All the news from Apple’s ‘week’ of Mac announcements

Now that Apple has finished announcing its slate of new M4-equipped Mac computers, we’ve finally been able to see them in person. The Verge’s Vjeran Pavic got some hands-on time with the new products and took some gorgeous photos that you can peruse below.

I’m blown away by how small the new Mac Mini is; the old Mac Mini, which was already small, seems giant in comparison. Vjeran tells me that, in person, the smaller Mac Mini is cute but that it’s “more like a mini Mac Studio than a mini Mac Mini.” He also says there’s no way to reach the power button, which is on the underside of the computer, without lifting it up.

Apple has now revealed the entirety of its M4 Mac lineup. It includes a new entry-level MacBook Pro with M4 for $1,599, as well as the step-up M4 Pro (or M4 Max) models in 14- and 16-inch sizes, which once again start at $1,999 and $2,499, respectively. We’re also getting a new 24-inch iMac with M4, plus an updated Mac Mini with an incredibly small build and an M4 chip. Preorders for the desktop machines start at $1,299 and $599, respectively, and all of the new hardware launches on November 8th.

Besides faster processors, a common theme among the 2024 Macs is that they all start with more RAM to aid the Apple Intelligence experience arriving as part of macOS Sequoia 18.1. Apple doubled the memory from 8GB to 16GB on the entry-level M4 MacBook Pro, the M4 iMac, and the M4 Mac Mini. The MacBook Pros with M4 Pro, meanwhile, now offer 18GB as opposed to 24GB.

Cyberpunk 2077 is making the jump to Macs. According to Apple’s announcement video for the new M4-equipped MacBook Pros, CD Projekt Red’s sci-fi RPG will be available on Macs “early next year.”

“Taking full advantage of Apple silicon and advanced technologies of Metal, the world of the dark future is available to Mac gamers for the very first time,” CD Projekt Red says in an announcement. “Players can enjoy advanced features like path tracing, frame generation, and built-in Spatial Audio for even more immersive gameplay and stunning visuals.

Apple has just announced that 16GB of RAM is now the minimum for the M2 and M3 MacBook Air, giving the laptops the same RAM bump as all of the company’s other new computers this week. The cheapest MacBook Air still starts at $999.

Before this, it was a $200 upsell to get a MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM. Now, that’s no longer the case, bringing Apple’s cheapest laptop more in line with its competitors. Apple made a similar move in 2016 when it made 8GB the minimum for the 13-inch MacBook Air and discontinued the 4GB 11-inch version months later.

Apple is updating the MacBook Pro and introducing some even more powerful chips. Announced this morning via a low-key press release, the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are being updated to the M4 line of processors, which now includes the M4 Pro chip that debuted yesterday in the Mac Mini and a new, even higher-end M4 Max. The entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro is also getting a small design upgrade in the form of an extra USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 port on the right-hand side and a space black option to match its more premium brethren.

Like previous models, the M4 Pro-equipped laptops will start at $1,999 for the 14-inch and $2,499 for the 16-inch, but both are getting an upgrade from 18GB of base RAM to 24GB. The basic 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro still starts at $1,599, but that model now (mercifully) starts with 16GB of RAM instead of just 8GB. The new MacBook Pros will be available on November 8th, with preorders available now.

This week’s new Macs all have one thing in common: a minimum of 16GB of RAM. That’s true of the new Mac Mini, MacBook Pros, and iMac, which were all refreshed with M4 processors this week. The MacBook Air was updated to start at 16GB of RAM, too, even though it didn’t get a bump up to the M4 chip. The change brings an end to the long-running era of 8GB of RAM as the default on consumer-grade Macs.

Apple had transitioned most of its Macs to 8GB of RAM by 2016. But now, after eight years, that quantity feels increasingly insufficient. Reviewers have criticized the entry-level RAM as limited since at least 2022. Local AI features like Apple Intelligence, which need constant RAM to work, have only accentuated the need to change things.

Just like the bite-sized iMac keynote posted on Monday, Apple has released a 10-minute video showing off the M4-equipped Mac Mini. You can find the video on the “Watch the announcement” link on Apple’s Mac Mini page and on YouTube.

The video kicks off with John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of engineering, taking the wraps off the new desktop device (literally). He says the device is “even more mini,” as it measures just five inches long and wide.

As part of the company’s week of Mac-focused announcements, Apple has just introduced a smaller, yet even more powerful Mac Mini. It’s now equipped with Apple’s latest M4 silicon, supports ray tracing for the first time, and ships with 16GB of RAM by default — seemingly the new normal in the Apple Intelligence era. The machine still starts at $599 with the regular M4 chip, while the more powerful M4 Pro model has a starting price of $1,399. Like the refreshed iMac announced yesterday, the Mac Mini is available to preorder immediately and will be in stores on November 8th.

The first thing you’ll notice is the new design. As rumored, the Mini has been shrunken down considerably — and it was already a relatively small desktop machine to begin with. Now it’s downright tiny, measuring five inches in both length and width. If you’re wondering how Apple manages to keep things running cool, the company says it’s through the M4’s efficiency and “an innovative thermal architecture, which guides air to different levels of the system, while all venting is done through the foot.”

Amazon has spoiled Apple’s week of Mac announcements by sharing details of the new Mac Mini a bit early. The listing has been pulled but MacRumors managed to grab a few screenshots first.

The one tiny image of the new silver Mac Mini shows what appear to be a headphone jack and two front-facing USB-C ports, presumably with at least Thunderbolt 4 support. It’s available with a base or Pro version of the new M4 chipset, with up to 14 CPU cores, 20 GPU cores, 64GB of memory, and 8TB of storage. The backside ports will remain a mystery for now.

Apple Intelligence has finally launched in US English, and if you’re in the EU, you’ll be able to use the new AI features on your iPhone and iPad starting in April, according to an Irish Apple newsroom post.

When the features roll out to iPhones and iPads in the EU, they’ll include “include many of the core features of Apple Intelligence, including Writing Tools, Genmoji, a redesigned Siri with richer language understanding, ChatGPT integration, and more,” Apple says in the post.

Apple did more than put out a series of press releases when it announced the new iMac with M4 and the release of its Apple Intelligence software updates. The company also made a video to go with them — although it took a keen eye to spot it at first, as it was tucked away in a “Watch the announcement” link on the company’s splashy iMac page.

Apple has since released the 10-minute video on YouTube as well. In it, Apple Intelligence product manager Allegra Tepper discussed Apple’s AI system, which is now available as a software update for compatible iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Tepper ran through coming features, while specifying that today’s update only includes things like writing tools and slight Siri improvements (including the glowy rainbow edge graphic that shows up when Siri is listening on iPhones and iPads).

Apple’s new USB-C-equipped Magic Mouse somehow still has the charging port on the bottom. While Apple could have used the launch as an opportunity to move the charging port from the underside of the device — where the port has remained for nearly a decade, despite other updates to the mouse and being mocked for the decision — the port is still there, as shown in the “view in your space” augmented reality rendering from Apple’s website.

This new $99 Magic Mouse means that, for the foreseeable future, Apple still thinks that the best way to charge your Magic Mouse is by flipping it over to plug it in, making it so you can’t use it. Why?

Apple is finally removing the Lightning port from its lineup of Mac accessories. Earlier today, the company announced a new iMac with M4 with updated versions of the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad that all have USB-C. Apple is also selling them individually in the Apple Store. All three have featured the proprietary Lightning port since 2015.

The prices haven’t changed from their Lightning versions: the USB-C Magic Mouse is $99; the Magic Keyboard, which is so far seemingly only available as the larger model with a numpad, is $199; and the Magic Trackpad is $149. All three are available in black or white. USB-C aside, their designs are overall unchanged. And after tapping the “View in your space” link to look at the 3D model on the mobile version of the iMac page, I regret to inform you that means the Magic Mouse still charges via a USB-C port on the bottom. (There are ways to fix that if you’re desperate.)

Apple is updating the iMac with an M4 chip. The new iMac, announced this morning, includes an M4 chip with an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU. The entry-level model costs $1,299 with two Thunderbolt USB-C 4 ports, while the higher-end models start at $1,499 and have four ports.

It’s also bundled with accessories that now use USB-C charging ports instead of Lightning. Like the prior model, the new iMac has a 24-inch, 4.5K display. However, Apple is offering a new “nano-texture glass option” for $200 extra, which is supposed to help reduce reflections and glare.

Apple’s AI features are finally starting to appear. Apple Intelligence is launching today on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, offering features like generative AI-powered writing tools, notification summaries, and a cleanup tool to take distractions out of photos. It’s Apple’s first official step into the AI era, but it’ll be far from its last.

Apple Intelligence has been available in developer and public beta builds of Apple’s operating systems for the past few months, but today marks the first time it’ll be available in the full public OS releases. Even so, the features will still be marked as “beta,” and Apple Intelligence will very much remain a work in progress. (You’ll have to get on a waitlist to try Apple Intelligence, too.) Siri gets a new look, but its most consequential new features — like the ability to take action in apps — probably won’t arrive until well into 2025.