Top Stories: M4 Mac Launch, iOS 18.2 Changes, and More

There's been a lot to catch up since last week's introduction of the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac models, and we've learned more about the new machines as they've made their way into the hands of reviewers and now regular customers.

top stories 9nov2024a
Apple is also rolling along on iOS 18.2 development with additional Apple Intelligence features, and it's now in public beta as well as developer beta ahead of an expected early December release. Read on below for all the details on these stories and more!

M4 Pro Chip Benchmark Results Reveal an Extremely Impressive Performance Feat

Ahead of the official launch of the M4 Macs, we began seeing some impressive benchmarks for the new chips. While we had some idea of the raw performance of the base M4 chip given its inclusion in the iPad Pro released earlier this year, the M4 Pro and M4 Max are brand-new higher-end chips with correspondingly better performance.

M4 M4 Pro vs M4 Max Feature
The M4 Pro tops even the M2 Ultra in multi-core CPU performance, with the M4 Max pushing things even further with two additional CPU cores compared to the M4 Pro in their highest configurations. On the graphics side, the new M4 Max can't quite match the M2 Ultra with its 76-core GPU at the high end, but it comes pretty close and blows past the M3 Max.

For a comparison of all of the M4 variants found in the latest Macs, be sure to check out our guide.

Mac Mini With M4 and M4 Pro Reviews: Smaller Design and Pro Performance Make for Major Upgrade

With the new M4 Macs being announced around a week and a half of ahead of their public launch, media and YouTubers were able to get some early hands-on time with the new machines.

m4 mini hands thumb 1
Reviewers appreciated the Mac mini's redesign and beefed-up power, while the MacBook Pro delivers solid spec improvements and a fantastic new nano-texture display glass option. The M4 iMac offers a similar nano-texture glass option, a Center Stage camera, and updated colors.

We've had a brief chance to go hands-on with the Mac mini ourselves, and it's definitely an impressive upgrade in nearly every way.

Apple Silicon Unified Memory: How Much Mac RAM Do You Need?

With all Macs now starting with at least 16GB of unified memory, it's worth considering how much you should opt for when choosing or configuring a new Mac for purchase. After all, memory can't be upgraded after purchase, so you need to get it right the first time.

apple silicon feature joeblue
One of our latest guides walks through the various memory options ranging from 16GB on consumer machines all the way up to a maximum of 192GB on the Mac Pro, so see where you fall based on the tasks you need your Mac to be able to accomplish.

Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 2

Apple is continuing work on iOS 18.2 and related updates that are expected to officially launch in early December, and the latest beta seeded to developers and public beta testers this week includes a number of changes.

Generic iOS 18
A new Find My feature lets you temporarily share the location of an item like an AirTag with an "airline or trusted person" which can be useful when trying to track down lost luggage or other items. Siri integration with ChatGPT has been enhanced with information on daily limits for free users, as well as offering the ability to upgrade to a paid ChatGPT Plus plan. There are a number of other tweaks in the latest beta, so check out the full article for more!

Apple Acquires Photo Editing App Maker Pixelmator

In a surprise announcement, Pixelmator shared that it is being acquired by Apple, bringing its popular Pixelmator and Photomator apps under Apple's purview.

pixelmator
While there will be no immediate changes to the existing apps, the move could eventually see Pixelmator become an advanced image editing app for Apple, which previously offered Aperture in that role but ceased development on it a decade ago and it eventually stopped working on machines running macOS Catalina and later.

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Yes, it's that time of year again! Holiday shopping deals are already kicking into high gear with several weeks still to go before the main shopping blitz.

best early black friday deals
We're seeing solid deals on Apple products like AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and more, so make sure to keep tabs on all of our coverage to help save some money on all of those holiday gifts!

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Popular Stories

best buy holiday

Best Buy Reveals Black Friday Plans With Sitewide Sales Available Now

Friday November 8, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Black Friday sales are continuing today with Best Buy kicking off early Black Friday deals that will last for the next few days. Similar to other retailers, Best Buy's early Black Friday event includes sitewide savings on Apple products, headphones, TVs, monitors, video games, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases Firmware Updates for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday November 11, 2024 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released firmware updates for both AirPods 4 models (version number 7B20) and the AirPods Pro 2 with both Lightning and USB-C charging cases (version number 7B21). All of these AirPods models were previously on firmware version 7B19. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in firmware versions 7B20 and 7B21, but we will update this story if we find...
mac mini thermal architecture feature

New Mac Mini Has Modular Storage, 256GB Model Will Have Faster SSD

Friday November 8, 2024 7:06 am PST by
Apple has returned to using two 128GB storage chips in the new Mac mini with 256GB of storage, according to a partial teardown video shared on social media today. This means the base-model Mac mini with the M4 chip will not have significantly slower SSD speeds compared to higher-end configurations of the computer with 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage, as multiple NAND chips allows for faster SSD...
General Final Cut Pro Feature

Apple Likely to Announce Final Cut Pro Update This Week With These New Features

Sunday November 10, 2024 12:13 pm PST by
In its announcement video for the new Mac mini last month, Apple teased an "upcoming" version of Final Cut Pro for the Mac. Apple will likely announce the update during the annual Final Cut Pro Creative Summit, which begins this Wednesday. The conference is held in association with Apple, and attendees will be visiting Apple Park on the first day. Apple already teased four new features...
iphone 6 thickness

iPhone 17 'Air' May Not Be Much Thinner Than iPhone 6

Monday November 11, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 17 "Air" model may not be as thin as Apple planned, according to a rumor originating in Korea. According to the news aggregator account "yeux1122" on Naver, citing industry sources, Apple has run into problems making the new iPhone 17 model sufficiently thin. The device's reduced thickness is apparently dependent on manufacturing a battery with a thinner substrate, but...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 2

Monday November 4, 2024 12:34 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 updates to developers, and Apple is continuing to refine the Apple Intelligence capabilities. There are also a handful of smaller features that are worth knowing about. Find My Find My has a new option to Share Item Location with an "airline or trusted person" that can help you locate something that you've misplaced....
iphone passcode green

Cops Suspect iOS 18 iPhones Are Communicating to Force Reboots, Making Unlocking Harder

Thursday November 7, 2024 2:20 pm PST by
Law enforcement officials in Detroit, Michigan are warning other police officers about an alleged iPhone change that causes Apple devices stored for forensic examination to spontaneously restart, reports 404 Media. iPhones that are undergoing examination have apparently been rebooting, which makes them harder to unlock with brute force methods, and Michigan police think that it's due to a...