When you have one of the best-selling fairway woods in the market then you are less likely to mess around with its successor and that is the case with the TaylorMade M4 fairway wood.
The head is made of the same materials as the M3 fairway and the Ni-CO C300 steel alloy face has been made a little thinner than in the M2 2017 fairway.
This is combined with TaylorMade's Inverted Cone design on the inside of the face to increase ball speed on off centre hits thus making the M4 fairway a little bit more forgiving thanks to a larger head.
The internal weight pad that was in the centre previously is now split into two on the M4 and moved either side of the logo and 'GeoCoustic' section to increase the forgiveness.
The GeoCoustic design refers to the recessed section of the sole that uses geometry to strengthen the body and improve the sound, hence the name.
The Speed Pocket is still there and is the engine for producing the ball speed, especially on strikes low on the face.
With its generous head size, this is a friendlier fairway and the thinner steel section in front of the carbon crown is now silver which gives it a calmer look at address as well as offering the face contrast to aid alignment.
Testing on GC2 and the deeper CG gives it a similar launch to the M3 but with a little more spin and a high level of ball speed.
For me it wasn't going as far but that could be down to the different shafts as the fixed hosel of the M4 meant it was not possible to switch them and do a direct head comparison, so check on custom fitting to find out which model works for you.
There is a choice of 5 head lofts of 15°, 16.5°, 18°, 21° and 24° and that is your only decision to make as there is no adjustable hosel or sliding weight as in the M3 fairway.
The shaft is still attached to the Fluted Hosel that saves weight without losing strength in order to lower the CG.
If it spins a little too much then better players could opt for the new M4 Tour fairway that comes in 15° and 18° heads. This is 15cc smaller than the standard M4 and it could be an option to the M3 as it is the same price, which is £50/$50 more than the standard M4.
The stock shaft is the Fujikura Atmos Red which is better than the standard Reax shaft of the M2 2017, although there are plenty of other options available through TaylorMade custom fitting.
So it's really a lot of as you were with the M4 fairway. A little weight saved here and moved there gives another excellent fairway from TaylorMade. It sounds a little better, is very easy to hit and with the additional forgiveness is still going to be one of the fairways to beat in the market.