The incredible M4 Macs create Apple's biggest challenge yet

The recent M4 Mac release shows that a simple chip upgrade isn't going to be enough to make users invest in a new Mac.

- DAN MOREN

As the cavalcade of M4 Macs rained down upon us last week, it became clear that Apple has established a solid rhythm for updates to its processor line. So far, it's been four years and we've seen four generations of Apple silicon chips, each more impressive than the last. In everything from computational and graphics capability to power efficiency, the era of Apple-made processors has proven to be a ground change for the company.

But even such an astounding success comes with challenges. As Apple has increasingly carved out its own category in the PC market, the company has left behind many of its classic competitors. It's rarely compared to old rivals like Dell or HP; even its biggest counterparts, such as Meta and Google, don't care about the same categories.

In truth, Apple has been left with just one real challenger-the one company it can never quite beat: itself.

TIME IS MARCHING ON

Like the clocks on which they depend, the improvement of Apple's processors has been a constant drumbeat. Every year's chip cores see gains of roughly 20 percent over the previous generation; wait a few years, and you'll see improvements of 60 to 80 percent over the previous generation. Then layer on top improvements in graphic cores, memory bandwidth, and so on.

But despite that seemingly inexorable march, the real impressive part of the Apple silicon era is the degree to which older models stay relevant. I have both an M2 Pro Mac mini and a MacBook Air with an M1 chip-the first model that the company announced when they made the transition back in 2020. And what strikes me is that the M1 feels just as capable today as it did four years ago.