What to Expect From the M4 MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro
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If the rumors are true, Apple plans to update many of its Mac models this year. Among all the upgrades we may see, a few stand out from the crowd.
The MacBook Air received an M3 refresh in early 2024, while the Mac Studio and Mac Pro haven’t seen any updates since mid-2023, despite rumors that Apple would upgrade them last year. The good news is that rumors indicate that Apple plans to launch these new Mac models in 2025.
Unfortunately, the new Mac models likely won’t have many changes on the outside, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be worth it. If you’re looking for a new mighty Mac, this might be the year to upgrade.
Here’s everything we know about the upcoming MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
Don’t Expect Any Big Design Changes This Year
As we mentioned, the MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro won’t have any significant design changes.
We’re expecting Apple to keep the same design for all three models, which means you won’t be able to tell them apart from their predecessors. There will undoubtedly be a few minor upgrades in the hardware department, which we’ll discuss in a moment, but they won’t likely be noticeable.
This means that if you’re only looking to get a new Mac look and feel, you’ll likely want to skip this year.
What’s New With the M4 MacBook Air
Apple will continue to offer two MacBook Air models: a smaller 13-inch Mac and a bigger 15-inch model. Both computers will be the same, except for their obvious size difference.
According to the rumors, Apple will only focus on upgrading the internal processor this year. As expected, Apple will upgrade from the M3 to the M4 chip on the MacBook Air models. Both Mac models are rumored to keep the same 16 GB of RAM as the current model, which means we’ll see a slight performance boost that’s nothing to write home about — and nothing that will make you want to upgrade if you have an M3 MacBook Air.
While the hardware will most likely be the same as the current model, there have been rumors that Apple might upgrade the front-facing camera on both MacBook Air models. Instead of the 1080p FaceTime HD front-facing camera that the current model has, Apple might upgrade it to the 12-megapixel Center Stage camera that came to the M4 MacBook Pro models last fall.
There aren’t any signs that Apple will change the price of the new MacBook Air models, which suggests we might see the same $1,099 and $1,299 price tag for the 13-inch and 15-inch models, respectively. Fortunately, you’ll not get at least 16 GB of RAM at these starting prices since Apple already bumped base RAM in its M2 and M3 models last fall.
While we don’t have an exact release date, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg expects Apple to launch these new Macs in early 2025. Apple launched the M3 MacBook Airs on March 4, 2024, so we expect the company to do the same for this year’s models. It’s also interesting to note that Apple’s last two MacBook lineups were announced one year apart on the same date: the M3 MacBook Pro on Oct 30, 2023, and the M4 MacBook Pro on Oct 30, 2024.
Mac Studio
The Mac Studio launched in 2022, heralding the arrival of the M1 Ultra, Apple’s leading-edge silicon that effectively doubled the performance of the already potent M1 Max. The Mac Studio was updated to the M2 Ultra the following year, but Apple skipped an update last year as it seemingly didn’t have an M3 Ultra chip ready to go. Thankfully, it looks like it plans to fix that this year.
While the body of the Mac Studio will remain the same, it’s almost certain that Apple will upgrade the ports. Instead of the Thunderbolt 4 ports of the current model, the new Mac Studio should feature Thunderbolt 5 ports. That’s the same upgrade Apple did to the M4 Pro-equipped Mac mini and MacBook Pro models last year.
Those Thunderbolt 5 ports are effectively part of Apple’s higher-end M4 chips, and like the current Mac Studio, we expect Apple to introduce a new M4 Ultra chip that builds on the powerful M4 Pro and M4 Max processors.
We expect Apple will launch the new Mac Studio sometime between March and June. Apple released the first generation Mac Studio in March 2022, so there’s a slight possibility we might see that happen again this year. However, the second-generation model arrived during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2023.
Since there haven’t been any rumors about the price, we expect Apple to keep the same $1,999 price tag for the base model.
Mac Pro
Even though the Mac Pro is the most powerful computer Apple makes, it hasn’t been upgraded since it launched in 2023 with the M2 Ultra chip. However, it seems Apple might finally upgrade it this year.
This is Apple’s most expensive Mac, and that isn’t likely to change this year.
Like the other Mac models this year, the Mac Pro’s design will most likely remain the same, so the most expensive cheese grater won’t be going away any time soon.
Instead, Apple will focus on the inside of the Mac Pro. As expected, the company will upgrade to the M4 processor, but it won’t be any regular chip. Instead, there have been rumors that Apple is working on the highest-end M4 chip that will be announced alongside this new Mac.
We don’t know much about this chip beyond its codename: Hidra. Additionally, Gurman claims that this chip, which will probably end up being the M4 Ultra, will support up to a 32-core CPU and up to an 80-core GPU, which would be a massive improvement. For comparison, the current M4 Max chip supports up to a 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU, and even the 2023 M2 Ultra has a 24-core CPU and 60-core GPU, with a 32-core Neural Engine.
The price of the Mac Pro will probably not change this year, so expect to spend at least $6,999 for the base model. As for the release date, the rumor is that Apple will announce the new Mac Pro in the summer of 2025. If Apple uses the same release month as it did when it launched the M2 Ultra Mac Pro, we should expect an announcement in June.
Will You Upgrade Your Old Mac This Year?
While new products are always exciting, there’s no doubt that users who have a relatively new MacBook Air, Mac Studio, or Mac Pro will probably not need to upgrade this year.
On the other hand, if you have an older Mac, this year might be your best opportunity to upgrade to one of Apple’s latest and greatest computers.
Of course, remember to take all this with a grain of salt, as it is rumors and speculation. We’ll have to wait for Apple to finally announce these Macs before we know if the upgrade is worth it. The good news is that we might not have to wait that long.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
