Joe Rossignol
Along with the higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models featuring the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, Apple today announced several upgrades to the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, including a standard M4 chip, a minimum of 16GB of RAM instead of 8GB, an additional Thunderbolt port, a Space Black color option, and more.
In the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, the M4 chip is available with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, and it features a 16-core Neural Engine for Apple Intelligence. The 10-core CPU has four performance cores and six efficiency cores. Memory bandwidth has increased to 120GB/s for this model, up from the previous 100GB/s.
Apple already introduced the M4 chip in the iPad Pro earlier this year, and in the new iMac and Mac mini models this week. Geekbench 6 results show that the M4 chip is 25% faster than the M3 chip in the iPad Pro, and performance improvements should be similar for Macs with the M4 chip compared to previous M3 models.
Like the new iMac, the base model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro now comes with a minimum of 16GB of RAM, up from 8GB for previous models. The base model is now available with up to 32GB of RAM, up from the previous 24GB limit.
Storage options remain 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB.
The base model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro now has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, up from two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the previous model. The laptop now supports up to two external displays at up to 6K resolution, even with the lid open.
The base model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro now has an optional NanoTexture display, which features a special coating that better diffuses light to further reduce screen glare. According to Apple's specs, the base model's display brightness has also increased from 600 nits to 1,000 nits for standard, non-HDR content outdoors.
The base model also gets an upgraded 12-megapixel camera with Center Stage support to keep you in the center of the frame, and Desk View can show others your face and an overhead view of your desk at the same time.
Apple says the MacBook Pro now offers up to 24 hours of battery life for “streaming video,” the “longest ever on a Mac.”
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This year, Apple made a darker Space Black finish available for the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, alongside Silver. Previously, Space Black was exclusive to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models equipped with the M3 Pro or M3 Max chips.
The base model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro doesn't have any major exterior design changes, and some specs are the same as the previous model, such as Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. In addition to three Thunderbolt 4 ports, there's still an HDMI port and an SD card slot.
Apple says the new MacBook Pro models are available for pre-order starting today, and they'll go on sale in many countries on Friday, November 8. In the U.S., the base 14-inch MacBook Pro continues to retail for $1,599.
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