Chip (Processor)

M4 Pro and M4 Max are both incredibly powerful chips that give you speed and capability you never thought possible. Choosing the right one for you depends on how you use your Mac.

M4 Pro

M4 Pro features an up to 14‑core CPU and an up to 20‑core GPU with a second-generation hardware-accelerated ray-tracing engine. It can be configured with up to 48GB of unified memory.

M4 Pro is equally capable of handling CPU‑intensive tasks like database design and code compilation and GPU‑driven tasks like motion graphics or video editing.

The Neural Engine can speed through machine learning and AI tasks like image upscaling and closed‑caption creation.

M4 Pro supports up to two external displays.

M4 Max

M4 Max is the world’s most powerful chip in a pro laptop, featuring an up to 16‑core CPU and an up to 40‑core GPU. It features the same powerful Neural Engine as M4 Pro, and its Media Engine is more advanced, with faster video encode.

With its additional GPU power and higher memory bandwidth, M4 Max is designed for graphics-intensive workflows like 8K video post‑production or working with complex 3D content.

M4 Max lets you configure MacBook Pro with as much as 128GB of unified memory, which significantly improves performance when you’re working with very large files and content libraries.


M4 Max supports up to four external displays.

Memory

Your Mac relies on memory to keep the files and apps you’re running open and available. Memory stores data temporarily, providing much faster access to your apps and files than storage. M-series chips include unified memory, which is more efficient than traditional RAM. This single pool of high-performance memory allows apps to efficiently share data between the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine — so everything you do is fast and fluid. This means you can do more with unified memory than you could with the same amount of traditional RAM.

The amount of memory that’s right for you depends on how you will use your Mac. The more memory you choose, the more apps you can run simultaneously and the better they will perform.

16GB Ideal for browsing online, streaming movies, editing photos and video, gaming, and running multiple everyday productivity apps.

24GB Recommended if you will be multitasking across a large number of memory-intensive apps, including audio and high-resolution video editing.

32GB Best if you typically work on advanced projects that require enormous files and content libraries.

Note: Unified memory is not user accessible. If you think you’ll need additional memory, it’s a good idea to upgrade now.

Storage

Mac uses fast SSD storage¹ to store your apps, documents, photos, movies, music, and other files and libraries.

How much storage you need depends on how you use your Mac. The more storage you have, the more files your Mac can hold and the faster it can access them when needed.

A good way to figure out your storage needs is to check how much storage you’re using on your current computer. On a Mac, go to System Settings > General > Storage. If you’re nearing your limit, it’s a good idea to consider a larger capacity.

Note: Storage is not user accessible. If you think you’ll need more internal storage in the future, you’ll want to select your capacity with that in mind now.