Report: First wave of M4 Macs, including smaller Mac mini, coming November 1

Macs will reportedly launch around the same time as Apple Intelligence in macOS.

Reliable rumors have suggested that M4 Macs are right around the corner, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is forecasting a specific launch date: November 1, following a late-October announcement that mirrors last year's Halloween-themed reveal for the first M3 Macs.

This date could be subject to change, and not all the products announced in October would necessarily launch on November 1—lower-end Macs are more likely to launch early, and higher-end models would be more likely to ship a bit later in the month.

The list of what to expect is the same as it has been for a while: refreshed 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, a new M4 version of the 24-inch iMac, and an M4 update to the Mac mini that leapfrogs the M3 entirely. These will all be the first Macs to get the M4, following its unexpected introduction in the iPad Pro earlier this year.

The refreshed Mac mini is the most interesting of the new models—it's said to come with a fully revamped design for the first time since the aluminum unibody version was released in 2010. The new Mac mini is said to be closer in size to an Apple TV box, but it will retain an internal power supply that doesn't require a bulky external brick. The Mac mini lineup should still be split between two slightly different machines: one entry-level model with a basic M4 chip, and a higher-end M4 Pro version that bridges the gap between the Mac mini and the Mac Studio.

Both Mac mini configurations are expected to have fewer ports than current models, a side effect of the physical downsizing; software references point to at least one model with five USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. Reports suggest that at least some of those ports will be on the front of the computer at least, an addition to the Mac Studio that makes those ports easier to access for accessories that you're plugging in and unplugging regularly.

Gurman also says that a new iPad mini could make an appearance at the October event, the tablet's first update in three years. Other M4 Mac refreshes, including updates for the MacBook Air, the Mac Studio, and the Mac Pro, are planned for sometime in 2025.

The new Macs should launch at around the same time as the macOS Sequoia 15.1 update, which will add the first wave of Apple Intelligence features to Apple Silicon Macs. Apple Intelligence is going to roll out in phases over the course of several macOS Sequoia updates, with image-generation features and more substantive Siri updates following in later updates. As far as we know, the M4 Macs won't get any unique Apple Intelligence features that aren't also available on everything going all the way back to the M1.

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