
- The M2 chip is more powerful than the M1, with a 20% faster CPU, 30% faster GPU, and 40% faster neural engine.
- Apple says the M4 chip offers 1.5x faster CPU performance over the M2, or delivers the same performance with half the power consumption.
- Tests demonstrate the M4 chip offers 20% better single-core performance and 37% better multi-core performance than the previous M3 chip.
What Apple M4 Means to iPad Pro 2024 Users
The Apple M4 brings a number of core capabilities to the iPad Pro, which will be available in-store on May 15 for $999.
The Thinnest Apple Product Ever
The lightweight but highly efficient design of the M4 chip helps make the iPad Pro the thinnest product Apple has ever designed. The 11-inch model is just 5.3mm thin, while the 13-inch model is just 5.1mm thin.
On-device AI
The M4’s powerful neural engine will power on-device AI tasks, helping users use AI-driven features in tools like Final Cut Pro and StaffPad while also giving them the option to run generative AI models.
Better Video Playback
The M4’s advanced Media Engine includes support for AV1 decode, enabling the more power-efficient playback of high-resolution videos and streams.
Amazing Battery Life
The M4’s second-generation 3-nanometer technology reduces the chip’s power consumption. Apple does not make claims of an increased battery life on the iPad Pro, but the tablet can do more while working.
Ultra Retina XDR Display
The M4’s display engine provides the groundwork for the high-quality Ultra Retina XDR display, enhancing its overall precision, color, and brightness.
Better Gaming Graphics
The use of elements including dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and mesh sharing to iPad make for a more positive gaming experience. Hardware-accelerated mesh shading delivers greater capability and efficiency in geometry processing, effectively allowing more visually complex scenes in games and graphics-intensive apps.
Our Verdict on the M4 Chip
The X factor surrounding the M4 chip is the idea that it will better support Apple Intelligence and on-device AI processing across the tech giant’s product line.
It’s already helped make the Apple iPad Pro 2024 the most advanced tablet on the market — could it do the same for the iMac or the MacBook Pro with new native AI features? Maybe.
That said, users who have an M3 MacBook Pro or MacBook Air are unlikely to notice the general performance improvements, as the M3 is already an extremely powerful chip.
In any case, the M4 raises some exciting questions about Apple’s vision for on-device AI in the future.
Should You Upgrade To An M4?
We recommend waiting until Apple announces the official specs for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air before deciding to update. At this stage, it is unclear why you’d pay more for an M4 MacBook Pro or Air when the M3 already offers such excellent performance, which is likely to meet the needs of most users.
The iPad Pro could be worth the purchase if you’re in the market for a new iPad and you’re an AI enthusiast who’d gladly spend $999 to experiment with new ways to access ML models and features.
Of course if you have money burning in your pocket, then the next-generation M4 devices will stand as some of the best on the market.
The Bottom Line
The newly announced M4 chip shows that Apple is investing heavily in developing its on-device AI ecosystem, and Apple’s unique hold over both the hardware and software of its devices will make the iPad, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac shine.
Although the AI ecosystem is still in its infancy, as users experiment more with generative AI and AI-driven apps, it will inevitably grow into a powerful force multiplier for the organization over the long term.
