Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024) review: Is this the perfect laptop?

Since the first iteration launched in 2021, the MacBook Pro 14-inch has built up a reputation as the perfect MacBook for many Apple fans. While we were always impressed by it, something held it back from a perfect score each year.

Not so in 2024. While I'm a firm believer that nothing is so perfect that it can't be improved upon, the MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 is a 5-star laptop that goes above and beyond in so many categories that it almost seems unfair to the competition.

Sure it offers outstanding performance and over 18 hours of battery life, it's done fantastically well in those metrics before, but when you add in the excellent display, the premium build quality, and the stereo audio it becomes almost undeniable. The last piece of the puzzle to fall into place was the upgrade to 16GB of RAM for the base model. This makes the $1,599 configuration a legitimate value that I can recommend without any upgrades.

This is the best 14-inch MacBook Pro has ever been, and it is a lock for our best laptops page among others, but it's not going to be the right choice for everyone, so read on to see if any of my concerns are dealbreakers for you.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Specs and benchmarks

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Price and configurations

The base 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 is once again $1,599 ($1,499 with the education discount). The biggest news beyond the new M4 chip for this configuration in 2024 is that it now starts with 16GB of RAM. It was a $200 upgrade last year and one that we recommended everyone make, so this is a meaningful shift in the value proposition for the base MacBook Pro M4. That's not all, though; the base M4 also features a 10-core CPU to match its 10-core GPU, up from an 8-core CPU with a 10-core GPU last year. This gives a 5-10% performance boost beyond what you gain from M4 over M3. Storage remains at 512GB, which is enough for most users.

Our review configuration sticks to that base 10-core CPU and GPU along with 16GB of RAM but bumps up to 1TB of storage and adds the new nano-texture display. This brings the total cost of our review unit to $1,949.

If you make the jump to the M4 Pro chip, you are starting at $1,999, which comes with a 12-core CPU, a 16-core GPU, 24GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

The M4 Max configuration starts at $3,199 and comes with a 14-core CPU, a 32-core GPU, 36GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

How much can you spend on a 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max? Spring for a 16-core CPU, a 40-core GPU, 128GB of RAM, an 8TB SSD, and the nano-texture display, you are looking at a bill for $7,049.

Overall, while no one would suggest the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 is a cheap laptop, the base configuration is a much better value in 2024 and may sway more prospective MacBook Air buyers to go Pro.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Design

While I just noted several internal upgrades to the 14-inch MacBook Pro, on the outside, Apple is maintaining the status quo. The design remains virtually identical to the 14-inch MacBook Pro look that debuted with the Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max in 2021.

Would it be fun to see Apple reinvent the MacBook Pro design? Of course. However, it's hard to argue with Apple's level of success and brand recognition with the MacBook Pro as it is. Numerous copycat designs arrive every year, trying to capture the same understated premium look and feel.

It's not heavy at 3.4 pounds, but the 14-inch MacBook Pro feels like a solid carved block of aluminum, and I've never felt laptop hinge movement as firm and smooth as that of the M4 MacBook Pro. This is what you want a laptop to feel like when you spend upwards of $1,600.

Taking a tour around the laptop, the lid features the prominent shiny Apple logo, which, unlike the rest of the laptop, is a fingerprint magnet. The gently curved sides and edges of the laptop would make it incredibly comfortable to hold if it were not for the vents on the sides and back of the laptop. While they aren't sharp, these vents catch my fingers enough to be uncomfortable when I pick up the MacBook, and I find myself readjusting my grip on it.

On the bottom of the laptop, you see "MacBook Pro" engraved in the center. At each of the edges, you have slightly raised black circular pads to lift the MacBook Pro off whatever surface you are using it on.

My review unit is in Space Black, but you can also get it in the classic Silver colorway.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro is compact at 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.61 inches and again 3.4 pounds, but it's not the smallest 14-inch laptop around; here's a look at how its competitors measure up:

• Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M3, 2023) — 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.61 inches, 3.4 pounds
• HP Spectre x360 (14-inch, 2024) — 12.4 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches, 3.2 pounds
• Asus Zenbook S 14 UX5406S — 12.2 x 8.45 x 0.47~0.51, 2.6 pounds

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Ports

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Like the overall design, the port collection on the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 remains the same. In 2024, this should cover the majority of your needs, but there's no question that some users would still appreciate a single USB Type-A port.

• 3 Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports
• 1 HDMI 2.1 port
• 1 headphone/mic jack
• 1 MagSafe 3 charging port
• 1 SDXC card reader

Are you among those who need a USB Type-A port or any other port not found on the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4? Never fear; our best USB Type-C hub or best laptop docking station pages will cover your needs.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Battery life

Since the Apple M1 chips were introduced in 2020, the efficiency of the MacBook line has been the envy of the laptop industry. After four years, we have finally seen meaningful competition from laptops featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and AMD Ryzen AI chips in 2024, but the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 remains one of the longest-lasting high-performance laptops on the market.

On our Laptop Mag battery test, which involves running the laptop through a set series of websites with text, images, and video on a display set to 150 nits of brightness, the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 lasted for an astounding 18 hours and 32 minutes.

Whether we are talking about work or pleasure, I sincerely hope that can get you through more than a full day on a single charge.

Here's a look at how that stacks up against its competitors:

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Display

The MacBook Pro 14 features a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with a resolution of 3024 x 1964 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. That boosted refresh rate remains a differentiator for those comparing this to the 60Hz MacBook Air.

I watched the trailer for Squid Game: Season 2, and the vibrant pink, yellow, and teal Escherian staircases in the opening scene popped on the MacBook display. The nearly 4K panel is exquisitely sharp, showing every detail of the green jump-suited players and pink jump-suited guards.

Apple has still resisted the OLED trend, and the upside is that its mini-LED panel is one of the brightest on the market, with an HDR peak brightness of 1,096 nits across the full screen and an average SDR brightness of 556.6 nits. The latter is more commonly what you'll experience as not every app supports HDR, but that's still over 100 nits brighter than the average premium laptop.

My review unit also features Apple's new nano-texture display, which reduces glare on the display in direct sunlight or brightly lit environments. After several days of using it side-by-side with a MacBook Pro 16-inch M4 Pro with the standard glossy display, there's no question that the nano-texture makes a meaningful difference in suboptimal lighting, but whether that is worth an additional $150 will depend on how often you are out and about with your MacBook Pro. I don't see any evidence of a loss of vibrancy or brightness in person or based on our lab testing of the nano-texture panel, which is often a concern with this kind of coating, so price is the only trade-off.

Here's how the MacBook Pro 14-inch M4's display performed in our lab tests against its competitors:

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Keyboard and touchpad

Apple dialed in its keyboard since the bad old days of the butterfly switches and it stands among the best on the market now. The keys offer sufficient travel to ensure a comfortable typing experience for long days of writing but also rebound quickly to avoid interrupting the flow of your typing.

On the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I hit 88 words per minute with 99% accuracy, just ahead of my 86-wpm average.

Apple's touchpad remains the gold standard in terms of responsiveness and satisfying simulated clicks. At 5.1 x 3.1 inches, it's large enough to allow for easy navigation and gestures in macOS without interfering with your hand placement on the laptop.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Audio

The soundscape that the MacBook Pro 14-inch creates using its six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers remains mystifying. I feel engulfed in a stereo experience emanating from its aluminum chassis.

I listened to "Stay" from the Interstellar soundtrack on my Creative Writing Scores playlist and was blown away by how well the laptop handled every aspect of the song, from the barely perceptible lapping of the waves to the slowly building swell of the orchestra punctuated by the occasional percussive clang. No need for a Bluetooth speaker in my office with the MacBook Pro.

The speakers support Spatial Audio if you are playing audio with Dolby Atmos, and if you pair the laptop with recent AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max, you get Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking.

While the best headphones will be better, if you frequently rely on your laptop alone for your audio needs, the MacBook Pro is the best laptop you could choose for that purpose.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Performance and heat

One of the amazing tricks that the MacBook Pro pulled since the transition to the Apple M series chips in 2021 is delivering class-leading performance that often goes hand-in-hand with class-leading battery life.

Unsurprisingly, the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 proves no different. The base M4 chip with 16GB of RAM in our review unit delivered a Geekbench 6.3 score of 15,114, along with 18 hours and 32 minutes of battery life. That Geekbench result is nearly 50% higher than the premium laptop average and is one of the best Geekbench scores we've seen in 2024 outside of workstations and, of course, the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

I've spent the last several days using the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 for a variety of tasks, including my typical combination of dozens of Chrome tabs across multiple windows, Asana, and Slack. Needless to say, none of that is enough to slow the Pro down in the least.

When I fired up Photoshop to edit my photos of the laptop itself, the app loaded far faster than on the 15-inch MacBook Air M3 that I typically use, and both edits and exports were essentially instantaneous. Unless you are doing regular 8K video editing, I'm not sure that any typical computing tasks will slow the Pro M4 down.

If you use your laptop in your lap, then I have great news: the Pro M4 is one the coolest laptops I've reviewed, topping out at just 85 degrees Fahrenheit in our testing.

Here's how the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 performed in our real-world and lab tests compared to its competitors:

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Gaming and graphics

While we haven't reached the point where I would recommend a 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 as a viable alternative to one of the best gaming laptops, Apple is clearly putting more resources behind gaming, and for casual gamers like myself, it's a reasonable option now.

I tried the updated version of Myst with hardware-accelerated ray tracing on the Pro M4, and the frames per second held between 33 to 53 at full resolution and "Epic" performance settings, which is above our threshold of 30 fps for acceptable performance. If you are familiar with Myst, which was first released in 1993, you'll know that it is a pretty relaxed mystery box of a game, but it looks better than ever, and I had to drag myself back out before my nostalgic rambling around the island prevented me from getting this review to you.

Here's how the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 fared in our typical Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark compared to the competition:

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Webcam

The 14-inch MacBook Pro M4's 12MP Center Stage camera might be the best laptop webcam I've ever tested. It offers a sharp, color-accurate image and effectively handles shifting lighting conditions.

While I have relatively solid control of the lighting in my basement home office, the ceiling isn't extremely high, so, at the wrong angles, my webcam catches directly on those lights. But the MacBook Pro managed to avoid the typical hazard of the bright background blowing out the entire image, the webcam instantly adjusts as needed to keep my background and me lit properly.

Watching back video captured with the webcam I could see every trinket that I have arrayed on the shelf in the back of my office in crisp detail, and that my hair had gotten completely out of control over the course of the day. Ah well, I can't complain about an accurate webcam.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024): Software and warranty

The 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 arrives alongside macOS Sequoia 15.1, although we are waiting on another update to 15.2 that will introduce more of the Apple Intelligence features. Look for an article covering my experience with those features soon and I'll update this review with a complete look at Apple Intelligence once that is out of its current developer beta status.

As always the MacBook Pro is free from bloatware, which isn't as much of a problem on the premium Windows laptop side as it once was, but I'll always appreciate being able to just fire up a laptop and go without spending 30 minutes to an hour removing apps and services I don't want or need.

Apple provides a one-year limited warranty with the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 along with 90 days of technical support. You can extend this with Apple Care+ which will give you fixed repair and replacement costs even in the case of accidental damage for either $99 per year or $279 for 3 years. It's a particularly good program if you are planning to hang onto the laptop for multiple years and have an Apple Store nearby.

Bottom line

Do you need a gaming laptop? Windows exclusive software? A budget laptop? The thinnest and lightest laptop possible? Ok, the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 probably isn't the best choice for you.

If you didn't fall into one of the categories above, this laptop belongs on your shortlist. Apple's performance to efficiency has been honed to a razor's edge with the M4 and with the $1,599 base model now offering a perfectly reasonable set of specs for most people, the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 is legitimately a value.

There's not another laptop in this price range that can match up across the board with the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 in performance and efficiency, let alone its brilliant display, speakers, and webcam. I'd still love to see Apple bring Face ID to the MacBook to compete with Windows Hello and those vents are a bit irritating, but these are truly quibbling complaints on an otherwise outstanding laptop.

If you are in the market for the best MacBook, the Air M3 may still have the edge due to its often sub-$1,000 price on sale, but if you find yourself upgrading RAM or storage, take a long, hard look at the new MacBook Pro M4 first.