M3 vs. M4 Chip Buyer's Guide: How Much Better Really Is M4?

Apple has announced the first M4 Mac models, promising improved performance over the M3 chip. The M4 chip debuted in the iPad Pro earlier this year, offering around 20% faster performance than the M3 chip. The M4 chip is made using TSMC's enhanced 3nm technology, whereas the M3 chip uses the standard 3nm technology. The M4 chip has 28 billion transistors, a 12% increase over the M3 chip's 25 billion transistors. The M4 chip also features up to 10 CPU cores, compared to the M3 chip's 8-core CPU. The M4 chip's CPU clock speed is 4.3 GHz, compared to the M3 chip's 4.05 GHz. The M4 chip's Neural Engine is capable of 38 trillion operations per second, a 111% increase over the M3 chip's 18 trillion operations per second. The M4 chip also features LPDDR5X memory and a 20% increase in memory bandwidth. While the M4 chip offers notable enhancements, the practical differences for users upgrading from an M3 system may not be as radical as the specifications suggest. The M4 chip is likely aimed at users looking to upgrade from M1 chips or older Intel systems, where the jump in performance is more pronounced.