However, the new quantum dot tech used in the M4 MacBook Pro can be achieved without the use of cadmium, Young explains. This, alongside its improved efficiency, presumably gave it the green light from Apple, allowing the company to enhance its MacBook Pro displays without the environmental concerns.

The biggest reason to upgrade to the MacBook Pro M4 is the performance. This machine gets the newest M4 chip that is based on a 3-nanometer process, promising the fastest CPU core and better multithreaded performance than M3. Based on our testing, the M4 blows a lot of the competition away but not on every test.

The M4 Pro and M4 Max deliver exceptional performance and potential to the new MacBook Pro laptops. Then there's the M4

The M4's single-core performance is between 14 and 21 percent faster than the M3s in our tests, and tests that use all the CPU cores are usually 20 or 30 percent faster. The GPU is occasionally as much as 33 percent faster than the M3 in our tests, though more often, the improvements are in the single or low double digits.

This popular M4 Max configuration packs a 32-core GPU and 1TB storage, making it a well-equipped model that's $200 off and in stock now.

The recent M4 Mac release shows that a simple chip upgrade isn't going to be enough to make users invest in a new Mac.