Apple is making significant strides this week with its M4 chip rollout, focusing on enhancing both desktops and laptops. For their November 2024 launch, they decided to do things differently: instead of dropping all of them in one go, Apple made one daily announcement to build up excitement.
Apple started its November 2024 launch week with the refreshed iMac M4 and concluded it with the MacBook Pro M4. With Apple done with its announcements, we recap everything that’s good and bad.
Good: M4 is available to more devices
Initially making its debut on the iPad Pro last May (which we still find a strange move for Apple), Apple’s groundbreaking M4 chip is made available to the iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro. The Mac Mini and MacBook Pro get an M4 Pro option that adds support for Thunderbolt 5, while the MacBook Pro can be configured with an insanely powerful M4 Max option that can be specced with a 16-core CPU, up to a 40-core GPU, and support for as much as 128GB RAM. That’s nuts for a laptop.
Great: The Base MacBook Pro M4 is no longer awkward
Apple has rectified its mistakes from the MacBook Pro M3 with relevant upgrades to the M4 version. You get the same number of USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports as its more expensive siblings, and you can outfit it with the sleek Space Black option. You also get 16GB RAM as standard as well, giving it great value at a starting price of Php 99,990.
Great: The Mac Mini is made even smaller
The Mac Mini finally gets the redesign, and we’d argue that it is a performance monster with a tiny 5×5-inch chassis. Aside from being insanely small, you get two additional USB-C ports in the front and a headphone jack, though some might not like that Apple placed the power button at the bottom for some strange reason. But with a starting price of Php 36,990 for the base model with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage, the new Mac Mini might be a great deal for those who want a tiny PC that can do a lot.
Meh: New iMac is limited only to M4 chips
Unless you fancy the color refresh, and having 16GB RAM as standard, it’s peculiar that Apple is not offering an M4 Pro or M4 Max to the iMac–but offers an M4 Pro option to the Mac Mini. We wished that the iMac was not limited to an M4 chip, but who knows: Apple might change its mind and eventually offer a bigger iMac and call it a Pro model. With a starting price of Php 84,990, the iMac is decent for those looking for an AIO computer–though power users might want something better.
Bad: No M4 chips for the MacBook Air
While the November 2024 announcements highlight the shift to M4 chips, Apple has left out the MacBook Air, which still uses an M3 chip. That may be sad, especially for those hoping for an M4-powered version, but at least Apple bumped the base RAM of the MacBook Air for 2024 with 16GB while keeping the same price. With the older M2 MacBook Air starting at Php 59,990 and now coming with 16GB RAM, this makes it a laptop that’s very competitive against equivalent Windows offerings.
Ugly: The Magic Mouse still has its port at the bottom.
The announcements also made Apple’s other peripherals finally transition to USB-C, but it’s a missed opportunity for the Magic Mouse, which still has its charging port at the bottom. We expect this to be a meme for the next few days, and we just wish Apple took the opportunity to move the USB-C port to somewhere that will make the Magic Mouse still useful while charging.
That wraps up everything good, bad, and ugly with the November 2024 announcements of Apple. Which is your favorite (or least liked) announcement?
