Apple is just a few weeks away from unveiling a number of M4 Macs and the brand new iPad mini 7. That’s what all of the leaks say, and I don’t have any cause to query them at this level. The M4 MacBook Pro appeared in a couple of hands-on videos previously few days, so there shouldn’t be a lot of a query that it’s about to be introduced.
The excellent news for patrons is that Apple is certainly getting ready just a few thrilling upgrades for the bottom M4 14-inch MacBook Professional, which is able to make it an excellent higher buy than its predecessor. The dangerous information — at the least, for Apple — is that somebody was in a position to steal a bunch of those laptops. It’s unclear what the backstory is, however the Russian YouTubers who posted hands-on movies of the M4 MacBook Professional purchased the unreleased laptop computer from someplace.
Some mentioned the M4 MacBook Professional was accessible through a Fb group, however the vendor has apparently gone additional than that. The M4 MacBook Professional was being offered, at the least briefly, on the black market in Russia. Spoiler alert: The bottom M4 MacBook Professional will likely be a significantly better worth than the M3 variant, however it’s best to completely not pay $7,500 for a stolen unit.
The most important improve other than the M4 chip is the entry-level RAM increase to 16GB. That’s double the RAM of the bottom M3 MacBook Professional. You’d must pay an additional $200 to get 16GB of RAM on the present 14-inch mannequin.
The hands-on movies have each confirmed that the M4 MacBook Professional comes with 16GB of RAM. We even have a benchmark take a look at from one of many two YouTubers that proves the laptop computer has 16GB of reminiscence. Assuming Apple retains the bottom M4 MacBook Professional’s beginning value at $1,599, it is going to be an excellent higher alue than its predecessor.
The leaks additionally confirmed one other improve some customers will respect. The bottom 14-inch mannequin options three USB-C ports as an alternative of two. Final yr, solely the M3 Professional and M3 Max variations of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Professional featured three Thunderbolt ports.
The Russian leaks additionally instructed that the M4 MacBook Pro will launch in November, so that you gained’t have to attend lengthy to get one.
Nonetheless, Russian patrons won’t be able to buy the laptop computer as simply. Apple has stopped promoting merchandise within the area after Russia invaded Ukraine. That explains why anybody in possession of what can solely be stolen M4 MacBook Professionals would attempt to promote them to Russian customers on the black market. All Apple merchandise that someway make it into Russia will promote at the next value than what Apple would cost within the area.
In accordance with MacRumors, a Russian classifieds web site showed listings for the unreleased M4 MacBook Professional following the hands-on movies that leaked earlier this week.
The itemizing mentions the identical upgrades above, additional confirming we’re trying on the similar batch of merchandise. The asking value is ready at 720,000 rubles, or round $7,500. That’s 5 instances what the M4 MacBook Professional will price, at the least within the US. No one of their proper thoughts ought to pay any of that for a MacBook of any type. However, once more, the struggle within the area will make such listings attainable.
The listings additionally mentioned the value would change day by day earlier than they disappeared from the web site. It’s unclear whether or not anybody purchased M4 MacBook Professional from the folks publishing these listings, and we could by no means discover out. That mentioned, the M4 MacBook Professional theft story have to be fascinating. Time will inform whether or not Apple or anybody else will clarify what occurred.
In the meantime, we’re again to ready in the actual world. Apple ought to announce the M4 MacBook Professionals within the coming weeks. We’re additionally getting different M4 Macs, although the M4 Air will solely arrive subsequent yr. It’s unclear whether or not Apple will host one other press occasion, however something is feasible.
