Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: one of the best Pro laptops around just got better

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Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) : Two-minute review

Apple's MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 is nan afloat package, a near-perfect blend of price, performance, and utility. The M4 is nan guidelines version of nan newest and astir powerful procreation of Apple silicon (it's nan aforesaid spot that's already moving successful nan iPad Pro 13-inch) but it's still bursting pinch power, and much than tin of doing astir of nan heavy-lifting you want from a pro-level portable machine, arsenic fresh to edit earthy photos and 4K video arsenic it is to guidelines successful arsenic an capable gaming console.

I've agelong been a instrumentality of nan MacBook Pro design, particularly since Apple refined it by removing nan Touch Bar, a neat invention that ne'er reached its afloat potential. My M4 Pro reappraisal unit, supplied by Apple, is simply a sleek-looking Space Black that's some elegant and wonderfully functional. The Magic Keyboard is still a typing gem, and I emotion nan monolithic trackpad and each that abstraction for resting my hands. And nan stereo speakers that straddle nan keyboard present powerful, crisp, and clear audio that could supply nan soundtrack for your statement successful a pinch.

When I deliberation astir nan reasons why you'd bargain an M4 14-inch Mac Pro complete nan cheaper M3-running MacBook Air, nan database is smaller than erstwhile I've compared nan Pro and Air options previously, but location are a fistful of standout features that make this MacBook Pro 14 M4 (2024) a near-perfect choice.

For starters, you person nan ports. Where nan Air tops retired astatine a Thunderbolt 3 port, you get a trio of speedy Thunderbolt 4 ports pinch nan MacBook Pro (you'll request to upgrade to nan M4 Pro exemplary for Thunderbolt 5). You besides summation nan SD paper slot, an instant prize for photograph and video professionals. The larger assemblage and ever-efficient 3-nanometer system-on-a-chip (SoC) intends a promised 24 hours of artillery life – for a Pro-level system, that's unheard of. Naturally, real-world usage times varied wide successful my testing based connected activity (AAA gaming tin quickly eat up battery).

The biggest quality betwixt Air and Pro mightiness beryllium nan display. This Liquid Retina XDR is an inch larger than nan MacBook Air's, and it offers a nano-texture action (an other $150 / £150 / AU$230), thing I highly urge for cutting down connected reflections successful almost immoderate situation.

With nan MacBook Pro 14-inch M4, Apple has created a pro-grade portable that impresses successful each respect. It joins Apple's pantheon of outstanding laptops, and is group to return a well-deserved spot astatine aliases adjacent nan apical of our best laptops rankings.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: Price and availability

• Starts astatine $1,599 / £2,149 / AU$3,199
• Nano-texture (which you want) will tally you different $150 / £150 / AU$230

Apple unveiled nan M4 MacBook Pro 14-inch connected October 30, on pinch nan caller MacBook Pro 16-inch, Mac mini, and iMac. All these caller Macs are moving variations of Apple's M4 silicon.

Pricing for nan M4 MacBook Pro 14-inch starts astatine $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,499 for nan guidelines configuration, which comes pinch nan modular M4 spot and 16GB of unified memory. If you want nan M4 Pro chip, pricing starts astatine $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,299, while nan M4 Max exemplary starts astatine $2,399 / £2,399 / AU$3,999.

My Space Black reappraisal portion is nan guidelines exemplary (10-core M4, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage) but pinch 1 cardinal enhancement: nan aforementioned nano-texture Liquid Retina XDR show coating, which costs an other $150 / £150 / AU$230.

• Value score: 4/5

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: Specs

The MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) comes successful 3 main configurations: our trial unit, nan guidelines M4; a brace featuring nan M4 Pro spot pinch options of 16- aliases 20-core GPU and up to 1TB storage; and astatine nan precocious end, nan M4 Max model, which offers 1 configuration pinch a 14-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 32GB of unified memory, and 1TB of SSD.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: Design

• Virtually nan aforesaid creation arsenic nan erstwhile model
• All nan cardinal ports you need
• Fantastic screen

Over nan past fewer years I've go an unabashed instrumentality of Apple's progressively iconic laptop design. Where competitors often effort different and sometimes overseas creation flourishes, Apple cautiously peeled distant each but what matters, leaving a MacBook Pro that looks and feels arsenic if it was carved from a mates of pieces of 100% recycled achromatic aluminum. Nothing feels like, aliases useful like, it was near to chance. That belief starts erstwhile you put your digit nether nan articulator of nan show and flip unfastened nan clamshell to uncover nan surface and keyboard. That hinge is arsenic judge arsenic it gets, offering nan cleanable blend of hostility and soft movement.

At 3.4lbs / 1.55kg. nan MacBook Pro 14 M4 is not nan lightest laptop aliases moreover nan lightest MacBook. The fantabulous MacBook Air holds that distinction, and if you prize portability complete powerfulness you mightiness beryllium reference nan incorrect review. On nan different hand, nan MacBook Pro 14 is by nary intends dense (the 16-inch MacBook Pro, by contrast, weighs astir 5lbs / 2.27kg).

Folded close, nan MacBook Pro 14 is conscionable 0.61 inches tall, 12.3 inches wide, and 8.71 inches deep. It slips into my backpack and, moreover though I'm utilized to carrying nan M3 MacBook Air, I mostly hide it's there.

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

Apple hasn't adjusted nan ports since nan M2 MacBook Pro, which is good pinch me. We still person nan HDMI-out larboard if you want to widen your show to a giant, high-resolution screen. Next to that is 1 of nan 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports and an SD paper slot, which I utilized to transportation immoderate earthy images from my DSLR. On nan other broadside is nan MagSafe complaint port, 2 Thunderbolt 4 (40Gb/s) ports, and nan 3.5mm headphone, though I mostly link my AirPods Pros 2 for audio. If you request Thunderbolt 5's 120Gb/s throughput speeds you'll want to upgrade to an M4 Pro chip.

The full-sized backlit Magic Keyboard is simply a pleasance to usage (I'm composing this reappraisal connected it), pinch ample recreation and a satisfying typing feel. It includes nan arrow keys and a afloat statement of usability keys. On nan correct broadside of that is nan Touch ID powerfulness and slumber button. During setup, it took maine a fewer moments to registry my scale digit which I now usage to unlock nan laptop and log into immoderate online services. Below nan keyboard is nan massive, astir 6-inch diagonal, and very responsive Forcetouch trackpad.

One of nan benefits of a larger laptop is that Apple tin fresh a brace of speaker grilles connected either broadside of nan keyboard. They supply awesome sound, particularly erstwhile playing spatial audio (try Territory on Netflix).

The strategy features a brace of four-inch vents, 1 connected each side. You usually won't perceive nan instrumentality until you play AAA games aliases tally benchmarks.

• Design score: 5/5

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: Display

• It's gorgeous
• Better brightness for SDR
• The coating you want

While it mightiness look for illustration Apple near nan Liquid Retina XDR show from nan M2 MacBook Pro untouched, location are a mates of noteworthy differences. But let's commencement pinch what's nan same.

It's still nan aforesaid mini-LED exertion offering a 1,000,000:1 opposition ratio and 1 cardinal colors pinch a P3 wide colour and ProMotion pinch up to 120Hz refresh rate. The solution is still astir 4K astatine 3096 x 1964 pixels. However, Apple has boosted nan brightness a bit, pinch SDR contented now getting up to 1,000 nits. HDR still gets a highest brightness of 1600. These numbers chiefly matter outdoors, wherever you mightiness beryllium battling backmost nan sunshine, and I recovered that nan show was rather effective astatine remaining viewable and usable successful nonstop sunlight. I property this, however, only successful portion to nan heightened SDR nit capabilities.

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

My surface came pinch nan optional nano-texture coating. This adds a good texture crossed nan full surface that's meant to diffuse nonstop sunlight (the MacBook Pro comes pinch a typical cloth for cleaning nan screen). It costs an other $150 / £150 / AU$230, but it's transformative technology. Not only does it efficaciously termination outdoor reflections, it besides transforms really streaming and gaming contented looks connected nan display. No much table and overhead lamp bulbs peaking into nan frame. No much model ray sidesplitting your gaming groove. I honestly wonderment why each laptops, Macs and otherwise, do not travel pinch this texture. It's a game-changer.

The nano texture helps make nan surface viewable successful nonstop sunlight.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

The 14.2-inch surface is large capable for tons of side-by-side app work. It's nan cleanable canvas for photograph editing successful Adobe Lightroom and video activity successful FinalCut Pro. but is besides good suited to lighter productivity (like my efforts to constitute this review), email, and web browsing. It's not a touch surface because Apple refuses to bring that exertion to Macs, moreover arsenic nan touch-friendly iPad Pro becomes much and much Mac-like. The trackpad is ample capable that I don't miss rubbing a surface (as I did for years for Microsoft Surface Pro) but I can't thief but wonderment really a MacBook Pro pinch a touch, and Apple Pencil-friendly, show would change nan measurement we usage this laptop.

The different show alteration relates little to what you'll spot connected nan Liquid Retina XDR sheet and much to really others will spot you done it. Apple has upgraded nan FaceTime camera, which sits astatine nan apical of nan show successful a cutout notch, pinch a 12MP ultrawide that supports its Center Stage technology. Center Stage takes nan afloat 12MP ultrawide framework and narrows nan viewport truthful that you are ever centered successful nan frame. It doesn't matter if you thin near aliases correct aliases get up and locomotion astir nan room, Center Stage will follow. It's a useful characteristic successful FaceTime – I tested it connected a telephone pinch my woman who wondered why I kept moving astir – and besides connected Zoom, wherever it worked good but was not useful successful a broadcast video situation, truthful I turned it off. Center Stage did not activity for maine successful Google Meet, wherever I behaviour astir of my video meetings.

• Display score: 4.5/5

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: Performance

• M4 has nan Pro powerfulness astir need
• macOS Sequoia is elastic and easy to usage
• AAA gaming connected a Mac is real

The past clip we reviewed a 14-inch MacBook Pro, it was moving an M2 Pro. The guidelines M4 wrong my trial portion has akin but not adjacent specs. It's still a 10-core CPU, but wherever nan M2 Pro had a 16-core GPU, nan M4 starts pinch 10 cores. However nan M2 chips were each built connected a 5-nanometer process, and nan M4 statement is connected nan much businesslike 3 nanometers, which could lead to a amended operation of powerfulness and efficiency.

The Neural Engine, which handles a batch of onboard instrumentality learning and AI tasks, still has nan aforesaid 16 cores.

The FPS ranged from debased 40s to mid 60s connected Shadow of nan Tomb Raider(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

Apple is now backing each of its caller Macs pinch astatine slightest 16GB of RAM. This pays dividends successful AI (Apple Intelligence is connected board) and graphically aggravated operations for illustration ray tracing, which helps make games for illustration Lies of P look unthinkable connected nan MacBook Pro 14.

In benchmark testing, I recovered nan numbers successful statement pinch nan M4 capacity I saw from nan iPad Pro 13 inch. Geekbench 6.3 numbers measurably transcend those of nan M3 successful my MacBook Air.

When I played Shadow of nan Tomb Radar, Steam's soul frames per 2nd antagonistic showed I sewage anyplace betwixt 42fps and 62fps. To my eyes, location was nary tearing aliases dropped frames.

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

I played games and dited RAW photos connected nan MacBook Pro.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

Numbers only show you truthful much, and what matters astir is real-world experience. I did do a adjacent magnitude of gaming connected this MacBook Pro. As I noted above, nan nano-texture surface makes games look amazing. In my Lies of P sessions (I connected an X Box controller via Bluetooth), I took statement of nan rich | atmospherics, from rainfall to fire, and nan level of item that ne'er descended into unwatchable blurs. Gaming connected nan MacBook Pro benefits from macOS Sequoia's Game Mode, which prioritizes gaming tasks for genuinely soft and responsive performance.

In FinalCut Pro, I edited 4 4K 30fps streams astatine once, which played backmost smoothly successful full-screen preview. However, erstwhile I tried nan aforesaid point pinch 4 4K 120fps video clips changeable connected nan iPhone 16 Pro Max, full-screen playback started dropping frames – an on-screen connection confirmed this. It was 1 of nan uncommon times I recovered nan limits of Apple silicon.

Editing earthy photos successful Adobe Lightroom is simply a breeze. It's besides worthy noting that I seldom unopen down different apps while I performed these operations, and arsenic I noted earlier, nan only times I heard nan fans were during console-grade gameplay and Cinebench 23 benchmarking.

Keep successful mind that my tests were each pinch nan guidelines M4 Apple silicon; ideate what you tin expect from nan M4 Pro and M4 Max.

Connectivity is mostly what you would expect, pinch support for Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E. I americium a spot disappointed, though, that Apple didn't future-proof nan laptop a spot pinch Wi-Fi 7 support.

• Performance score: 5/5

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: Software

• macOS 15.1
• Some Apple Intelligence

This is rather nan long-form article boil-down.(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

macOS Sequoia (macOS 15.1) has a batch to offer. There's nan caller Passwords app, which gives you a full-blown exertion for managing your passwords, and there's nan updated Notes, which tin now transcribe recordings. It's not arsenic bully arsenic nan transcription successful Voice Recorder connected Android (it doesn't place aggregate speakers) but it's still useful.

There are now Highlights successful Safari that tin return a 3,000-word-plus New Yorker article and boil it down to a one-paragraph summary. I interest that loses nan nuance of specified a piece, but if you're successful a hurry...

There's besides iPhone Mirroring, which lets you entree and power your iPhone from nan MacBook Pro. It's expected to beryllium useful erstwhile you don't person entree to your iPhone (maybe it's conscionable successful different room), and I recovered it easy to link an iPhone 16 Pro and past person a virtual type of nan iPhone connected my MacBook Pro 14 desktop. What's moreover wilder is really I tin power nan telephone from nan desktop system. I tin message, browse nan web, and moreover resistance and driblet betwixt nan desktop and nan iPhone interface. I did announcement that while I tin unfastened nan iPhone camera, I cannot usage nan MacBook Pro 14 to return a image pinch nan phone.

Apple Intelligence is present wrong macOS 15.1, successful nan shape of a redesigned Siri that supports Type to Siri and which tin beryllium dragged astir nan desktop. I recovered that I could inquire Siri really to do things pinch nan MacBook Pro, for illustration find my Wi-Fi settings and opening an app for illustration Notes.

Apple Intelligence puts email summaries astatine nan apical of email, and nan penning devices are embedded passim nan system. In Notes, I asked nan Writing Tools to rewrite my lengthy gathering notes. It did a really bully occupation of boiling it each down to a concise slug list, which I could besides easy undo. This could beryllium very useful.

This is not each of Apple Intelligence. There's nary Image Playground for instance, but that will show up pinch macOS 15.2, perchance by early December.

A sensation of AI

During my testing, I did instal nan macOS 15.2 Developer Beta truthful that I could get a sample of this MacBook Pro 14 M4's Apple Intelligence capabilities. Because this update is not intended for nan public, my thoughts connected this dev beta were not considered arsenic portion of my last software, capacity and wide reappraisal score.

First, I was excited to spot Clean Up now wrong of nan Photos app. It useful conscionable arsenic it does successful iOS 18 connected nan iPhone, and was useful for removing immoderate unwanted items from my photos.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)

ChatGPT's Siri integration, which I had to enable, is rather smooth, and looks and useful arsenic if it's a portion of Siri. I utilized it successful nan Type to Siri mode, entering my punctual astir really to create a equipment presentation. The reply I sewage from ChatGPT done Siri was solid.

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

Image Playground, nan generative AI image instrumentality which lives successful an adorable kitty app icon successful nan Dock, is besides portion of this beta, but it's still gated by an induce and, arsenic I constitute this, I still await mine.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: Battery life

• Rated for 24-hour video streaming
• Lasted much than 18 hours successful our tests
• Battery life is limited connected activity

The MacBook Pro 14 M4 is, according to Apple's promises, possibly nan first genuinely all-day laptop, rated to past up to 24 hours connected a charge. Naturally, that's if you do thing but watercourse seasons 1 done 3 of Stranger Things. Once you commencement adding successful activities for illustration web browsing, and emailing, Slack, gaming, and photograph and video editing, those numbers change.

In our Future Labs tests, we recovered that we could get 18.5 hours of web browsing, which is 2 hours much than Apple is promising. Once I started gaming, though, artillery life took a accelerated tumble; nan strategy is intelligibly difficult astatine activity rendering nan exquisite item successful Lies of P. I heard nan fans going full-blast, and noticed nan bottommost of nan laptop sewage rather warm. My proposal is if you want to usage nan MacBook Pro 14 M4 arsenic a gaming rig, support nan included 70W charger and woven USB-C to MagSafe cablegram adjacent by.

Speaking of that charger; erstwhile I drained nan strategy to zero, I was capable to usage it to recharge nan MacBook Pro 14 M4 to 43% successful 30 minutes. That's a spot little than nan 50% I was expecting. To afloat recharge, it took much than an hour.

I've had unthinkable artillery experiences pinch nan MacBook Air and its M3 chip. I tin already spot that, successful normal use, nan MacBook Pro 14 M4 is simply a sun-up-to-sun-down benignant of system. That's impressive, and a large triumph for Pro fans.

• Battery score: 4.5 / 5

Should you bargain nan Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024)?

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MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 (2024) review: Also consider

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How I tested nan Apple MacBook Pro 14 M4 (2024)

• I spent much than a week pinch nan MacBook Pro 14 M4 (2024)
• I utilized it arsenic an mundane productivity, creativity, and intermezo device
• I ran benchmarks

Apple provided maine pinch nan guidelines MacBook Pro 14 M4 system, and I utilized it each time to trial and thief trade this review. I group it up arsenic a activity system, and arsenic 1 for accumulation and play. I utilized it indoors and outdoors.

Read much astir really we test

First reviewed November 2024