The MacBook Pro M4 is one of my favorite laptops ever — even if it’s kinda boring

The MacBook Pro M4 is one of my favorite laptops I’ve ever used, just like the many excellent Apple silicon-based MacBooks that came before it. Just as we saw with the MacBook Pro M3, Apple didn’t change a lot with the MacBook Pro M4 — and it doesn’t really need to, as last year’s model was a best laptop contender for many reasons.

The 2024 models do, however, come with welcome upgrades to battery life, memory and USB-C ports, along with a new display option. So, since these units are basically shipping now following their Nov. 8 release date, let’s break down everything you need to know before you hit that buy button.

What I liked about it

The M4 delivers another performance boost

As always, the latest generation of Apple silicon — the M4 chips that succeed the M3 chips of 2023 — pushes performance down the field yet again. And they do so without sacrificing efficiency and battery life. Not only did the M4 and M4 Pro chips handily blast through my work this past week but the Geekbench 6 general performance benchmark test results for these laptops wallop those from some of the latest Windows laptops we’ve tested and the MacBook Pro M3 that came before it.

I’ve seen nary a hiccup while writing this document in Google Docs (one of the over two dozen tabs open in both Chrome and Safari), jumping back and forth to Slack to talk with my editor; editing images in Photos, Preview and Pixelmator Pro; and pulling up other applications in Apple’s own iPhone Mirroring app. Oh, and I’ve just kept the likes of Mail, Photos, Steam, Calendar and 1Password running in the background just in case I need to jump into them. And the speed didn’t differ whether I was using a regular M4-based 14-inch MacBook Pro or a faster M4 Pro-based 16-inch MacBook Pro.

When I loaded the venerable Shadow of the Tomb Raider for its graphics performance benchmark, the game ran at 1080p (set to Highest graphics) at a decent 37 frames per second (fps) on the MacBook Pro M4 and a much-better 80 fps on the MacBook Pro M4 Pro. Both laptops beat the 30 fps minimum that we consider playable. The XPS 14 blasted through this game, while the Yoga Slim 7x couldn’t run the title.

I also took this review as another opportunity to dabble in the excellent AAA title Baldur’s Gate 3. Both MacBook Pros with M4 ran the role-playing game smoothly enough at default settings, but trying to bump up the graphics settings on each showed me their limits. The M4-based MacBook Pro was able to stick slightly north of 30 fps with Medium graphics and resolution just above 1080p, and the M4 Pro-based MacBook Pro let me jump to Ultra graphics at similar resolution while keeping frame rates between 49 and 81 fps.

Improved battery life that contends with the best

There’s both good news and greater news when it comes to the MacBook Pro M4’s endurance on a single charge. Apple claims that the M4 chip’s power-efficient design helps your battery life, which held true in our in-house test that loops a 4K video at 50% brightness in Airplane mode. For starters, we saw the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 last a half hour longer than its M3-based counterpart from last year — and an hour longer than the Dell XPS 14.

If you want a 16-inch MacBook Pro M4, however, know that your CPU decision will probably make an impact on its battery life. Apple’s own estimates mark the M4 Pro as lasting 14% to 21% longer than the M4 Max. It also quotes the M4 Pro chip as outlasting the previous two generations by a smidge while the M4 Max will fall slightly short.

This is why I’m not shocked that the 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro chip lasted around 90 minutes longer than its M3 Max-based counterpart. The MacBook Pros with M4 also beat their similar-sized MacBook Airs with M3, with times around 90 minutes to two hours longer.

Then there’s the better news. Both MacBook Pros with M4 did drastically better on the latest version of our looping-video battery test, with the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 nearly hitting 19 hours and the 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 going past 20 hours. We look forward to testing those scores against the next PC notebooks, as the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x hit 19 hours and 25 minutes on the previous version of the battery test.

Apple’s spec bumps include a memory-doubling boost

All MacBooks used to default to 8GB of memory, which was likely just enough for the modest people who do a good job of managing their applications and choose Apple’s web browser Safari over Google Chrome, a notorious resource hog. Apple apparently saw the light this year, as it upgraded the entry-level MacBook Pro to 16GB of RAM, which it once charged $200 extra for. Oh, and it’s not alone: the new iMac M4 and Mac Mini M4 (as well as the existing MacBook Air M2 and MacBook Air M3) also now start with the same amount of memory.

This means you don’t need to overthink the memory spec on your next Mac, and you’re less likely to see a slowdown during your usage when you (like me) don’t even think to close tabs ever. The 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 I tested is basically the entry-level configuration (save for its Nano-texture glass panel and 1TB storage), and it’s proven indefatigable so far. But your mileage may vary, as I’m not pushing it to its limits with video editing or 3D rendering.

The MacBook Pro’s USB-C port problem is over

One of my biggest complaints with the MacBook Pro M3 came in its varying number of USB-C ports, as those with the entry-level M3 chip only got a pair and those with an M3 Pro or M3 Max found a trio of the input options. Apple clearly saw this was an unnecessarily confusing complexity, as all MacBook Pros with M4 pack three USB-C ports.

There is a new bit of complexity, though, as MacBook Pros with the M4 chip get USB-C ports that support the Thunderbolt 4 spec, while the M4 Pro and M4 Max models support the recently revealed Thunderbolt 5 standard, which is up to three times as fast. Much like the speed-difference upgrades inherent in the M4 Pro and M4 Max, Thunderbolt 5 features may give you more future-proofing than present-day performance.

I’m just happy that all MacBook Pros have the same number of ports, even if some are a bit faster than others. There’s one other way that the entry-level MacBook Pro is more like its brawnier siblings, as Apple sells all MacBook Pros with M4 in the same two colors: the familiar silver hue and the Space Black option available to only M3 Pro and M3 Max models last year. The latter has a fingerprint-resistant coating that I’ve found to work well, but not perfectly, in the last week.

All the standard features you expect — and a new display option

Then there’s all the stuff we’ve come to know and love about the MacBook Pro since its 2021 update. For starters, you get gorgeous 14-inch and 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR displays that are practically OLED quality with excellent contrast and bold colors. Watching “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “John Wick: Chapter 4” side by side, I couldn’t help but marvel at the reds of Peter Parker’s Spidey suit and the blues and ambers of the French subway station that Mr. Wick was exploring.

There is, however, a new optional nano-texture coating — a $150 add-on that’s meant to reduce glare and reflection. I saw this work exactly as intended when I used a nano-texture-enhanced MacBook Pro M4 and the MacBook Pro M2 side by side on a sunny day in NYC. I saw both my own outline and the glare of the sun in the MacBook Pro M2, while the M4’s nano-texture panel picked up the light in a much less distracting manner. Back at home, I was just as impressed by how Wim Wenders’ gorgeous film “Perfect Days” looked just as brilliant on a nano-texture MacBook Pro M4 screen as it did on the 16-inch MacBook Pro M3’s display. And that explains why I didn’t realize both my testing units had the nano-texture display at first.

But since visual flair isn’t worth as much without powerful sound to back it up, Apple’s still packing a six-speaker sound system into both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro M4. And while I could hear slightly stronger sound coming from the larger model, I’ll note that both these laptops impressed me as they blasted everything from Tyler, the Creator’s riffy “Noid” to Charli XCX and The Japanese House’s “Apple” remix.

Apple also upgraded the webcam in the new MacBook Pro with the auto-framing Center Stage trick that follows your face as you move while on a call. It worked well in practice on Slack calls with my colleague Mike Andronico, and I’m thankful that you have to manually enable Center Stage (I’m sure some people would be confused). As for camera quality, Andronico said I looked “pretty clear, with the tiniest bit of fuzz, but that might just be Slack” during that call. He was right, because he noticed much clearer quality when we switched to FaceTime.

Having tested many laptops over the years, he also noted that he could tell I was calling from a MacBook and not the camera built into an average Windows-based laptop, which often have grainier video quality. Apple also added Desk View mode to its cameras, so you can share top-down view of what’s going on below your screen. I could only make this work in FaceTime and not Slack, a flaw that I assume will be patched in a later update.

macOS Sequoia increases iPhone continuity

In recent years, the benefits of being locked in with Apple’s ecosystem have increased, thanks to AirDrop file transfers working a lot better than ever, iPad apps running on Macs and the ability to unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch. 2024’s macOS Sequoia update adds an equally important and arguably overdue feature: iPhone Mirroring.

Once I authenticated my iPhone with the MacBook Pro M4, I was able to see and interact with my phone as if it were an app. While many of my frequently used iPhone apps have Mac counterparts (Todoist, Podcasts and Due), Instagram is just better on the iPhone, and it’s not alone. I could even handle multifactor authentication login without touching my iPhone, which is convenient as heck. Annoyingly, the card game Balatro didn’t work with iPhone Mirroring in my testing, but Andronico reports that Marvel Snap has no such flaw.

Sequoia also adds long-awaited window-management functionality, which lets you drag windows to the sides or corners of your screen to snap them to that section and keep them there. It’s going to be great for the people who basically run their Macs with as little third-party modification as possible, but I’m not going to switch because the free Rectangle utility offers the same functionality with a lot more customization and granularity that Apple doesn’t.

What I didn’t like about it

The MacBook Pro is still a tad pricey — especially on upgrades

Slighting an Apple computer for being on the expensive side is like calling rain wet, but I’m not going to stop doing it. For example, the entry-level MacBook Pro M4 starts at $1,599, and at the time of publishing, Dell offers a similarly configured XPS 14 for $1,200 on sale. You could argue that the MacBook Pro’s better battery life and performance make it worth more than the XPS 14, but a higher barrier to entry is still annoying.

Upgrades are even more expensive in frustrating ways. Apple charges $200 to go from 16GB to 28GB of memory, while Dell puts the same price tag on a jump from 16GB to 32GB. If you want 1TB of storage and not 512GB, Apple’s charging you $200 — twice as much as Dell is.

The pendulum swings both ways here, though. The MacBook Pro M4 starts with that gorgeous 3024-by-1964 Liquid Retina XDR display, and Dell will charge you $300 to go from a 1920-by-1200 panel to a 3200-by-2000 OLED screen.

It’s not the most exciting update

Those looking for reasons to upgrade may have scanned the above and wondered why I’m so excited about RAM. That’s the thing about the 2024 MacBook Pro update: The big news is all under the hood. The M4 chip is more iterative than explosive, and instead of an OLED display we get a nano-texture option for those exposed to brightly lit spaces. And, yes, Apple doubling the default memory is great, but it’s not exactly innovative.

This is all to say that Apple’s currently in a sweet spot moment with the MacBook Pro. Save for the display notch that I wish it would reduce or remove, everything about the MacBook Pro is good enough, great or excellent.

How it compares

Bottom line

With the exception of the folks who are frustrated by the reflection and glare in their MacBook Pro’s screens, the MacBook Pro M4 is less a must-get than it is an improved option over last year’s models. I’m grateful that Apple increased its entry-level memory, brought parity to the MacBook Pro’s USB-C port count and also increased the speed of those ports for select models as well.

To have this all in a MacBook whose entry-level price stayed flat year over year and has slightly improved performance? There’s no way I can argue that the MacBook Pro M4 isn’t a good upgrade, especially when Apple’s MacBook Pros continue to be great values based on their longevity and build quality. I got my MacBook Pro M1 Pro three years ago, and aside from the moments I’ve considered getting into Baldur’s Gate 3 on the Mac, I’ve never really thought that my purchase was anything but a solid investment.

So, whether it’s time for an upgrade from an aging Intel-based MacBook Pro or the original MacBook M1 model with the Touch Bar — or you’re a PC user who’s checking out the grass in Apple’s garden — I’m confident that the MacBook Pro M4 will be one of your favorite laptops ever. The only questions you need to ask yourself are, “Is this overkill and should I get the MacBook Air?” and if the answer is no, “how should I configure the MacBook Pro I’m going to get many years of productivity out of?”

FAQs

Why trust CNN Underscored

CNN Underscored editors thoroughly test all the products we cover and provide full transparency about our testing methodology. We’re made up of an experienced team of editors and writers who have tested various products for years. When necessary, we consult with experts in applicable fields to expand and improve our testing. I’ve reviewed MacBooks for seven years, and for this review, I tested the MacBook Pro M4 for a full week, using it as my personal and work laptop, and performing side-by-side comparisons to the three previous generations of MacBook Pros to confirm Apple’s quality control.