Latest news with #M4Pro
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
AMD's Ryzen AI Max Pro and Apple's M4 Pro are strong, but which powers the better workstation?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Not all workstations are created equal. Some are designed for STEM research and data analysis, while others are more design-focused. Either way, workstations need to be powerful machines with brawny processors to match. Apple's Pro-series silicon powers the MacBook Pros, which have become a staple for many designers thanks to their unmatched CPU and GPU performance. But AMD's newest Ryzen AI Max chip could potentially change that. We've compared AMD's Ryzen AI Max chip to the Apple M4 Pro before, based on our testing of the Asus ROG Flow Z 13 and MacBook Pro 16. But the M4 Pro isn't a gaming chipset; it's intended for high-performance design work like illustration, architecture, or app development. That makes the Ryzen AI Max+ Pro variant in HP's recently reviewed ZBook Ultra 14 G1a a far better competitor. The ZBook Ultra is also aimed at creative professionals who need powerful computing in a portable package. So, which is the better workstation chip? Apple's high-end M4 Pro, or AMD's Ryzen AI Max Pro? View Deal View Deal Workstations need good general performance, so we still run the usual Geekbench and Handbrake tests and more design and data analysis-focused benchmarks like the PugetBench Adobe suite tests and SPECWorkstation for compatible Windows machines. The HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a outperforms the Apple MacBook Pro 14's M4 chip in general performance and the PugetBench tests, but the MacBook Pro 16's M4 Pro holds onto its lead. However, the ZBook closed the gap between the Ryzen AI Max and the M4 Pro compared to the ROG Flow Z13, as the Flow Z13's performance was capped at 70 Watts due to its tablet-style design. Click to view chart data in table format. HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024) Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) Geekbench 6 Single-core (Higher is better) 2,837 3,807 3,910 Geekbench 6 Multicore (Higher is better) 17,721 15,114 22,822 Handbrake conversion (Lower is better) 02:34 4:27 2:38 Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: Read (Higher is better) 4,468.0 2,900.1 5,353.7 Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: Write (HIgher is better) 4276.1 3,318.6 6,640.5 PugetBench Photoshop (Higher is better) 10,186 10,542 12,292 PugetBench Premiere Pro (Higher is better) 7,223 4,618 8,888 Borderlands 3 (1080p, fps) 97.19 23.03 42.80 Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, fps) 81 36 79 Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p, fps) 168.62 53.548 98.357 While the M4 Pro is still the more powerful chip, the Ryzen AI Max Pro offers some solid competition. It has the advantage of operating on Windows 11, which offers a broader range of supported programs. That might make it a better fit, depending on what applications you need to run. Unfortunately, all of the Ryzen AI Max's power comes at the cost of battery life. The HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a lasted 6 hours and 45 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, while the MacBooks lasted 18 hours. Click to view chart data in table format. HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024) Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) Battery life (Higher is better) 06:45 18:32 20:46 As always, this depends. If you need to use specialty CAD software like SolidWorks, macOS isn't the best bet. At the same time, you can run Windows programs through various virtualization tools and emulation, which can often cause performance issues and slow down your processing speeds, making the M4 Pro's increased performance gains functionally worthless. But if you primarily intend to use design tools like Blender or the Adobe suite, you can run almost everything you need on Apple Silicon. And if you want the best performance, a great display, and industry-leading battery life, Apple is still the way to go. Assuming, of course, you have the flexibility to choose macOS. The HP ZBook Ultra with AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ Pro chip is an excellent alternative if you don't. Apple is ramping up its iPhone release cycle at the worst possible time Are Snapdragon X Elite chips that much better on battery power than AMD and Intel? I've found the best new laptop for designers, and it's a Lenovo Legion 9i
Mint
05-05-2025
- Mint
MacBook Pro M5 launch: What we expect from the next refresh
If you're in the market for a new MacBook Pro, you have the option of the MacBook Pro with the M4 chip. The series is powered by the M4 line of chips, including the base M4, the M4 Pro, and the M4 Max. However, if you're not in a hurry, you may want to wait for the rumoured next-generation MacBook Pro refresh, which could debut as soon as later this year. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, this launch is mostly confirmed. Wondering what this new series of MacBooks might bring to the table? Here's a quick wrap of what reports have said so far. The MacBook Pro expected later this year is likely to be powered by the upcoming M5 series of chips This would naturally follow the M4 models currently available. As for which versions of the M5 Apple might launch, such as the M5 Pro or M5 Max, remains to be seen. However, given Apple's previous release patterns, including with the M4 series, it wouldn't be surprising to see these variants arrive. Reports suggest Apple could be saving a significant redesign or an OLED display upgrade for 2026. The Elec also reported this in February, making it more than likely that this year's model will be another incremental refresh, much like the past couple of generations. So, while the OLED MacBook Pro could become a reality in 2026, the M5-powered MacBook Pros may continue to ship with the current Liquid Retina XDR display. Even the base version of the MacBook Pro with the entry-level M4 chip now includes 16GB of unified memory. With Apple Intelligence set to be a core part of future products, 16GB of unified memory will likely remain a consistent inclusion in the MacBook M5 as well. Mark Gurman suggests that the MacBook Pro M5 refresh could arrive around the same timeframe as the M4 generation did, meaning a potential launch in October to November 2025. So, if you're currently using an older MacBook Pro, don't need an urgent upgrade, and can wait for the next major model, it may be worth holding out until then. First Published: 5 May 2025, 08:25 PM IST
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Yahoo
I'd love to get the Mac Studio for gaming, but one thing is holding me back
These days, I often feel like I'm one of those rare breeds: a gamer who also loves Macs. My home office work is split between my M1 Mac mini and my small-form-factor Windows PC, and to be honest it's annoying to have to switch between the two all the time. Unfortunately, my love of gaming — and Apple's relative inexperience here — means that I've had to stick with both macOS and Windows for some time now. Sure, I'd love to drop Windows once and for all, but it just doesn't feel as though the Mac is quite there yet in terms of gaming performance. That said, Apple's M4 chips have made gaming much more viable on a Mac. As we saw in our Mac Studio review, the M4 Max chip is very capable when it comes to gaming performance. I've previously talked about how the Mac mini's gaming performance has made it difficult to resist ditching my Windows PC and going all-in on macOS. Now, the Mac Studio is making the whole situation even more confusing. Pricing-wise, the Mac mini and the Mac Studio seem to be fairly far apart, even when you boost the former's chip for better gaming output. Get a Mac mini with M4 Pro chip and you'll pay around $1,399 — for the mac Studio with M4 Max chip, you're looking at starting price of $1,999. That $600 difference is sizeable. But things get a bit more interesting when gaming becomes a more serious consideration. Because there's no discrete GPU in these Macs, and because the M4 Pro is far from Apple's strongest chip, you'll probably want the beefiest M4 Pro you can get. Upgrade to the version with a 14-core CPU and a 20-core GPU and you're looking at a $1,599 price — a more reasonable $400 less than the Mac Studio. That's important because the M4 Max is much better for gaming than the M4 Pro. In our Mac Studio review, the M4 Max hit 114fps in Civilization VI and managed smooth frame rates when running Baldur's Gate 3 at 4K resolution, for example. It also outdid the M3 Ultra in gaming performance, which we were not expecting. When we tested the Mac mini, it performed worse than the previous-generation M3 Max chip. While we don't have a direct comparison of the M4 Pro and M4 Max yet, it's clear that the latter should be way ahead. This has upended things a bit for me. When the M4 Mac mini came out, I was so taken by its dinky size and so impressed by its overall performance (despite it lacking a little in gaming) that I was almost ready to get rid of my M1 Mac mini and my Windows PC together and replace them with Apple's tiny desktop machine. Now that the Mac Studio with M4 Max is here, it's looking like the more attractive option for gamers. Sure, you'll have to pay more, but it offers more reliable gaming performance while simultaneously outdoing even the M3 Ultra in terms of frame rates. That's obviously pretty confusing, but if it means I don't have to spend $4,000 and up for an M3 Ultra Mac Studio, that's fine by me. So, does that mean that the Mac Studio is the best option for Apple gamers in search of a desktop machine? Maybe, but Apple still hasn't solved the biggest problem here: a lack of native games. The recent addition of Cyberpunk 2077 was a big win for Mac gamers, but it really feels like the exception that proves the rule. Illustrating the gulf with Windows, there's still no native support for Grand Theft Auto V, Call of Duty, Elden Ring and other AAA games and franchises on the Mac. Sure, you could supplement your Mac with Nvidia GeForce Now, and that's something I've considered before. But that can get expensive and doesn't cover every game. And really, I'd like to game natively rather than relying on another pricey subscription that drains my bank account every month. It's a shame that you have to spend Mac Studio money to get decent gaming performance within Apple's ecosystem. Considering current GPU prices for Windows machines, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. But I'd still rather not have to sell a kidney to enjoy a spot of Mac gaming at smooth, stable frame rates. Still, I can't deny that we're seeing progress. That the M4 Max can offer solid gaming performance at all is a welcome improvement over previous years. Hopefully 2025 will be the year of top-tier games coming to the Mac — and of Apple solving the biggest problem Mac gamers are currently facing.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple's M4 Mac mini drops to a new record-low price
Apple's recently-released M4 Mac mini has dropped to a new record-low price. You can scoop one up for $529 via Amazon, which is a discount of 12 percent. This version ships with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Other models are also on sale, as the one with 16GB/512GB now costs $700 and the beefy 24GB/512GB will now set you back $900 instead of $1,000. We called the M4 Mac mini "shockingly small" and "incredibly powerful" in our official review, and that stands today. The chip is fast, which makes sense as it's Apple's latest effort, and the smaller design doesn't take up much desk space. That leaves plenty of room for a monitor, mouse and keyboard. We like that these desktops don't go any lower than 16GB of RAM, so any version will excel with music production, light video editing and other creative tasks. For real-deal video editing, you may want to pony up for the extra RAM or go with a model that's been outfitted with the M4 Pro (which aren't on sale.) There are front-facing USB-C and headphone ports, which are nice, and plenty more connection options on the rear. On the downside, there's no SD card reader, which is something that many teensy PCs include. The fan can also get pretty loud during heavy workloads. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
MacBook Air refresh with M4 silicon might arrive within a week
A new version of MacBook Air powered by Apple's M4 processor is right around the corner, it seems, and might be launched within a week. 'Apple is preparing to make a Mac-related announcement as early as this coming week,' reports Bloomberg, adding that the reveal is imminent. The current-gen MacBook Air with M3 silicon was announced in the first week of March in 2024, and it seems Apple is sticking with its refresh schedule rather strictly for its popular entry-level laptop. The machine will likely arrive in 13-inch and 15-inch formats, just like its predecessor. The most significant tweak on the upcoming laptops, of course, will be the implementation of the M4 silicon, which elevates the raw processing capabilities and improves its energy efficiency metrics, as well. The M4 chip serves a configuration of ten CPU cores, four of which are high-performance cores while the remaining six are optimized for efficiency to handle less demanding workloads. The graphics engine is a 10-core GPU cluster, an upgrade over the previous-gen Apple silicon. The M4 has already appeared inside the MacBook Pro, and more powerful variants — M4 Pro and M4 MaX — are already on the shelves. Interestingly, as per alleged benchmark runs, the M4 chip inside MacBook Air will go toe-to-toe with the MacBook Pro. Apple claims that the M4 silicon achieves a performance level roughly 1.8 times higher than the M1, and further notes that it is capable of delivering a speed enhancement of up to 3.4 times when handling resource-intensive operations, such as graphics rendering within the Blender software. The next-generation neural processing unit, or NPU, shipping with the M4 stack is also touted to offer a threefold increase in speed. However, do keep in mind that the MacBook Air isn't quite on the same footing as the MacBook Pro with the same base M4 processor. That's primarily because the MacBook Air lacks a fan, which means thermal throttling kicks into action rather quickly. My own experience with the M3 MacBook Air suggests that it can clock high on the benchmark tables, but can't quite handle sustained load. Not much is going to change from a design perspective, as rumors suggest that the MacBook Air's M4 iteration will look roughly the same as the M3 variant. It would be interesting to see if Apple adds some new colors to the lineup. We're not quite sure about the pricing situation yet, but if Apple doesn't take the price hike route, we're looking at a minimum ask worth $1,099 for the 13-inch model.
