This laptop is an early top-draw in the AI PC race

The latest generation of Apple's custom chip M4, found in the iteratively upgraded MacBook Pro, wins this round

- Shouvik Das

What, really, makes for a sound purchase in laptops? In the fast-moving world of technology, it often feels that your latest gadget may outpace your basic requirements, especially if you're a tech-savvy person; faster than a pre-teen grows out of their shoes. Yet, technologists and chiefs of global brands have promised that by buying an 'AI PC', you'd be future-proofing your tech spend.

The latest generation of Apple's custom chip M4, found in the iteratively upgraded MacBook Pro, sits on top of that pile. Its previous version, the M3 chip, was already one of the best-performing processors in the global PC industry. Mint's own experiences with the M3 Max, Apple's top-drawer previous chip, was in the form of one of the world's most powerful consumer-grade laptops ever produced until January this year. In April, the base-line M3 chip, too, stood out as one that's reliable enough—but perhaps in want of better co-processing capabilities to accommodate the world's incoming artificial intelligence onslaught. Now, the base M4 chip appears to have hit the right requisite notes that the M3 had missed out on. In simple terms—even in a 'pro' laptop, the base chip does not feel out of place.

Apple's latest custom chip on the MacBook Pro is one of the most energy-efficient ones in the world right now, and definitely the most efficient that Apple's ever made. This gives a big fillip to the new MacBook Pro, especially if its usage involves frequent travels and fewer power sockets to be plugged into.