Are M4 Macs too good in 2025? What Can They Do Next? Who Will Buy Apple's M5, M6 or M7 Macs?

[@carnivore_scalper]

There is one area you did not go into: return value. If the value of the M4 remains high by the intro of the next iteration, you could get a phone like upgrade cycle going on (like it was with the early iphone models). If I could get the upgrade (M5) for under $200, I'd go for that and probably do a light spec upgrade with each new iteration.

[@josuegonzalez3660]

It’s simple: Apple should start going after gaming on Mac. That would create a whole new customer base, and Apple would do it without the whole gimmicky RGB lighting thing. It would also help allocate a lot of research and development towards their chips and software. It would essentially force them to make their chips even more powerful in order to compete with current gaming GPUs.

[@goobfilmcast4239]

I recently purchased a base M4 Mini. In years past I aspired to faster, more feature-rich Macs but only had the budget to wait a minimum of 2 or more "generations" then looked for a deal on the resale market. Since the intro of Apple Silicon I can now get incredible power and performance at a price for the "rest of us". My previous base M1 Mini (bought in 2020) is now working with a repurposed 24" 1080p TV in my kitchen as a dedicated surfer, calendar, home automation/security and music/video streaming hub. I foresee OS and App support for entry-level Apple Silicon lasting for years longer than previous Intel Macs....I should get many more years out of that "old" M1........

[@Screaming-Trees]

For music production more single core speed is always a need. We can't get enough of single core performance. Current gen Mac Mini is a monster deal even if you spec it out a bit. 64gb of Ram and the 14 core upgrade is still not all that expensive. Impressive showing from Apple. I tip my hat.

[@jansix4287]

The problem is single core performance will increase only as much as clock speed for a couple of years now. The M1 (8-wide) and M4 (10-wide) decoder were milestones in core performance and won’t be exceeded easily. The low hanging fruits of ARMs RISC architecture benefits are all picked. Eventually progress in single core performance will stall just as it did with x86 development.

[@david1610]

One simple answer to your question is that M2 users may upgrade to an M5 or M6. I upgraded from an M1 to an M4 and am very happy. I think there was a lot of common feeling that the overall spec bump from M1 to M4 finally made an upgrade in the M Silicon World worthwhile. I have maxed out the CPU and Unified RAM in my M4 Mac Mini Pro as I expect it to last years. I suspect an M7 might be tempting to somebody who has an entry level M4. An M8 might interest me or it might be even later before I upgrade. I understand the idea of starting with stating just how good the M4s are but, with respect I think you could have made your video the more general issue of when/how often the entry level purchaser will wish to upgrade, and then the same question for those going for the higher specs. ;)

[@craigneidel]

@@david1610 I just don't see what they can do once the CPU is fast enough. I think we reached that point. I know people will upgrade every few years but the M4 is pretty good and I think most could wait 5 years now which is not great for apple. I'm talking the average user.

[@RedShiftedDollar]

If they start bumping up the unified memory then massive improvements to graphics and LLMs will be possible. I view high ram as one of the next frontiers of computing because AI can use as much ram as it can get. Larger models are more powerful and ram is one of the main constraints.

[@BeeRoyLee]

@@craigneideldo you feel Apple maxed out on market share?

[@craigneidel]

@BeeRoyLee not yet only because they have quite a bit they can take from windows users. Maybe if the can crack the gaming nut they have room to grow.

[@mxh5647]

I don't think there's too much problem with retention of current users. They need to expand their user base though. Maybe make games easier to port over or, as a commentator has pointed out already, move into areas where they are not dominant such as engineering apps and others of this ilk.

[@craigneidel]

Yes thanks.. getting into gaming with investment in development is a good one.

[@CP-b-Me]

Until a Mac can do an 8k 1-hour video under 5 seconds. They will always have improvements. By then, they probably will be on a higher resolution than 8k.

[@craigneidel]

By then AI will do 100 percent of edits off in the cloud. Funny but sadly true...

[@darrylhoward3284]

Apple should make a camera!! They have the technology . Buy a lens company . Improve Pixelmator and final cut. Make the intergration better than any company out there. Maybe a far easier to use alternative to OBS!!

[@iVanderTech]

I don't know how I feel about this video. Not everyone has upgraded to the M4 this year. For instance, I’m still using the M1 Pro. So, there will be plenty of people who will move on to the M5, M6, and so on. Plus, technology is constantly evolving. We can't possibly think that we’ve reached the final stage of development of anything. And the fact that someone considers a particular update, like Face ID on MacBooks or anything else, not attractive enough for them doesn’t mean it won’t be a reason for others to upgrade for that same reason. Cheers.

[@sonsieface]

If they can increase the base storage for little extra cost AND give a meaningful bump in performance (a few more cores maybe), that might entice a number of folks.

[@craigneidel]

Maybe but the won't increase base more than the 512.

[@Joe-wk9ow]

They should add a dedicated gaming PC/Laptop lineup with the M series chips.

[@cz7259]

They should just work with the Asahi Linux people and then call Valve to port SteamOS as well. It barely requires any real work from apple, they just need to be willing to do it.

[@jcurtistx]

Since I have the Mac Mini M2 Pro, I am holding out for either the M6 or even M8. The Mac Mini may only get updates every couple of years.

[@craigneidel]

Yes the M2 is still an incredible machine.

[@akeaveney]

Hi Craig. Love your videos. Hard to believe but I'm still rocking a 2009 Mac Pro. It was flashed to 5,1 and then I have upgraded gradually. At the moment it is a 2 x 6-core 3.46 Ghz Xeon system with 96GB of ECC Ram and a RTX580 8GB graphics card. It has a 2TB NVME and a 500GB NVME drive. I also have updated it to USB 3.2 Gen 2 with USB-C ports. When the M4 came out I was very tempted to purchase a M4 Pro Mac Mini. However with a few upgrades, 1TB Storage, 24/32GB Unified Memory, TB5, 10GB Ethernet it has that ladder effect that makes me look at the entry level M4 Max Studio. I prefer the size of the Studio and the extra ports. So, I had planned to purchase the Mac Mini around now, instead I'm waiting to see the Mac Studio to decide!

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for watching the videos. It sounds like you have a pretty good system and if it still works you might as well keep using it. The Mac minis are great, but you may want to wait to see what the studio will bring. Although I think it's going to be very similar but just with the faster chips. Thanks again for watching.

[@joereale9785]

The one reason I would wait for an M5 is because of Star Trek. (see ep. The Ultimate Computer). I am waiting to see how much an M4 Max or Ultra Mac Studio will be but the M4 Pro Mac mini might do it for me. Sadly, my employment is scheduled to end in early April. Buying a new computer might not be in the cards, though I am tempted to use the severance to get one.

[@craigneidel]

Nice star trek... Funny. Tough decision but if it helps find more work there is a good reason.

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

Massive improvement in localize AI inferencing capabilities . Massive improvement in Siri AI Tandem oled mbp, Improvement in battery tech (fast recharge and no degradation), lower power consumption , lower weight

[@Ded-Ede]

3:34 I need Apple AiOS to work on all my scans PDF in my Files app and Apple have left this untouched. The indexing and search is still horrible 😢😤😒

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for the input.

[@asan1050]

Craig, I dont think Apple will ever give us what we want, only what we need, Thank you!

[@Absorbing146]

Let us be honest. Who needs anything faster than m4. I’m still using a 2020 27” intel iMac and it works perfectly fine for me. I might get a m4 or m5 next year.

[@craigneidel]

You might have a point there.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@Absorbing146 I only this month got rid of my 2013 27" iMac, I replaced it with my M3 MacBook Pro that's now connected to my Studio Display that I got to hook up an M4 Pro Mini when I've financially recovered from Christmas lol (and the monitor purchase). I know they'll have great longevity, especially if you spec them right. Hence going with the Pro, I expect to be running that thing for the next decade or so unless my needs drastically change or they come out with something that's such a massive leap it's a no brainer.

[@AndredeBruinSoundengineer]

What about a M4 ultra? In 2 years time there will be lots of M4 mini in the base-spec for sale cause Apple's upgrade prices. I'd like to see double ethernet connections on future macs, one for my Dante audio network and the other for interweb and so on.

[@craigneidel]

@@AndredeBruinSoundengineer I'm not sure what you mean about the M2 ultra. Thanks for watching the channel.

[@NewsIn60Seconds]

I could only see Apple changing the chip in a way that would render all the current M-chip software unusable like the M-chip did with all the previous models’ processors. It would be more of a planned obsolescence than an upgrade even if the chip was a much better processor. The only other thing I could see them doing is offering a more economical upgrade for memory, Ethernet, storage on the M5 models and so on going forward.

[@KrishnaDraws]

24GB RAM / 512GB is my sweet spot for the M4 Mac mini. It's an incredible upgrade all around, especially coming from an Intel i7 model (32GB RAM /256GB SSD). I don't miss the extra 8GB of RAM. Plus the M4 Mac mini can drive up to 3 displays.

[@craigneidel]

That's a huge bump from the i7. Nice.

[@_RanmaSaotomeS_]

Im going to go along with what many people have already said on here As an M1 User, I am looking at an M4 or M5 for my next computer, will see if the next MacBook Air will have an M4 or M5 in it. I can see that they will be focusing on things such as power consumption and graphics, especially with the Snapdragon Elite chips coming in to market which are actually putting up a good battery fight. I think the next thing that Apple may focus on is graphics when it comes to Gaming, while the M4 is good, we are still seeing it being compared to a low end video card on the PC. Maybe Apple could bring back eGPU for this and the Pro crowd. But I do expect that frame generation to get a better video quality even in movies may be something they look at.

[@paulharrison8379]

The greatest threat to Mac sales is a lack of Apps for the Mac unless you are a person who does video editing. I work as an embedded software engineer and none of the apps that I use for software design and coding work on a Mac. I have never seen a Mac in any company that I have worked for. A civil engineer friend told me that similarly there are no civil engineering design apps for the Mac. What I believe Apple needs for growth is to undercut the price of a £499 entry level modern PC laptop with 16 Gb of RAM and a 512 Gb SSD with a similarly configured Mac. Companies will only start to buy Macs if they undercut PC laptop costs. When the Mac installed base has increased this will encourage the developers of the software tools that I use to port them to the Mac.

[@craigneidel]

Yes but they do offer the increased security for it managers which could be a positive. But you need the software I agree.

[@cristiabc1310]

@@craigneidelwhat IT security means for Apple with closed system is not suitable for company demands. In addition the lack of strong productive apps or software packages in the wide area of financial, Engineering and economic will limit their sellings.

[@andyH_England]

@@cristiabc1310 I suspect Apple has pursued developers to get these apps onto macOS, but if devs have other agendas or deem it as not a value investment, then I am unsure what Apple can do.

[@xyphoto]

What too good? Tests show the 16 core GPU on the M4 Pro is only 70% of a mid tier RTX 4060. There is a long way to go to improve performance.

[@richardatkinson6031]

what a way to convert me with all the mac mini 4, I am a newbie and thinking buying more apple stuff

[@craigneidel]

@@richardatkinson6031 the M4 mini is a great computer.

[@bryans8656]

I think the M4 iPad Pro is a good example of Apple hitting the wall. Thinner and lighter wasn’t enough to generate demand, and sales of the device are down.

[@craigneidel]

@@bryans8656 the iPad needs a better os before it can reach its full potential.

[@bryans8656]

@ Agreed!

[@andyH_England]

The tablet market is swamped and saturated and has more to do with increased competition from Android than the nonsense about needing to run macOS. Apple's iPad sales are still excellent compared to rivals as people forget they sell base iPads and iPad Airs. The Pro is a very niche, expensive model, and expecting huge sales is unreasonable these days.

[@bstevens9831]

Forgive me if you mentioned this but, as desktop mac user ( primarily ), my goals are always to be more productive, which for me means less time to run builds and more responsive apps. I expect an M6, M7 will be faster and offer power users at least reduced times. Plus Apple might build in some extra enhancements ( just like they do already with graphic codecs ) to speed along other processes. For me, a professional user, these kinds of upgrades tend to pay for themselves in reduced time and more time for other projects and life itself. Given I can sell macs for a decent price, an upgrade of two generations ( say M4 to M6 ) is not as costly and well worth it. Am I in the majority of mac users, probably not. If you're talking less than professional power users, your case is more compelling. Another thing which Apple focuses on heavily is their strong push to cross-sell all their products to everyone ( phones, watches, computers, etc. ) by emphasizing the synergies across all their devices. I'm sure many families buy an Apple X device because it easily works with other Apple Y devices. Your idea makes sense but a lot of factors combine to make Apple successful. Macs are now secondary to iphones and services in sales, so that has to be considered too.

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for watching. Yes, there's going to be a small percentage of people that are coders or need really fast systems and getting the 20% increases each year is worth it. But I would say that's a very small percentage of people. Maybe even as small as like 5 or 10%. Even five like I said. So at the end of the day I totally understand that but I don't think most will need to upgrade.

[@jansix4287]

• Yes, people do care a lot about thinner and lighter MacBook Pros. • Yes, people will fall in love with colorful MacBook Airs. • Yes, people will upgrade for OLED and ProMotion alone. All these things are each way more important than CPU performance. Additional transistors should be used to increase GPU performance. Their first implementation of Raytracing can’t be the optimum yet. Maybe Metal 4 can surprise us all with how well it runs AAA games. The next frontier performance however will be AI and LLMs. Simple video editing will become a part of what’s called light office work. But video generation out of thin air and vague descriptions will become the professional work of the future. And it needs a lot more powerful neural engines with insane amounts of RAM.

[@gary-gt-tsang]

I honestly don't think Apple needs to do anything different than what they're already doing. If you're trying to find out if people who purchased M4 Macs will be upgrading to M5, M6, or M7, the easy answer is mostly likely not and I'm sure Apple is not banking on that either. People who will be looking to upgrade to M5, M6 or M7 are those that currently own an Intel Mac, M1, M2 and maybe M3. When M1, M2 and M3 came out I had no interest but recently purchased the M4 Mac Mini because my 2014 Macbook Air has reached it's lifespan. I think you're selling the design impact short because I could have purchased the M2 Mac Mini but waited for the M4 because of the rumored redesign and the chip jumping from M2 to M4. There's also so much untapped potential in the gaming world that Apple can still improve upon that can increase sales and their market share. So as long as each new M chip that gets released keeps on improving from the previous generation, Apple will always have sales from people that are looking for the latest and greatest, people who are looking to upgrade or need an additional computer, new entries in the the computer world (I.E. kids going to college that needs a computer) and people who spills drinks onto their computer (this happens way to often) and need a new replacement computer.

[@andre1987eph]

I'll prolly get an M6 Studio with the works (Have a base M2)

[@craigneidel]

@@andre1987eph that sounds like a good time to upgrade.

[@PolluxChung]

Free concert tickets with each Mac purchase will help 😝

[@craigneidel]

If they are free tickets to Taylor Swift that won't help me. But teenagers will be happy.

[@SW-lw6mt]

There's still a LOT of improvement needed with the integrated GPUs, they can't compete with Nvidia yet - especially against the new RTX 50 lineup.

[@TheHansdampf80]

expanding the ram and the storage. Realy expanding please. The rest should stay as it is

[@craigneidel]

Yeah but most M4 users are learning to live with fast external storage. It's welcomed but will people upgrade quickly because of it.

[@rconrad2k]

If you have the M3 MacBook Pro, you won't bite for the M4, but the M6 might be in your future.

[@bobmetzger51]

Stop their crazy pricing ladder for internal storage. Go back to letting consumers add ram and internal memory.

[@HoundDogMech]

What good is 8K for content Creators when You Tube only does 4K and People continue to watch on their PUNY little Cells.

[@craigneidel]

8k? I said 6k. Only needed so text scales and is ultra sharp when using a Mac on a 32 inch screen. Keeps it at 218 ppi.

[@sig1554]

AI engineering and development use cases will continue to require more compute power for the foreseeable future. I guess it's not just about the CPU alone but rather the GPU and system design to support AI at the edge.

[@darthslackus499]

It's going to be 18% faster processing with 24gb RAM base or more SSD. Or all three. That's going to be the M5. You heard it here first.

[@craigneidel]

24 GB base ram I don't think so. But more SSD they need to do that. But only 512 gb knowing Apple.

[@lindsaybruce1396]

There's ALWAYS a new killer app to entice upgrades. IMHO, Apple should press the neural engine to provide developers an inexpensive alternative to nVidia's massively expensive spaceheaters. I think this was their strategy on the M4 pricing; get some garage hobbyists to tinker with small AI projects that can by scaled to M4 Ultra, M5 etc.

[@craigneidel]

Yes if apple spent money on a development team making great software and games I think that would expand their market share. They have the gpus but no game development.

[@elysiumcore]

I have a M2 Pro mini / 16 gigs - I wanted to upgrade...but meh - The M5 pro....sure 😂 same goes for my M1 max laptop

[@virgilash]

Craig, no matter how almighty are, these M4 based new miniPC can't even run a 70B parameters LLM locally... And that is the future :-)

[@alexcastas8405]

Having a look at the options coming out from AMD at CES the bar is being raised from the competitors, a good thing, their drawback however is being ARM Windows (for now). Apple will easily stay competitive in the near term, esp with getting the advanced nodes from TSMC BEFORE competitors. They next chips i recon will be a 'tok' cycle, maybe a speed bump on the CPU, with a increase (and focus) on GPU performance. That might be more GPU cores, better software, ray tracing, 3D performance improvements etc etc. IMO that would be how they keep competitive for the next series of chips, given they pretty much dominate all other areas.

[@craigneidel]

Yes they won't have an issue increasing performance by 20 percent each year but will M4 owners even crave more speed?

[@TrogART]

Agreed I have been totally underwhelmed with the AI features especially after all the hype. SD card slot was a missed opportunity. Have you checked out the new ram upgrades that seem to be appearing just plug in the new one around 2 Terabits?

[@lindsaybruce1396]

You means the SSD upgrades. Yes, but seems like a small Chinese company. Might wait for them to mature a bit, knock the bugs out. Can use an external thunderbolt drive in the meantime.

[@TrogART]

@@lindsaybruce1396 Yeah I see where you are coming from, I have seen a few reviews this is why I was asking, having to crack the Mac open is always a little nerve wracking I must admit.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, I hope the SSD upgrades are easy and inexpensive and I might check those out sooner or later. Thank you.

[@drsmith1988]

@@craigneidelplease do check them out, a no BS review is needed.

[@andyH_England]

I and most people have been underwhelmed by AI on any platform, and even CoPilot AI has been a false start. Early days and a work in progress, especially if you are building from the ground up like Apple, not jumping on the Gemini AI subscription route like Samsung.

[@steve-b8q3k]

with the increased power of m5 and beyond software software take an app like freeform - forget windows

[@dragje]

Great video, I immediately clicked the subscribe and like button. As an answer to your main question: "What can Apple do for better sales now that the M4 is so good?": There are rumors that Apple will tap into new markets, particularly in the field of home automation. Think of an Apple doorbell, alarm system, and so forth. Actually something that Apple should have done much earlier in my opinion. Apple Home is, I think, a real mess. If Apple would now succeed in producing good home automation products, this could possibly help to generate more profit. Personally, I really hope for a new 32 inch monitor from Apple. Another critical note, not related to the subject: I think Apple has paid too little attention to iOS and macOS in the past year. Never before have I experienced so many bugs and small errors when using both systems. On my MacBook Pro M2, I increasingly encounter programs that suddenly freeze. My AirPods Pro 2 also often pair poorly with my iPhone 14 Pro Max when I put them in. Sometimes it doesn't even work when I take the AirPods out of my ears and put them back in, and only restarting my iPhone solves this. Greetings from Amsterdam the Netherlands.

[@tomsun3159]

Seeing it from my own point of view probably M1 users who currently explore their M1 device (M2 or M3) ist still fast enough and have enough RAM as they opted for 16GB of RAM anyway. The only need to uprade to M4 was not having enough RAM (8Gb Base config), like the only reason for upgrade was you had the "wrong" config in terms of storage, CPU-Cores or GPU Cores, or wrong colour. For the normal users the speed increase in daily life (web browsing, Office application, binge watching) is neglectable, the 1% needing every percent of speed increase for professional use are neglectable. The real driver for upgrades are new additional features, i will probably buy a new mac, but not because i need the more power, but i need an additional mac. but i will not be a replacement.

[@pureheartvisuals]

I don’t think it’s that serious to Apple at this point to get everyone updated every year. Apple has a system…just like the iPhone has a loyalty upgrade tribe, M1 to M4, M2 Users probably to M5 and so, and Apple has the data to support that. People like “New” and will upgrade price and features aside, I believe the % of people in our space that hold on to value is smaller than we think.

[@siggi9240]

the macs be it mac book , iMac, Mac or ipad pros are built too perfect to run abt 10 years… from the place i come from its hard to find a second hand used M1, m2 or M3…but its easy to find Intel Macs 2017 to 2020 at reasonably prices. There new M1 to M3 yearly are sold out for the first 4 months… this tell us mac user are holding their units for a mininum of 5 years… they buy a new one when either it fails to run or too slow to run…The second hand market is going strong in recent years ….i am not into video rendering and programming…. 2 months ago I bought a used 2019 intel i5 21.5 ‘ high spec and it runs so smooth that i dont feel the need for a new M3 or M4…As for those who are in the 3D and animation that might be a different case. I am sharing my experience

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

I have read that Apple makes a majority of their money from iPhone sales and subscription services and that Macs actually make up a relatively small percentage of their overall revenue. If that is the case, then I think they will be OK if Mac sales slow down to a crawl.

[@goobfilmcast4239]

Apple has "cornered the market" on iPhones and iPads....but their worldwide computer marketshare is only 10-12%. Watch as they aggressively go after the PC market in the next couple of years. They have plenty of room to grow there. Even if they only double their current share....that will mean hundreds of billions of additional business. Remember, Apple is now far less dependent on other companies (some of which are their direct competitors) for Processors and other patented/licensed tech. They control cost by controlling the whole kit and kaboodle.

[@drsmith1988]

I think AI will drive many updates. I don’t think we will do upgrades every year or two like I did in the 80s. While AI has been a bit slower than I wish, but if we were listening carefully back in June, we knew it was going to stretch into April. Plus a combination of many of the things you mentioned. Of course there are people like me because I may update because I should have bought more SSD. RAM was a major reason for me to update from 8GB to 24GB this time.

[@craigneidel]

Yes some people may have run out of storage or ram but I just can't think of too many things they can do to update the products.

[@drsmith1988]

@ true, but as long as SSD and memory upgrades are over priced, this will exist as a significant reason to upgrade. But I am a lot more positive on Apple Intelligence. Yes a bit slower than expected, but it is the future.

[@ichigen511]

I don't see this being a problem. Apple addicts buy a new iPhone every year. A lot of them probably buy new computers as well. I just bought a new M4 Pro Mac Mini, my first new computer in TEN years, and I expect it to last 5 years like you say. BUT. Nothing has hurt a company more than the Technics SL-1200 MKII turntable that to this day still costs more than MSRP in 1979 and doesn't need an upgrade. It actually hurt the company because it was built to last FOREVER. No computer will last forever as long as the software continues to demand more from the hardware. This is a cute video but it's not anywhere close to being an issue.

[@craigneidel]

Funny I used to have a Technics receiver I loved back in the day. 10 years is a good run for a computer 💻

[@ronaldkinder3498]

I think they are done with the Mac line. They left it in the dust for a long time and not much was done on the Mac line. In the last couple of years, much has been done and so I believe they will turn more to the phone and iPad, making them foldable, new design perhaps, especially with the phone.

[@TalesOfWar]

The last time they slowed down with the Mac was because Intel were releasing very mediocre "improvements" for several years. The whole industry in general slowed down until AMD were competitive again, by which point Intel were on the down and Apple had already invested a hell of a like of time and resources into their own silicon so as not to be beholden to a third party. I think the Mac is very much here to stay, and now their entire hardware line up runs on the same SoC's and variations of we'll see a more regular pace emerge. Also I don't think they'll bother with a foldable iPhone. Unless they've managed to perfect the tech beyond what we've seen with other companies like Samsung.

[@paullott9867]

Improved graphic plus gaming.

[@portland214]

Add satlite connectives and Ellie connective tissue

[@edwardauerbach8036]

Every year Apple comes out with a new and "improved" computer system. The M4 chip makes the new Macs more powerful than last years Macs. My issue is what applications can use this increased power? The new Macs are all capable of video editing but all the Macbooks have small screens. It doesn't matter if they are 5k and oled, the small screen makes them less than ideal for video editing. The Macs are also limited in the number of ports available. Hooking up a Macbook to a large high resolution Monitor makes video editing much easier but then negates the portability of the Macbook. Gaming requires a lot of graphical power and the M4 chip is more than capable of meeting the requirement. However, relatively few Game designers have optimized their software to run on the Mac. All computers, no matter how beautiful the design, are tools to carry out specific tasks. Using a sledge hammer to drive a 1 penny nail is overkill. Many applications require much less computing power to run well. Bench testing demonstrates how fast a computer can complete tasks but does not reflect real world applications that the end users will use on their computers.

[@craigneidel]

Thanks for the post. I think you came up with a good one which I didn't think about. If they make the computers way better for gaming in the gaming community then for sure, I think that would actually allow people to upgrade and get them to upgrade more often. That's a good one. Thanks!.

[@weinbergfahrer4048]

I would like to connect a microphone to a (future?) Mac mini and ask questions in *natural language*, e.g: "Hello Mini, please give me a 1-page summary with timeline from 1889 on how the Second World War came about." Or: "Please create a menu plan for next week that contains a maximum of 12,000 kilocalories and offers the best possible composition of vitamins and minerals. Send the results to my phone in *French* and in PDF format to my attached printer." Technology for all of that is already available today - the smooth and effortless integration for non-IT people is still some time away, I'm afraid. My grandparents would love it, though...

[@vyacheslav9743]

external device for AI (like a graphic card) thunderbolt 5

[@craigneidel]

Maybe but the M4 max has great graphics power. It's more the software but I hear you on that.

[@paulharrison8379]

I risk sounding like a broken record but the most important failing in all entry level Macs is a SSD which is too small. I recommend anyone considering a base level M5 Mac mini to go instead for a M4 Mac mini with a much larger SSD to create a balanced system. My three gaming PCs have the following specs: 1) 5.5 TB in SSD and disk storage and 16 Gb of RAM. (the system runs Windows 11) 2) 6 Tb in SSD and disk storage and 16 Gb of RAM. (the system runs Windows 10) 3) 2.5 Tb in disk storage and 8 Gb of RAM. (this system runs popOS Linux) They all have extra RAM in their graphics cards.

[@craigneidel]

Yes the storage is very small for sure. But I just don't see that being a reason for people to upgrade because at the most Apple's only going to go to 512.

[@paulharrison8379]

@@craigneidel What I was suggesting is that people spend $1000 on M4s with multi terabyte storage instead of spending that $1,000 on a 512 Gb M5 Mac Mini.

[@andyH_England]

We have Thunderbolt for a reason. For the Mac Mini, it is easy to add as much storage as you need without the high cost. External storage can also be shared with other devices. This is the future, and people need time to get used to changing their habits.

[@stephenvalente3296]

Maybe they'd be better off widening the release schedule to just drop all the M5 chip based models in one go in 18 months time. Then again, people will just bitch that Apple haven't released any new Macs for a while, so it's a no win situation really. As to the Mac Studio M4 Ultra, there will always be buyers for that machine at the top end user level, or those who perceive themselves as being one. That's how it works in the PC market, and will continue to do so with both PC's and Macs for years to come until the user base see sense and stop paying out silly money for gains that aren't worth spending out double the money for. I have a Mac Studio M1 Max that was bought 18 months ago at 25% off list. My first new Mac in 7 years. I'm attracted to the Mac Mini M4 for something more portable too, but then the tech geek in me says get the Pro model, then the half sensible brain says that the Mac Studio M4 Max will be out soon and smoke the Pro M4's for a few hundred pounds more via the Education Store. Balancing need vs cost outlay isn't easy, but once you engage common sense, you'll find a positive middle ground in the end with enough time to consider giving all your money to Apple again.

[@TalesOfWar]

Their new cadence is in line with when they want to release things rather than when Intel had something they could use. I kind of like how they rolled out the M4 in stages from low (but crazy for an iPad) with what I'm going to assume will be it's ultimate form in the Ultra with the Studio and Mac Pro refresh we're likely to see at WWDC. The M5 could then be an improvement of the M4 in their core range while the M4 Max and Ultra systems stick around for a couple of years between refreshes like we saw with the M2 line up. We're slowly starting to see a trend of releases.

[@peterklemenc6194]

We are finally entering the realm of competition. ARM based chips are coming in hot from Nvidia and AMD, very very powerful ones at that (one being the 3k mini computer announced at CES - Nvidia). The Apple will get pushed out in terms of AI capabilities, so they'll have to either off-load their tensor cores or do something very innovative. In short, we're entering an electric-boogie timeline where we finally have competition...so we all win!

[@darrenhankner5282]

all Macs need built in 5g or 6g modems. and wifi 7. alot of us are digital nomads. I am installing the m4 pro Mac mini in my 2014 prius glovebox. hook up a 15 inch touch screen. have a powerful computer builtt into the car.

[@andyH_England]

Apple has said that once its own modem is developed, it will be used in Macs. We should see the first Apple Modems in iPhones this year. Apple and Qualcomm are not on good terms, and at the moment, Apple does not want to feed this rival more than it has to, reputedly over $8 billion a year for the iPhone modems. M6 for the new design, OLED and a modem. However, with the low uptake of OLED in iPads, Apple may delay OLED for longer.

[@larryb6759]

Improve the graphics to the level of nvidia graphics, support gaming with release of new games, and lower the price. If Apple could break into the gaming world, they could pick up a bunch of new users.

[@digitalmarketinghumans]

Yea, Apple Silicon is soooo powerful. Even my M1 Air is still good! No fan either, pretty crazy. Sure the gpu isn't up to par exactly what I want but it's still really good, which is why the M4 air is going to be great! Something that is close to a RTX4060 or a 3070 (laptop version).

[@craigneidel]

@@digitalmarketinghumans yes the m1 is still faster than most $600 windows laptops in 2025 even with their newest chips. Funny.

[@TheHolym4n]

Well there is a very large group of computer users sitting in the Microsoft world, if even a small portion of that group decides to migrate away from 'slow and stupid' Apple might be in for very good times.

[@craigneidel]

Maybe but I'm looking for things Mac users want to see in new Macs.

[@1bhitte]

Thunderbolt 5 eGPU

[@craigneidel]

Yeah, but good luck with that one. But it's a valid one so thanks for that.

[@Smittron]

I'm not worried about Apple... as the Intel Mac's age out users will buy the new stuff. The early M1 and M2 adopters will eventually upgrade. To attract more users Apple needs to provide a 16/512 configuration with their base models and 32/1024 with their Pro models. Overall, if Apple wants to sell more units, then drop the prices.

[@craigneidel]

@@Smittron I agree dropping prices of add-ons can help people upgrade but something like 50 bucks for 256 GB more

[@DRDRE-cm7qo]

Tim Apple is Cooked 😂

[@craigneidel]

Funny...

[@darrenhankner5282]

I bought an M4 pro 14 core cpu 20 core gpu. I am still gonna buy either an M5 or M6 max when it comes out. I want to have 2 apple silicon Macs on hand. trash and get rid of my Intel Macs.

[@CaptainCreosoteRN]

32" iMac

[@ps3301]

I will buy m5 macmini because it will have tb5 and wifi 7.

[@craigneidel]

The m4s have tb5 now.

[@stroke1516]

ME !!! I am going to buy the M5 and the M6 !! I love the M4 Mac mini Pro !! I am the person that always wants the faster chips !! I always trade-in or sell my current version for the new one. Life is short.. Drive want you can afford ! 😁

[@craigneidel]

Hey if you enjoy it go for it. As long as it doesn't affect the mortgage or kids college funds then why not. Thanks for watching the channel.

[@stroke1516]

@@craigneidel I love your channel ! But I crack up when you play the cheap card on apple products.. Apple is not cheap. They don't even try to be cheap.. Keep up what you're going. My channel gets no hits..hahaha. I watch every episode .. I am retired and I was a Programmer and a financial broker and made a lot of money.. I try to teach people to make money but they don't listen. That's why I laugh when people can't afford Apple Products.. I held apple stock and it hit 256 a share.. I sold. now its 242.. It payed for my Mac mini Pro and more. Why do people want to be poor??

[@Kaleidoscope_808]

I would have to disagree. We are all power hungry and storage hungry! just ask the question how many ssd, usb,and external storage?

[@craigneidel]

Maybe but we need to think of typical users and not small amount of users who watch Mac videos. Thanks for posting.

[@bobweiram6321]

The AVP is not very expensive considering what you're getting. It's about the cost of a high-end MacBook. In fact, it's a powerful high-end Mac with 8 4K displays. All it really needs is a killer app. Unfortunately, Apple is very dictatorial with its software development model. I suspect many third-parties are reluctant to investing in Apple-only Swift or Objective-C for the privilege, especially when there's risk involved.

[@edwarddejong8025]

the next gen will have AI capabilities. At present the Mac Mini is not competitive with an nVidia card

[@craigneidel]

Ai will be a big part of it and I'm kind of afraid of that.

[@stephenvalente3296]

What can Apple do? It's obvious, drop the upgrade prices to a realistic level to entice people to buy say an M5 Mac Mini with more memory and storage. Easy really.

[@craigneidel]

Yes, that is what I'm wondering now. What can they do that is going to move the needle?

[@andyH_England]

They seem fine; Mac shipments were up 17% y-o-y in Q4/2024. HP and Dell saw declining sales for another quarter, and I would be more worried about them than concerned with Apple.

[@stephenvalente3296]

@@andyH_England And probably 16% of that came from Mac Mini M4 sales. Come January, half that percentage was lost as a result of all the “I’ve sent my Mac Mini M4 back to get the Pro model instead” videos on KZbin channels 😮😂

[@andyH_England]

@@stephenvalente3296 That is likely. The Mac Mini was a great move by Apple, and as far as mini PCs, it is unbeatable for casual users who want a desktop system.

[@davesilver5493]

Ridiculous assuming that everyone has bought the M4. Hundreds of millions of people haven’t bought the M4. That’s the market for future sales. Your premise is totally bogus dude.

[@Thevikingcam]

Rtx 5070 and new amd ai chip cpus made m4 pro and max useless. Selling my m4 pro

[@andyH_England]

That won't be out until April, and there will be a low supply and high prices at launch. Macs will fall in price as they are in mid-cycle. I have seen the estimated pricing of Intel/5-series and massive price rises, with $4000 being a good starting point and even more outside the US due to 20% VAT. Apple is timing the release of the M4 Ultra to offer similar performance, so it will not be "useless"!

[@bagzhansadvakassov1093]

Trust me m5, m6 will be bought by ex windows users. Windows has done everything for people to migrate. Also consider army of gamers are jumping in, with emulators having native support. Apple in fact does not need new hardware, all they have to do is integrate gaming software into their system.

[@flappospammo]

Apple shot themselves in the foot with as , every iteration is such a small real world improvement you may as well stay with the m1 and wait for the m10 before you see a massive difference

[@craigneidel]

Yeah but it's hard to see where they go from here.

[@BeeRoyLee]

A product being too good is the dumbest take ever. Would you make mediocre KZbin video to keep viewers coming back?

[@techmaester]

OLED won’t matter the 2020 iMac Studio display is exactly the same as the best displays in 2025, in fact it gets brighter than iPad Pro M4. The only display better than Apple are Android phones. Their brightness and color gamut rival Sony and Sharp TVs costing that of a luxury car.

[@craigneidel]

I think for a very small percentage of people the oleds will be a main selling point. But it's not a huge amount.

[@andyH_England]

Yes, iPad OLEDs showed slow uptake, suggesting that coming from miniLED to OLED is not a big upgrade. Hence, OLED in Macbook Pros may not be a super-cycle, and I read that Apple is rethinking when to go OLED.

[@kumargupta7149]

You care a lot about apple's revenue but they are company my be other plans

[@TalesOfWar]

Their AI sucks because it's on device, rather than some supercomputer cluster. It also sucks because AI in general sucks. I wish we'd just stop bothering with it, at least in the way most companies try to be shoving it into everything. The insane amount of energy being wasted on this crap while we're at a tipping point in terms of climate change just blows my mind. It isn't like it's even being used to try and better the lives of billions of people, just people with billions of dollars already. Google and Microsoft are actually investing in NUCLEAR POWER to run their AI datacentres! That's how much energy this crap uses. I'm all for more use of nuclear power, but not that's dedicated just to a few private companies to run stupid large language models because their idiot investors need to buy a new yacht this month. That got slightly more ranty than expected lol. The Vision Pro was never supposed to be a mass market device, it was a test to see what people and developers thought about such things. I like it when companies do this (and are honest about it). You rarely see companies take risks with new products just for the sake of testing the waters and seeing what people think, much like you rarely see research in industry for the sake of research, it always has to be in aid of some final product or widget. You'll find a bunch of great things you never even thought of when you just do things for the sake of it. Look at things like Bell Labs back in the day and all the things that came out of that place, or Xerox Parc.

[@craigneidel]

@@TalesOfWar I agree about ai. Maybe use it to cure diseases but the average user doesn't need it. But every other country is moving full stream ahead so unless we advance we will be left in the dust. But the dangers are real. Thanks for the post.

[@mikey544553]

I cant watch this type of crap sorry. Stop gesturing and pointing its so annoying. Apple in trouble? what do u mean? nonsense.

[@fieldsrealestate]

The m4 Mac mini is a poorly designed computer. It’s the only computer that does not allow you to upgrade the storage. This ridiculous design forces you to dongle an external hub in order to increase the storage. Stupid cables and hubs when you can make it slightly taller to add a simple ssd slot on the bottom.

[@craigneidel]

I would not agree with that but true upgradable stuff would be better. But even things like surface went the way of no upgrades.

[@andyH_England]

You can upgrade storage when you order it. So, I assume you are talking about buying the base model and upgrading on the cheap to save money? Apple does not incentivise that for commercial economic reasons as it would cost them billions. Windows OEMs have to do it as if one does, then the others follow because of competition. Apple has the advantage of being the only supplier of macOS, so it can pick and choose current trends.

[@fieldsrealestate]

@ Right now I have an Acasis external enclosure with 2TB Samsung ssd dongle for my Mac mini that is faster and less expensive than the Mac mini internal ssd with much longer warrantee. There are many KZbin videos showing this setup with benchmarks confirming this. A simple slot like the one in the enclosure would make sense, no? It’s poor design and bad for the environment to make these external enclosures. This is the number one issue with the Mac mini and a whole ecosystem was unnecessarily created. Just think of all the money Apple is loosing with unreasonably priced storage.

[@Porsche_Haus]

Who needs the M4 , what a stupid ? Just because YOU ask a dumb ? You've already been breathing, who would want to breath better ... If Steve took your approach, there would be no mac's.