Apple’s Underpowered MacBook Pro Fails To Match The Hype

With last month’s launch of the M4-powered MacBook Pro laptops, Apple has laid out two incredibly powerful options with the high-end M4 Pro and M4 Max chipsets. Both are available in the 14-inch and 16-inch form factors, and both offer workstation levels of performance for intensely professional buyers.

There, there’s the M4-powered MacBook Pro. This macOS laptop is focused more on the needs of consumers. It comes at a lower price, with fewer configurations and lower performance from the chipset.

The Power You Need In Your MacBook Pro

Of course, underpowered is a relative term. The Apple Silicon M4 chipset delivers some impressive numbers in terms of raw performance, battery life, and graphical capability. Picking up the M4 MacBook Pro in isolation and you are going to find an exceptional laptop.

But it’s a laptop that comes with Apple’s price premium, which is clearly lagging against the other models, and the direct comparison needed to make an informed purchasing decision won’t be on sale till March 2025.

The real issue with the M4 MacBook Pro is the M4 MacBook Air. You don’t have the M4 MacBook Air to act as a comparison because Apple is holding it back. It’s not expected to launch until late in the first quarter of 2025 (many think it’s going to arrive alongside the next-generation iPhone SE).

The M4 MacBook Air will be the closest in performance to the M4 MacBook Pro. The additions to the MacBook Pro that have engaged the early reviewers—such as the increased performance of the M4 chipset, offering 16 GB of RAM as a baseline, more I/O ports and the addition of a new surface coating — could all arrive on the next MacBook Air. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t, and if they do then the value for money of the M4 MacBook Pro will drop precipitously.

MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air

If the Air picks up the identical additions to the package as the Pro, the only essential difference could be the increased thermal performance between the passively cooled MacBook Air and the fan-driven active cooling of the MacBook Pro. If your chief consideration is performance, then you will be looking at the M4 Pro and M4 Max-powered MacBook Pro laptops. For everyone else, the differences between the MacBook Air and the entry-level MacBook Pro will be much more nuanced and likely to put a premium on a more competitive price.

Apple has denied consumers that comparison. We don’t know what an M4-powered MacBook Air will offer. Those looking at the M4-powered MacBook Pro are buying, at least partially, in the blind.

Since the debut of Apple Silicon and the launch of the M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro, Apple has struggled to justify the consumer-focused MacBook Air. It was understandable in the Intel days when clear compromises around performance and thermal management had to be made to get the MacBook Air out the door. The need for a basic MacBook Pro was clear.

Those compromises are no longer needed. The vanilla Apple Silicon of the M1, M2 and M3 chipsets is more than good enough for consumers. There’s no need for a “short” MacBook Pro, yet Apple has rolled out the M4 version to entice consumers… and not rolled out the only other competing macOS-powered laptop that could offer consumers a genuine choice.

Hyping The MacBook Pro

The M4 MacBook Pro is underpowered compared to the M4 Pro and M4 Mac variants. The MacBook Pro range as a whole remains heavily hyped, and the addition of the awkwardly backronymed Apple Intelligence turns that up to 11. And the upgrades to the laptop specifications are little more than catching up on poor decisions in the past.

In context, the M4 MacBook Pro is an adequate laptop, but Apple has far more powerful options on sale now and far more cost-effective options that will be released in the near future.

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