![\"\"](\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/10\/m4-macbook-pro-video-event.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1600\")
<\/figure>\nLast October, Apple announced the M4 MacBook Pro<\/a>. On the surface, it looks like yet another MacBook Pro<\/a> spec bump. However, there are a number of key features that make it worth upgrading to, even if you already have an older 14\u2033 MacBook Pro<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There\u2019s recently been a pretty big flip in MacBook Pro<\/a> pricing, which gradually took place over the past year or so:<\/p>\n Those two events, in short, mean that you can now buy a MacBook Pro<\/a> with 512GB of storage and 16GB of memory for $1599 directly from Apple, which previously started at $1999.<\/p>\n Sure, you won\u2019t be buying a Pro chip at that price. In my opinion though, all of the upsides outweigh that one loss.<\/p>\n Without having a Pro chip, you\u2019re able to take a huge leap in battery life. Baseline Apple Silicon is a lot more power efficient.<\/p>\n According to Apple\u2019s website, the M1 Pro 14\u2033 MacBook Pro can handle up to 11 hours of web browsing on a single charge. With an M4 14\u2033 MacBook Pro<\/a>, you can get up to 16 hours. That\u2019s a nearly 50% improvement \u2013 just in that one metric.<\/p>\n Personally, I noticed around double the battery life between the two, mainly because power drain from background apps is reduced substantially. M1 Pro only has two efficiency cores, versus the six of M4. Idle tasks aren\u2019t going consume as much power with M4. <\/p>\n It still blows my mind how large of a year over year leap there was in battery life. I\u2019m rarely recharging my MacBook Pro<\/a> in the middle of the day now.<\/p>\n While all 14\u2033 and 16\u2033 MacBook Pro models have miniLED displays, there\u2019s a massive improvements with more recent models: standard brightness.<\/p>\n With M1 Pro and M2 Pro 14\u2033 MacBook Pro, Apple only offered up to 500 nits of standard non-HDR brightness. M3 features up to 600.<\/p>\n Now, with M4 MacBook Pro<\/a>, you can utilize up to 1000 nits of standard brightness. That makes a huge difference for outdoor visibility.<\/p>\n With third-party apps like Vivid ($10 one time purchase<\/a> if you\u2019re interested), it was possible to unlock additional brightness on your older 14\u2033 or 16\u2033 MacBook Pro. After all, they all include mini-LED panels, which have the capability of going up to 1600 nits while consuming HDR content. These apps essentially allow you to tap into this HDR brightness, even while looking at standard content.<\/p>\n While third-party apps are a great solution, it\u2019s just incredibly nice to have a high level of standard brightness. It goes a long way towards making my M4 MacBook Pro<\/a> feel more like my M4 iPad Pro (which also offers 1000 nits of standard brightness).<\/p>\n Apple toted new 1080p webcams with the 14\u2033 and 16\u2033 MacBook Pro<\/a> in 2021. While they were a decent upgrade over the previous 720p webcams, they were never particularly remarkable.<\/p>\n With the M4 generation, Apple added the 12MP Center Stage camera to the MacBook Pro<\/a> for the first time. This was a feature that initially debuted on the iPad, and later was introduced on the Studio Display.<\/p>\n Center Stage utilizes an ultra-wide camera. With its much wider field of view, you can fit much more into perspective. However, you can also enable face tracking, allowing your perspective to appear normal, whilst also tracking where you are in a room. <\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty nifty, and makes MacBooks a far more viable device for FaceTime, something I previously reserved for my iPad. It also enables Desk View, which does exactly what it says on the tin.<\/p>\n Not to mention the fact that these cameras are also higher resolution.<\/p>\n You might think that going from an M1 Pro chip to an M4 chip would yield a performance downgrade. If your workflow is extremely reliant on GPU performance, this might not be the upgrade for you.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t fall into that bucket though, M1 Pro to M4 is a net win, mainly because theres three years of performance leaps that really close the gap between a pro chip and a baseline chip.<\/p>\n In Geekbench 6, M1 Pro scores around 2386 in single-core performance and around 12344 in multi-core performance. M4? That scores around 3750 in single-core performance and 14704 in multi-core performance.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a 57% leap in single core and a 19% leap in multi-core performance, despite being a \u201clower-end\u201d chip. M4, while being 19% faster in multi-core, also takes a huge leap in neural engine performance, all at a fraction of the power draw. With Apple investing more and more in AI, having a newer chipset might pay off.<\/p>\n Anecdotally, M4 will also kick up the fans less regularly, and won\u2019t feel as warm on your lap.<\/p>\n It may seem boring to upgrade between two MacBooks in the same design generation. However, despite looking the same, these two computers feel remarkably different.<\/p>\n With tariffs around the corner, and Apple price hikes being imminent<\/a>, it might not be the best idea to wait around for future MacBook releases. There are some great deals right now, and we may not see these prices again<\/a> for quite some time.<\/p>\n Best 14-inch MacBook Pro deals:<\/strong><\/p>\n Best 16-inch MacBook Pro deals:<\/strong><\/p>\n Macs, particularly the higher configuration models, are more likely to receive imminent price hikes. Apple tends to keep low supply of those on-hand as they\u2019re less popular. If you think you need a new Mac, you should probably buy it as soon as possible.<\/p>\n Some key countries in Apple\u2019s supply chain, including Vietnam and India, are trying to negotiate tariffs<\/a> with the Trump administration. China, however, is not one of them. Mac supply chain is heavily reliant on China.<\/p>\n My favorite Apple accessories on Amazon:<\/strong><\/p>\n Follow Michael:\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> More.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWhy M4?<\/h2>\n
\n
Far better battery life<\/h2>\n
Screen improvements<\/h2>\n
Improved webcam<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/center-stage-desk-view.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1024\")
<\/figure>\nPerformance<\/h2>\n
Wrap up<\/h2>\n
\n