Apple Intelligence, Apple's set of generative artificial intelligence features, is just going public, but its biggest early impact could already be seen this week.
It started yesterday with the M4 iMac line, which increased the base RAM from 8GB to 16GB. Apple did it again today with the M4 Mac mini. Education Store customers can pick up an M4 Mac mini with 16GB of RAM for just $499 – that's a great deal. The new M4 Mac mini is downright gorgeous. It replaces the M2 Mac mini with 8GB at the same price.
We expect the base M4 MacBook Pro to arrive tomorrow with double the RAM. Why this sudden generosity of RAM from Apple? AI, of course.
In a world without Apple Intelligence, Apple would eventually increase the base RAM in every Mac over time. However, this year, Apple apparently wants to future-proof the Mac for upcoming Generative AI features. Apple doesn't want another iPhone 15 situation where it announces software features that can't run on existing flagship hardware.
Does this mean the M4 MacBook Air will make the jump from 8GB to 16GB of RAM when we see those machines after the end of the year? If so, this is a wonderful upgrade for Mac users – even if you've never used generative AI.
One final thought: Oh, how far the Mac mini has come since the days of the poor form factor being the only remaining product in Apple's lineup. The M4 Mac line is proving to be powerful.
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