Should you upgrade from M1 to M4 MacBook Pro? I did, and it was totally worth it

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The M4 MacBook Professional begins at $1,799 and options enhancements in probably the most refined locations.
• Upgrades to graphical efficiency, battery life, and switch speeds are probably the most notable.
• Be ready to overpay for nearly each spec bump.

extra shopping for selections

On Amazon, each single M4 MacBook Pro configuration is on sale. You should purchase Apple’s newest flagship laptop computer for as little as $1,299.

I have been utilizing the M4 MacBook Pro for a couple of months now, and it is probably the most boringly superior gadget in my each day arsenal.

With out making my 14-inch M1 MacBook Professional jealous, the newest mannequin is Apple’s most polished and full laptop computer but, to the purpose the place the bottom M4 configuration may be ok for 90% of customers. Most individuals will probably be delighted by the M4 MacBook Professional’s total computing expertise, particularly in the event that they’re coming from an Intel-based system.

Additionally: 5 Apple devices you definitely shouldn’t buy this month (and 7 to get instead)

A smaller share — the fans — will completely salivate over the finer touches, from the modifications to the USB-C ports to the brighter display in SDR mode. The truth is, the bottom M4 mannequin — not the M4 Professional or M4 Max — is exactly the one I have been lugging round city, and it is received all of the bells and whistles I must push via rigorous quantities of video and photo editing, gaming (with all of the rays traced), and content material consumption.

I am on hour 11 since final cost, and this laptop computer has 20% of battery left within the tank. That is not precisely the “24-hour battery life” that Apple touts in its advertising and marketing, however do not forget that the corporate benchmarks by hours of video playback solely. With varied artistic duties and background apps working, I have been very impressed with the M4 MacBook Professional’s endurance. If it had been my M1 MacBook Professional, my battery nervousness would’ve kicked in a lot earlier.

Additionally: Should you buy the iPhone 16 or iPhone 17? How to decide which model to buy

The brand new M4 Professional and M4 Max MacBook Execs characteristic USB-C Thunderbolt 5 ports, turning into among the first laptops available on the market to assist quicker 120Gbps switch speeds, as much as 240W charging, and extra sturdy monitor assist. For skilled creatives who use exterior GPUs and storage options and want a conveyable system that may swiftly transfer massive recordsdata, paying for the additional processing energy is justifiable.

In any other case, the bottom M4 MacBook Professional is greater than competent, with its now three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports. Not solely is the extra USB-C port located on the precise facet of the laptop computer, which performs nicer with all of the monitor and charging cables that naturally reside on the precise facet of my workplace desk, however the brand new processor permits the pc to increase as much as two screens whereas the lid is open. Beforehand, you’d have to shut the MacBook lid in an effort to energy two exterior screens.

In addition to the ports, the one main {hardware} distinction between the bottom M4 MacBook Professional and the M4 Professional and M4 Max variants is the variety of cooling followers, with the higher-tier choices having two as an alternative of 1. Whereas I have never been capable of check the distinction in throttling and warmth dissipation of all three methods, I have been happy with the bottom M4’s efficiency. Whether or not I used to be working benchmarks or enjoying Myst on excessive graphical settings and with ray tracing energetic, the laptop computer’s fan by no means hissed in a distracting, “tapping out” method.

Additionally: Is a refurbished MacBook worth it? I did the math, and here’s my buying advice

Earlier than I leap into benchmarks, I might like to provide a nod to the M4 MacBook Professional’s show. The 14-inch mannequin does not have the identical punchiness and depth because the tandem OLED on the M4 iPad Pro, however the brand new brightness score — 1,000 nits at SDR and 1,600 nits at HDR — paired with the optionally available, costly, and satisfying clear nano-texture coating makes this the best-looking laptop computer show I’ve used. The matte-frosted layering considerably reduces glare, whereas the brighter panel simply manages to beat out the November solar, which nonetheless thinks it is summer season.

With the M1 MacBook Professional — and each different laptop computer with a shiny show — I usually discovered myself smudging the webcam space when lifting the lid or wiping off a mud mark. On the M4 MacBook Professional, after per week of intensive use, the show stays clear and pristine.  

So, is the $150 upcharge for the nano-texture show value it? For most individuals, no. As an alternative, contemplate choosing up a matte screen protector from Amazon for lower than $20. You may be practically as happy for greater than a fraction of the associated fee.

Now, this is a breakdown of the M4 MacBook Professional (with a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage) benchmark scores:

Unsurprisingly, the M4 MacBook Professional outperforms its predecessors, in addition to among the newest Windows machines working on Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Intel Core Extremely (Sequence 2) chipsets. It is fairly spectacular to see the $1,599 M4 MacBook Professional outpacing a 16-inch MacBook Professional with an M1 Professional chip that I paid virtually $3,000 for.

Additionally: Apple’s tariff costs and iPhone sales are soaring – how long until device prices are too?

It helps that each MacBook mannequin (together with the M3 and M4 Air) now begins at 16GB of RAM; We now have AI to thank for that. I have been toying with the MacOS Sequoia 15.3.2 to get a style of what life is like once I spend much less time pondering whereas utilizing the MacBook (learn: counting on Apple Intelligence as an alternative). This is a short tier checklist of the perfect new options:

• ChatGPT-powered Siri (A tier): It is fairly game-changing when Siri can truly reply extra refined queries as an alternative of populating search outcomes. It is also been nice with the ability to entry a floating Siri menu by double-pressing the command key, although I might love to have the ability to robotically begin a voice immediate with an extended press. 
• Writing Instruments (B tier): From occasion invites to actual property messages, I have been needing to handle varied conversations and have tremendously benefitted from the AI-assisted responses. The one factor is, my pure tone is someplace between the “Skilled” and “Concise” variations, so there’s at all times a factor or two that must be dialed down or spiffed up.
• Picture Playground (C tier): In addition to the output from the picture generator wanting like variants of the Jetpack Joyride icon, I have been struggling to discover a sensible, real-world use for it. Oftentimes, sending an emoji will get the identical level throughout as an AI-generated thumbnail, and for a lot much less time.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

For a similar value because the earlier era MacBook Professional fashions, the M4 variants — notably the bottom configuration — supply notable upgrades in efficiency, utility, and battery life. The introduction of Thunderbolt 5 ports, an M4 processor that is higher constructed for machine studying, a extra succesful webcam, and a brighter show funnel right into a type issue that ought to play nicely with workplace employees, digital nomads, college students, skilled creatives, and extra.

For many customers, the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro is the best way to go. In the event you want extra inner storage than the 512GB, bumping as much as the 1TB tier for $200 will not be the worst thought. Past that, I might advise choosing up an exterior SSD, which provides you extra storage than what Apple does and for considerably much less cash.

In the event you’re after portability and might stay with out options just like the ProMotion show and an SD card slot, you will not miss out on a lot by choosing the inexpensive (however nonetheless succesful) M4 or M3 MacBook Air, which even assist the upcoming Apple Intelligence options.

This text was initially revealed on November 7, 2024, and was up to date on August 5, 2025.