Is This Apple's Worst Leak Ever? The MacBook Pro M4 Rumors Explained

Apple announced its MacBook models featuring the M3 chipset family in October 2023. The company's subsequent earnings reports indicated a very positive response to the M3 Macs. This immediately raised questions about the anticipated M4 models, with the most pressing one being: When will Apple launch its M4 chip-powered Macs, and what can we expect from them?

Rumors suggest the new M4s will debut in a few weeks. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects Apple to announce several M4 MacBook models in late October 2024, and believes some of them will be released on November 1. After that, Apple might kick off 2025 with several other releases, according to Gurman.

These predictions may well turn out to be accurate, but another, more intriguing rumor is circulating online. Video footage that has gone viral on YouTube and several social networks suggest that some individuals have already gotten their hands on the yet-to-be-announced MacBook Pro featuring an M4 chip. Here's what you need to know.

On October 7, Russian YouTuber Wylsacom posted an unboxing video of what appears to be the M4 MacBook Pro. The video seems perfectly legitimate, so does Wylsacom's channel. This is not some random, no-name YouTuber, but rather a very popular creator with over 11 million subscribers and several billion video views.

Hours after Wylsacom posted his video, a similar video appeared on a different Russian YouTube channel, Romancev768. This, too, looks like a legitimate and popular channel — it has accumulated nearly 2 billion views and close to 1.6 million subscribers since its creation in August 2020.

There doesn't appear to be any glaring issues with these videos, and nothing suggests that the device featured in them is not the new M4 MacBook Pro. In fact, everything looks quite convincing, including the box, which resembles the typical Apple retail packaging. In short, there aren't any major red flags that might tip off the average person looking to replace their MacBook Air M3 with a newer device.

As soon as the videos went viral, Apple fans and news outlets like AppleInsider began picking them apart and looking for inconsistencies. For example, the wallpaper on the box visible in the videos is the same as the wallpaper on the M3 series. The specification stickers do not look like those typically found on Apple's latest products. Also, the product shown in the videos could just be the M3 MacBook Pro, which also comes in black. 

It is also worth noting that Wylsacom and Romancev768 know each other. The two men have collaborated on at least one YouTube video thus far. Additionally, there appears to be some confusion regarding Apple's presence in Russia — while it is true that Apple has scaled back its operations in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, its products can still be purchased in the country, so nothing would theoretically stop two Russian YouTubers from pulling an elaborate prank with a couple of M3 MacBook Pros. 

Apple is known for its secrecy, but no tech giant can fully stop leaks. In October 2023, for instance, the company's 2024 iPad and MacBook plans leaked to the press. Still, a leak of this magnitude — with Russian YouTubers getting their hands on a device that hasn't even been announced — would be unprecedented and arguably the worst leak in Apple's history.