Why you should nab this killer Black Friday deal on M4 Pro MacBook Pro

When Apple unveiled M4 MacBook Pro models on October 30, I preordered an M4 Pro MacBook Pro for $1,999. And I lined up a $705 trade-in of my M1 Pro MacBook Pro to help ease the financial pain. Now I see Black Friday has set a new Amazon price on my exact model at $1,749 — $250 less than I paid. I really can’t recommend (or envy) the machine at that price enough. It’s a fantastic price tag on a power-packed laptop.

Why you should nab a 2024 M4 Pro MacBook Pro at $250 off for Black Friday

Portable powerhouse

2024 M4 Pro MacBook Pro

4.5

This new Apple laptop features an M4 Pro chip with a 12-core CPU, a 16-core GPU and the same lightweight design we all know and love. Available in space black or silver.

Pros:

14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display
24GB unified memory (configurable from 16GB to 36GB)
512GB SSD storage (configurable to 1TB)

Cons:

Same design as previous models

Read our hands-on review:
https://www.cultofmac.com/reviews/m4-pro-macbook-pro-review

I reviewed my M4 Pro MacBook Pro for Cult of Mac shortly after I picked up the machine at an Apple Store. I gave the beast of a laptop 4.5 out of 5 stars. If it had been redesigned to be even more sleek and efficient, of course I would have gladly bestowed 5 stars on it. I also figured the cool-looking space black machine into a Setups feature, since it’s the most-important item in my workstation. (Though I more-or-less hid it on a vertical stand behind my second external display just because of layout issues in my configuration; trying to fit too much on a desk shelf, basically).

My review pretty much raved about the speed and power inherent to the laptop’s specs — a 12-core CPU and a 16-core GPU working with 24GB of unified memory, plus a 512GB SSD for storage. It’s an embarrassment of riches for a sub-power user like me. Sure, I work with loads of open windows and tabs in browsers. I watch plenty of video and listen to lots of music. And I run middling photo-editing software along with a web-publishing program. But it’s not like I’m rendering 3D animation or anything major like that.

14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro with Apple power adapter and MagSafe cable — Also in the box: At first it seemed odd the MagSafe 3 cable doesn’t match the 70-watt adapter, but of course it matches the laptop.
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac

Good for blazing-fast performance and future-proofing

For me, the machine’s formidable strengths are amazing for what I do now with the laptop, and will simply future-proof me from having to buy something else for years to come. And if I decide to get more into gaming — or 3D animation — I have a tool for that.

One note in my review later got more of an explanation that may be worth mentioning. Comparing the new laptop to my old M1 Pro MacBook, I felt the new one’s display looked better. I chalked it up to an improved anti-glare coating. And that’s true, but the more-specific explanation came along when news broke that Apple had sprung for quantum dot displays in the M4 MacBook Pro lineup. So that’s another reason to grab one while the price is low.