Apple’s MacBook Pro for next year won’t be particularly groundbreaking, at least not compared to the all-new version due in 2026, which is rumored to be complete with that big OLED screen upgrade and a serious performance boost with the M6 chip. at.
Mark Gurman’s latest installment of ‘Power On’ is the source of this juicy MacBook rumor, but if you check out Bloomberg’s online newsletter you won’t see the speculation, as only subscribers can read the answers to Gurman’s post-game Q&A at the end of the piece.
One of the questions asked to the leaker is, “Should I wait until next year’s MacBook Pro is upgraded?” And the short answer is that if you’re expecting a refreshed model for 2025 after a relatively modest overhaul for the 14-inch and 16-inch variants this year – largely based on the new M4 SoC – you might be disappointed.
Answering the question, Gurman notes that “the MacBook Pro probably won’t get another real overhaul until 2026,” with Apple looking at a five-year laptop redesign cycle (rather than four years as was the case in recent years). past).
The MacBook Pro 2026 will likely mark the move to OLED (finally) and a thinner chassis.
So Gurman tells us that he believes next year’s MacBook Pro will be “(again) very much about the chip,” except that in this case we’ll obviously be looking at the M5 and its Pro and Max versions. Apparently development of those CPUs is already nearing completion, the leaker tells us.
With the M6 chip in 2026, Apple will move to a 2nm process, and we can expect a big boost from that, while the M5 will represent a modest performance increase compared to the M4.
In short, the MacBook Pro 2026 is the laptop to watch, possibly with a completely new design, a thinner casing, a new OLED screen and M6 processors that are much more powerful than their predecessors.
Analysis: OLED and thin-for-the-win
So if you’re not tempted by the MacBook Pro M4 models that are about to be launched – perhaps because you already have an M3-powered laptop, and the new flavors won’t be a big difference – then the laptops for 2025 probably won’t convince you to pull the trigger on an upgrade either. If Gurman is right – and there is an element of caution in his writing, with qualifiers like “probably” and so on – wait until at least 2026, and there is other evidence that this is probably the case.
It’s been rumored for a while that Apple is looking at 2026 to bring OLED to the MacBook Pro, and some of the mainstream speakers on everything Apple have recently said that they expect the 2025 model of the MacBook Pro to do so as well. stick with Mini LED. (As MacRumors notes, they include reliable display-related leaker Ross Young).
An OLED screen will make the MacBook Pro slimmer, so it makes sense that we’ll also get a thinner laptop as part of this complete redesign – especially given Apple’s renewed focus on thin-for-the-win . . Gurman already predicted that thinner MacBooks are in the making, after Apple released its ‘thinpossible’ iPad Pro (with OLED).
We should note that the MacBook Pro M4 makes improvements in the display department – and some pretty useful ones – and no doubt next year’s MacBook Pro M5 won’t be a complete fizzle either. However, there is already a constant stream of rumors indicating that the real fireworks will come in 2026 with the MacBook Pro M6.
So the suggestion is that if you can’t wait until 2026, you might as well upgrade now rather than see what next year brings.