Apple will release the new Mac mini, MacBook Proand the iMac with the M4 chip tomorrow. After revealing them through press releases last week, Cupertino sent journalists and influencers review units of its latest Macs. Here’s what they say about the new M4 Macs and whether they’re worth upgrading.
M4 iMac reviews
The M4 iMac features new colors, a nanotexture option, faster Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB-C accessories, and more. Here’s what reviews say about the M4 iMac:
Six colors praises the new 12 MP Center Stage camera found on the M4 iMac. The publication says it’s better than the one on Studio Display:
With the M4 iMac, the FaceTime camera has finally been upgraded to center stage. And maybe it was worth the wait, for this isn’t it the same 12MP sensor as in some previous Center Stage cameras. It’s new and improved – so improved I could tell the difference the first second I turned it on.
In a challenging low-light environment, the native Center Stage camera on an Apple Studio display can look blurry, patchy, and low-contrast. The new Center Stage camera on the M4 iMac looks sharper, with more contrast and much more natural skin tones. This is how Center Stage should have looked all along, and it’s a nice upgrade.
PCMag reviewed the M4 iMac with the nanotexture option. The publication thinks it is one of the best on the market:
Looking at the screen was really a testament to how well it works. I’ve seen plenty of matte-finish displays, but the iMac’s better-than-4K display looked amazingly clear, with no loss of sharpness.
TechCrunch says this model is an enticing upgrade, as long as you’re coming from an Intel Mac:
The iMac remains an excellent entry-level desktop, for those who would rather not buy an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, et al. It is also an ideal system for IT departments to deploy on a large scale in offices – or for the aforementioned dental reception.
It’s a big upgrade for those with an older Intel system, but anyone who’s bought an iMac since 2021 won’t need to bother with an upgrade. It won’t make much of a difference for day-to-day tasks, and those keen to try Apple Intelligence will be able to do so on any Mac with an M1 or later.
You can also read reviews of Ars Technica, Tom’s guideand Forbes.
Mac mini reviews
Apple overhauled the Mac mini with an all-new compact design. It also offers new M4 and M4 Pro options. Here’s what reviews say about this M4 Mac:
Despite the lack of an SD card slot, The Verge loved the new Mac mini. The budget option is good enough for most users, and the thermal system allows the M4 to run smoothly:
Apple’s renewed thermal system for the Mini keeps the M4 model running quietly. Even when I’m deep into a Lightroom photo editing session, I can’t hear the fan. I’m sure the M4 Pro’s extra GPU cores would make those RAW edits even faster, but the regular M4 is up to the task for most photo work. Elsewhere, the machine has rarely missed a step, no matter what I throw at it. I’m not a videographer, so I can’t speak to whether serious editing work would expose the M4’s limits. If there’s a use case that justifies stepping up to the M4 Pro, it likely will.
Engadget also praises the new Mac mini form factor and features. But upgrading its memory and storage can be insanely expensive:
If you’re just looking for a simple and adorable little Mac desktop, the $599 Mac mini will probably be all you need. And if you’re looking to do some more serious work and can’t justify the $1,999 Mac Studio, the $1,399 model is a decent value compared to PC workstations. Just be prepared to put up with Apple’s upgrade prices: you’ll have to spend another $400 just to get 32GB of RAM on the base Mini, and another $400 to get a 1TB SSD. That’s completely out of step with prices outside the Apple ecosystem, where you can easily find a decent 1TB NVMe SSD under $100. (That said, unlike a laptop, connecting a cheap but roomy external drive to the mini is a more viable option.)
CNETs review of the M4 Mac mini wanted to see if this could be Apple’s budget gaming system. Still, some games definitely required an M4 Pro processor or more RAM:
In my tests, the M4 Mini was good for casual gaming, especially if you lean towards more mobile-friendly indie games. With more graphically demanding titles, you’ll probably need to dial back to Medium for graphics settings and play at 1440p or 1080p for a more enjoyable experience. On Baldur’s Gate 3 I set it to Ultra and it wasn’t smooth, which is to be expected. No doubt bumping the M4 Pro or even going over 16GB of memory in my Mini would solve it.
You can also read reviews of the M4 Mac mini by TechCrunch, Tom’s guideand Cable connected.
M4 MacBook Pro reviews
The Verge got a chance to review the base model M4 MacBook Pro, which the publication calls “a pro for everyone.” It says this M4 Mac fixes most of the problems with the previous iteration:
The M4 MacBook Pro fixes almost every complaint we had with the M3 version. It starts at $1,599 with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD – the same starting price as the M3 model, but with two more CPU cores, double the RAM and a third Thunderbolt port . That port is on the right side, just like on the “real” one Pro models, so you can finally charge or connect to an external display on either side of the laptop. The Pro also benefits from Apple’s overall bump to 16GB of memory. Apple Intelligence is mostly boring and useless right now, but I thank it for the gift of more RAM.
Fast company focused its M4 Pro MacBook Pro review on the new nano-textured screen. The publication was fascinated by it:
With the nanotexture display option, the MacBook Pro screen has finally been freed from the reflective Plexiglas prison it has been trapped in. Whether I was working indoors or outdoors, there was never any kind of glare on the screen. This meant I didn’t have to adjust the MacBook to avoid being under bright overhead light, nor did I have to look for a shady area when I sat with it outside in a coffee shop.
But the lack of glare isn’t even the nanotexture screen’s best quality. It must be what it looks like. It’s hard to describe this, because you really have to see it to understand. The closest I can come to describing it is that it doesn’t “feel” digital. It’s smooth and bright and has even colors, as most screens do, but it looks more like an organic canvas, a beautiful living tapestry where the physical manifestation of light resides.
Good housekeeping praised the MacBook Pro’s power with increased battery life and the new center stage camera:
I was able to apply complex AI-powered batch edits almost instantly across all images with no noticeable lag, and then exported 100 selections, which took just over four minutes. This real test felt significantly smoother and faster than anything I’ve done on the Air.
(…) I also used it for a FaceTime call and found the new “Centre Stage” camera impressive, as it always kept my face in the center of the frame. (…) Battery life is impressive, as it has been on Mac laptops ever since 2020. It’s rated to give you up to 24 hours of battery life, but what’s most impressive is how efficient it remains when running on battery. Honestly, until you do something strenuous, it may hardly even seem like the battery is draining at all.
You can also read reviews of TechCrunch, CNET, and Six colors.
