I’m led to conclude that there’s a simple explanation for Apple holding back the MacBook Air – twice now – when it introduces a new wave of Mac products. Apple simply wants its shiny new M4 chip to look good – and it’s easier to showcase that in a Pro-level laptop with active cooling, rather than the slimmer, passively-cooled MacBook Air.

As Apple's October launch event nears, Gurman also laid out the company's hardware launch plans for 2025. Early next year, Apple is expected to launch M4-powered 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models, iPhone SE 4 with significant upgrades and Apple Intelligence, 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models, new-gen AirTag, and more.

What's really impressive about the leaked M4 MacBook Pro score is the single-core performance, which smokes every laptop we've tested to date.