If the latest rumors about the next-generation laptop are to be believed, Apple’s MacBook Pro with M4 is expected to launch in the last quarter of 2024.
This comes from Ross Young, a regular source of Apple information who heads the Display Supply Chain Consultants and previously told us that a MacBook Pro M4 is planned for late 2024.
This speculation was based on the timing of the MacBook Pro M4 display panel shipments in the third quarter. As Apple Insider reports, Young just told us that the displays for the MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch with the M4 chip began shipping in July and August as predicted.
This, of course, is in line with a theoretical Q4 launch—the displays for the laptop need to be shipped well in advance so that the devices themselves can be assembled, tested, and shipped—as Young noted in a post on X that has, oddly enough, since been deleted.
In short, it is likely that the MacBook Pro M4 will be unveiled in the fall (September or October) and the laptops will go on sale shortly thereafter.
Analysis: M4 Macs galore
The rumors surrounding the MacBook Pro M4 are pretty persistent and pop up pretty regularly now, so we can never be sure what will come out of the rumor mill, but when you add up all the individual speculations, a late 2024 release seems like a pretty solid possibility.
As mentioned, there is one oddity here, namely that Young deletes his post on X. It’s a bit unusual for something like this to happen, as Young and other known leakers are constantly spilling details they shouldn’t – but maybe this particular nugget somehow stepped on someone’s (presumably a source’s) toes in a painful way? We can only speculate (ironically).
These MacBook Pros likely won’t be the only Apple devices to launch this year with the M4 processor, which has so far only been found in the iPad Pro. Leaker Mark Gurman also expects Mac mini and iMac models with the M4 SoC to launch later in 2024. (The iMac could get bigger with a larger-screen model, while the Mac mini M4 could shrink, by the way.)
No doubt we’ll get other M4 devices next year, and Gurman believes they’ll include the MacBook Air (which will surely happen), the Mac Pro, and the Mac Studio.