Does the MacBook Pro M4 win this round of the AI PC race? Let’s find out

Its previous version, the M3 chip, was already one of the best-performing processors in the global PC industry. Mint’s own experiences with the M3 Max, Apple’s top-drawer previous chip, was in the form of one of the world’s most powerful consumer-grade laptops ever produced until January this year. In April, the base-line M3 chip, too, stood out as one that’s reliable enough—but perhaps in want of better co-processing capabilities to accommodate the world’s incoming artificial intelligence onslaught. Now, the base M4 chip appears to have hit the right requisite notes that the M3 had missed out on. In simple terms—even in a ‘pro’ laptop, the base chip does not feel out of place.

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Apple’s latest custom chip on the MacBook Pro is one of the most energy-efficient ones in the world right now, and definitely the most efficient that Apple’s ever made. This gives a big fillip to the new MacBook Pro, especially if its usage involves frequent travels and fewer power sockets to be plugged in to.

The difference, while not major on paper, is significant in the real world. Living with and working on the MacBook Pro involving two 20-tab browser loads, an iMovie edit in the background, three messaging and email applications, and a music service all working in tandem produces not a hint of a flicker, even in its base trim with 16 gigabytes of the latest mainstream memory standard.

This is good news for the onslaught of AI applications that are expected to come into the mainstream fold of everyday computing usage over the next three years. The company’s own Apple Intelligence suite is expected in India some time in the first half of next year, in which the new chip’s improved ‘neural engine’ can make exactly this sort of background work seem effortless. For a good ‘AI’ PC, this would be a key identifier, and the M4 chip ensures that the MacBook Pro already ticks the necessary boxes.

It doesn’t stop here, though. One big noticeable change this year is the introduction of a ‘nano-texture’ display—an external coat that turns the laptop’s display matte. Yet again, this may not seem to be a gamechanger, until the laptop is placed with light sources in the background. There is nearly no reflection on this coating that makes material illegible on standard displays ever so often, and for those with unpredictable work environments, this is a definite advantage to have. It is an optional upgrade, meaning that the base version does not get the matte coat—even though it does get the 16GB memory. Storage options, which have always been among the fastest in consumer laptops, begin at 512 gigabytes.

A third added benefit is the presence of a third USB-C port doubling up as Thunderbolt display connector that makes overall usage more convenient, especially for those that need multi-display setups—such as financial services.

Make no mistake, however, that the M4 chip is not one for users of M3-powered devices to upgrade to—the latter is still powerful enough for most AI applications that we’re yet to see. A key factor for this could be memory, but for most standard work tasks, chips going four years back to Apple’s first ‘M’ processors would still at least meet the basic requirements.

Who, then, is this laptop for? The latest MacBook Pro has retained the exact same design, colours and overall finish as its edition from last year—a factor that buyers of M3 MacBooks will truly appreciate. It is for absolutely any user with everyday workloads that want more power than what the MacBook Air can offer, but are either switching from the Windows ecosystem or from an older, Intel-powered Mac laptop.

At a starting price of ₹1.7 lakh ($2,000), the MacBook Pro’s M4 rendition does not charge buyers more for the latest edition—yet another factor that buyers will like. On plugged-in power, the M4 MacBook Pro live-switches across multiple layers of Adobe Photoshop edit without breaking a sweat. Unless the workload is that of a dedicated visual arts professional, the M4 chip offers ample firepower to accommodate most users.

The trade-off? In India, the $2,000 price-tag is still a lofty one, making the MacBook Pro an aspirational purchase. This could see buyers putting their upgrades off until the M4 features in this year’s upgrade of the MacBook Air. More importantly, though, no mainstream AI application has proved to be intrinsically important for nearly anyone. This means that until the ubiquity predictions of AI truly play out, it’s not clear if the M4’s AI-centric upgrade is truly substantial or merely cosmetic.

Either way, there’s no denying that the M4 is one of the most reliable chips for premium laptops today—one that should be kept in market circulation for more than a year.

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