The M4 MacBook Air is anticipated as Apple’s next light and fast laptop, and a recent benchmark suggests that the device may have mild performance improvements over the lastest MacBook Pro.
Apple is expected to announce the coming laptop in 13-inch and 15-inch models in the March timeframe. A device suspected to be the M4 MacBook Air surfaced on the Geekbench 6 benchmark on February 19, revealing results that experts are comparing to other Apple products, including the M4 MacBook Pro and the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro.
Results of the Geekbench 6 Metal benchmark revealed a device with macOS 15.2, a ten-core M4 chip, and 24GB of unified RAM. In particular, the SoC configuration includes four performance and six power-efficiency cores, with no modifications to the CPU clock speeds, Wccftech noted.
The device is referenced as Mac16,12, a never-before-seen naming scheme– which many are assuming is a codename for the M4 MacBook Air.
As for the benchmark scores, the laptop received a score of 54,806, approximately 5 percent slower than the M4 MacBook Pro. This still shows an improvement in the development of the M4 MacBook Air, considering both devices run the same chip. Overall, pundits note that users will likely not notice a difference in performance between the two laptops in everyday functioning. Prior Geekbench Metal tests have shown the M4 MacBook Pro scores at 57,596.
Though many are sure of the legitimacy of the recent benchmark, we keep in mind that scores on unreleased products cannot be confirmed.
The laptops are strategically marketed toward different styles of users. MacBook Air models are geared toward light browsers, email checkers, and hobbyists. MacBook Pro models are targeted more toward power users that frequently navigate large programs and files on a desktop.
TechRadar noted that the M4 MacBook Air is better compared to the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro, which scored 54,064 on Geekbench. Notably, the tablet is known for having a thin design and fanless cooling, features that are also expected for the M4 MacBook Air.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.