Rumors strongly suggest that Apple will be overhauling the MacBook Pro as soon as next year, marking five years since the previous redesign that we know and love today. There are five key rumors to follow with this redesigned MacBook Pro, and we’ll be delving into them here.
OLED display
After debuting in the iPad Pro in 2024, Apple is expected to introduce OLED display technology to the MacBook Pro for the very first time with the redesign in 2026. This’ll provide higher brightness, better contrast ratios, and nicer colors to the MacBook Pro lineup for the very first time.
Plus, according to TheElec, Apple will be using the same Tandem OLED display tech as the aforementioned iPad Pro:
The OLED MacBook Air is also expected to get a standard single-stack display, rather than the more sophisticated Two-Stack Tandem displays we reported on for the MacBook Pro.
Single-stack displays have one red, green and blue layer, while two-stack tandem OLED has a second RGB layer. Two layers stacked in tandem increases the brightness of the screen, while also increasing longevity.
While transitioning to OLED, Apple may also ditch the notch, in favor of a smaller camera hole cutout. This information comes from Omdia, who describes it as a “rounded corner + hole cut.”
The report doesn’t specify whether or not it’ll be a single hole punch, or something more similar to Dynamic Island on the iPhone. Either way, there won’t be as chunky of a cutout in your MacBook Pro display once the redesign arrives.
Thinner design
According to Bloomberg, Apple will be adopting a new, thinner design with the 2026 MacBook Pro. There aren’t many other details specified, so it’s unclear if the overall chassis design will change:
Though Apple has continued to enhance the product with new chips and other internal improvements, the MacBook Pro probably won’t get another true overhaul until 2026. The company had once hoped to release this new version in 2025 — with a thinner design and a move to crisper OLED screens — but there were delays related to the display technology.
Touchscreen
Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that we’ll see touchscreen Macs as soon as 2026. There’s been an increasing amount of evidence that Apple is headed in this direction, and we’ll likely see this come to fruition as part of the 2026 MacBook Pro redesign.
Cellular support
Apple may also be shipping its first cellular Mac with this 2026 redesign. Late last year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the company was working towards building an in-house modem for Macs as early as 2026. This is part of Apple’s larger vision to build more and more of its components in-house.
Cutting-edge M6 chip
Apple will also debut the M6 family of chips in this new MacBook Pro redesign. Currently, M6 is anticipated to be the first generation of Apple Silicon to adopt TSMC’s 2nm technology, alongside the A20 chip for iPhone.
We’ll definitely see M6 Pro and M6 Max chips debut in this new MacBook Pro redesign, though rumors are conflicting about whether or not Apple will immediately release a base model 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip. Last month, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the redesign would be exclusive to M6 Pro and M6 Max models.
If you’re someone who buys the base model MacBook Pro, you may need to wait a little while for the redesign.
Release date
These new redesigned OLED MacBook Pros should debut sometime between late 2026 and early 2027. Rumors haven’t been super clear about that one, though if I were to guess, I’d say that we’ll potentially see an unveiling towards the end of 2026 (likely in October), though there’ll probably be limited supply until things ramp up early into 2027.
There would be precedent for this prediction, seeing as most analysts predicted that the M3 MacBook Pros wouldn’t launch until early 2024 based on how production was ramping. Then, out of nowhere, Apple announced there would be an October keynote – and said MacBooks did in fact launch in 2023, though it was hard to get certain configurations.
Wrap up
Overall, the biggest feature of this upgrade is certainly the fact that the MacBook Pro will be adopting OLED. That said, I’ll certainly appreciate the thinner design – particularly on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which currently comes in at 4.7 pounds.
In case you aren’t too fond of waiting up to a year and a half to buy a new MacBook Pro, there are some good discounts on the current M4 Pro and M5 models now that they’re well into their lifespan. You can pick up an M5 14-inch for $1349, an M4 Pro 14-inch for $1749, or an M4 Pro 16-inch for $2149. These are all around $250-350 off compared to their typical prices.
The best holiday discounts for Apple products:
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