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Apple's OLED 'MacBook Ultra' Will Stick With M5 Pro and M5 Max Chips

SSD-GUY said:
Can someone clarify if with this MacBook Ultra launch, the whole MacBook Pro line up will receive a redesign? Or will the same chassis be used for the normal MacBook Pro models, and then there'll also be a high-end Ultra model with a redesigned/thinner chassis with OLED display? If the latter is true, then will the entire series get a redesign at the end of 2028 then?
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You're asking questions that few outside of Apple can answer. But the current rumors point to the Ultra (with touch/OLED, new chassis) being released with the M5 Pro/Max in the coming months while the existing MBPs will get the M6. Not clear if they'll *also* get the M6 Pro/Max, or whether *that* upgrade will be when the MBP Ultra gets the M7 Pro/Max another year later. And it's also not clear/known whether the lines will reconverge on a single chassis design.
 
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This is complete conjecture, but I saw someone else on these forums speculate that what's being reported as the slimmed-down MacBook Ultra is really a redesign for the base level MacBook Pro only. The OLED touchscreen and 2nm base M6 would be great matches for a thinner, lighter "pro" device aimed at business users and prosumers rather than the true creative professionals and AI coders that need Pro and Max chips, maximum RAM and SSD, and greater thermal headroom. And it all fits together with the news of the M6 skipping the Pro and Max variants this generation.

More of a "MacBook Executive" at the new entry-level $1999 price. That would leave the MacBook Pro brand to stay chunky, expensive and touchscreen-free, starting at the new $2499.
 
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I can’t imagine this touchscreen MBP is going to be anywhere reasonably priced.

After some few years of value priced offerings (Mac mini and MacBook Neo), it feels like we’re heading into a dark period where everything will be prohibitively expensive.
 
space808 said:
On another well-known Apple-dedicated site, I was downvoted at feverish pitch for saying much the same about the recent price hikes.

I tried to point out that the recent price hikes are not because Apple would otherwise lose money, but because shareholders would be unhappy about lowered margins (albeit still healthily profitable). Apple has charged anywhere between 500-900% premiums on memory and storage upgrades for a decade or more. The AI madness-induced memory goldrush shouldn't really affect Apple too much because they can digest the 85-100% extra cost without increasing product prices. But they did it anyway. And pointing that out really upsets fanboys.
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Digesting that extra cost lowers their profit margin, which is anathema to the entire point of the company existing

It’s nothing to with fanboyism. It’s just how capitalism works

The point is to consolidate more wealth, not less

Profits must go up, not down
 
Vincent Hanna said:
If this is the case, then I don't think the new touch screen models are going to be some new Ultra tier that sits above the regular Pro and Max MacBook Pros, they'll just BE the new Pro and Max MacBook Pros, with the base M6 chip replacing the base M5 in the existing, entry-level, non-touch chassis.

Yesterday's price increases already make them an Ultra tier. The 14" M5 Max MacBook Pro now starts at $4100! What are they gonna do, have a touch screen Ultra model with the same SoC that sits above it at $5K? That doesn't seem tenable anymore.
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That seems possible but also very strange to upgrade the MBP to a new design with OLED and leave the same chips in it. With the semiconductor crunch, however, it would allow them to save money.

And then they'd conceivably have a MacBook Pro base model with M6 coming out this fall? That would make a total mess of their chipset marketing.
 
satchmo said:
I can’t imagine this touchscreen MBP is going to be anywhere reasonably priced.

After some few years of value priced offerings (Mac mini and MacBook Neo), it feels like we’re heading into a dark period where everything will be prohibitively expensive.
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Back to the "good, old" expensive days. What a shame. Never forget, the original Macintosh, adjusted for inflation, cost roughly $7500 to $7800 in today's money.
 
Vincent Hanna said:
If this is the case, then I don't think the new touch screen models are going to be some new Ultra tier that sits above the regular Pro and Max MacBook Pros, they'll just BE the new Pro and Max MacBook Pros, with the base M6 chip replacing the base M5 in the existing, entry-level, non-touch chassis.

Yesterday's price increases already make them an Ultra tier. The 14" M5 Max MacBook Pro now starts at $4100! What are they gonna do, have a touch screen Ultra model with the same SoC that sits above it at $5K? That doesn't seem tenable anymore.
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The recent price increases reflect the higher cost of RAM and are not inclusive of the forthcoming high-priced tandem OLED displays.
 
transpo1 said:
That seems possible but also very strange to upgrade the MBP to a new design with OLED and leave the same chips in it. With the semiconductor crunch, however, it would allow them to save money.

And then they'd conceivably have a MacBook Pro base model with M6 coming out this fall? That would make a total mess of their chipset marketing.
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It makes perfect sense.

You can either have a nicer screen or a newer chip
 
SSD-GUY said:
Can someone clarify if with this MacBook Ultra launch, the whole MacBook Pro line up will receive a redesign? Or will the same chassis be used for the normal MacBook Pro models, and then there'll also be a high-end Ultra model with a redesigned/thinner chassis with OLED display? If the latter is true, then will the entire series get a redesign at the end of 2028 then?
Click to expand...
The Ultra is a separate line in the MacBook family. The current chassis may receive a minor upgrade or outright stay the same with only internal upgrades. The “big redesign” people are talking about is referring to the distinct product separate from the current chassis.

The current chassis is due for an update soon as well, but I haven’t seen any rumors as to what a redesign would look like. It’s probably still a few years away.
 
Externally, the chassis redesigns usually just look a little different without adding any fundamental changes. It in the automotive world they call 'em (rather silly term imo) a "facelift." Where it's not uncommon for the original version to actually be nicer-lookin'.

I've not used the current Macbook design aside from brief store interations. But I think I read somewhere they're harder to pick up than the prior designs, which had that little curve underneath for your fingers to get ahold of the laptop.
 
This is the idea more clearly.

Now that Apple has raised the price of the base M5 MacBook Pro all the way to $1999, and the M5 Pro MacBook all the way to $2499, AND we know that there will only be the base M6 coming this fall with no M6 Pro or Max chips, Apple has the pricing structure in place to have the base M6 MacBook Pro be the model that gets the slim downed redesign and the OLED touchscreen first and exclusively for one year.

These are features that will appeal much more readily to business users and prosumers: the Dads and Grads demographic.

The true pros doing content creation and AI coding will be happy to skip these changes, at least at first, so Apple avoids the initial pro backlash to these major changes. They’ll use the lure of the AI-optimized M7 Pro and Max in the MacBook Ultra in 2027 to make the true pros OK with it.

Here’s how it would roll out over the next 15 months if Gurman’s M6 base only and M7 / M7 Pro / M7 Max timeline is accurate.

October 2026:

$1999 M6 MacBook Pro (slim redesign w/ OLED touchscreen)

$2499 M5 Pro MacBook Pro (current model)

$4099 M5 Pro MacBook Pro (current model)


October 2027:

$1999 M7 MacBook Pro (slim redesign w/ OLED touchscreen)

$2499 M7 Pro MacBook Ultra (chunky redesign w/ OLED touchscreen)

$4099 M7 Max MacBook Ultra (chunky redesign w/ OLED touchscreen)
 
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Vincent Hanna said:
This is the idea more clearly.

Now that Apple has raised the price of the base M5 MacBook Pro all the way to $1999, and the M5 Pro MacBook all the way to $2499, AND we know that there will only be the base M6 coming this fall with no M6 Pro or Max chips, Apple has the pricing structure in place to have the base M6 MacBook Pro be the model that gets the slim downed redesign and the OLED touchscreen first and exclusively for one year.

These are features that will appeal much more readily to business users and prosumers: the Dads and Grads demographic.

The true pros doing content creation and AI coding will be happy to skip these changes, at least at first, so Apple avoids the initial pro backlash to these major changes. They’ll use the lure of the AI-optimized M7 Pro and Max in the MacBook Ultra in 2027 to make the true pros OK with it.

Here’s how it would roll out over the next 15 months if Gurman’s M6 base only and M7 / M7 Pro / M7 Max timeline is accurate.

October 2026:

$1999 M6 MacBook Pro (slim redesign w/ OLED touchscreen)

$2499 M5 Pro MacBook Pro (current model)

$4099 M5 Pro MacBook Pro (current model)


October 2027:

$1999 M7 MacBook Pro (slim redesign w/ OLED touchscreen)

$2499 M7 Pro MacBook Ultra (chunky redesign w/ OLED touchscreen)

$4099 M7 Max MacBook Ultra (chunky redesign w/ OLED touchscreen)
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You’re absolutely dreaming if you think an m6 OLED MacBook Pro is going to be the same price as the current base model!

My money would be on:

$2499 OLED m5 MacBook Pro
$2199 m6 MacBook Pro
 
They just bumped the base MBP $300 to accommodate the RAM and SSD costs, but I’m theorizing they allowed for the incremental cost of the OLED touchscreen in there too.

This goes for the Pro and Max models too that went up even more: do one big price increase one time, and then when the shock wears off you have the new pricing in place for the new touchscreen models.
 
Vincent Hanna said:
They just bumped the base MBP $300 to accommodate the RAM and SSD costs, but I’m theorizing they allowed for the incremental cost of the OLED touchscreen in there too.

This goes for the Pro and Max models too that went up even more: do one big price increase one time, and then when the shock wears off you have the new pricing in place for the new touchscreen models.
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I don't think so. they have even said something along the lines of just beginning to increase prices. base m6 is going to cost more, touch screen OLED even more than that
 
SSD-GUY said:
Can someone clarify if with this MacBook Ultra launch, the whole MacBook Pro line up will receive a redesign? Or will the same chassis be used for the normal MacBook Pro models, and then there'll also be a high-end Ultra model with a redesigned/thinner chassis with OLED display? If the latter is true, then will the entire series get a redesign at the end of 2028 then?
Click to expand...
Here is what I am imagining, the MacBook Pro will remain the base level M chip with a fan. Then the MacBook Ultra will be a touchscreen MacBook with the M Pro and M Max chips. After a few years, the base MacBook Pro may also get the touchscreen and new design. That's what happened with the Touch Bar MacBooks anyways.
 
zonai said:
Here is what I am imagining, the MacBook Pro will remain the base level M chip with a fan. Then the MacBook Ultra will be a touchscreen MacBook with the M Pro and M Max chips. After a few years, the base MacBook Pro may also get the touchscreen and new design. That's what happened with the Touch Bar MacBooks anyways.
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I think it will be the opposite.

the pro/Max chips and the OLED touch screen will be different machines to start

Kind of like how the air used to get the newer tech and the pro would get the better chips
 
Flight Plan said:
Cellular built-in might just make me give up my Windows laptop. It's the one main thing missing from PCs. And might get me to carry a laptop more than I already carry my iPad.

EDIT: Oh yeah, except for the fact that I like to play computer games. Rats.
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Completely understand, I carry both 16 inch RTX 4080 laptop to game and a MacBook Pro to work... It's annoying as hell but at this point I gave up and I'll just try to get a slimmer machine for gaming once they go the APU route
 
After doing some further research, do you think Apple could adopt a similar release pattern to when the 2012 MacBook Pros came out? From https://appleosophy.com/2026/06/27/...o-stick-with-current-m5-pro-and-m5-max-chips/

Needless to say, with the significant breakthroughs in technology the “MacBook Ultra” will offer, it will certainly not be affordable as it will be priced higher than the MacBook Pro, which now starts at $1,999 with Apple’s price hikes going into effect. This would be kinda similar to the MacBook Pro lineup back in the summer of 2012, when Apple introduced the first MacBook Pro models with Retina Display (15-inch in June 2012 and 13-inch in October 2012), they featured a thinner, all-new design and an all-flash SSD architecture, but they were initially priced higher, so Apple continued to sell the older “unibody” MacBook Pro models at the same price alongside the higher-priced Retina models for a while until the Retina models became more more affordable and mainstreamed.
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So the MacBook Ultra will be the new redesigned MacBook Pro chassis with OLED screen, potential thinner design, and they still sell the 'older' design MBP with the M6, and then eventually, the designs will converge and the older MBP design will no longer exist?
 
Charlie Bonesx said:
It makes perfect sense.

You can either have a nicer screen or a newer chip
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Nope. Doesn't make perfect sense. Some who buy this new MBP/Ultra may not care that Apple uses the older M5 Pro/Max chipset. But saavy buyers (like those on this forum) will be smart enough to hold off until it's upgraded to the M7 Pro/Max and that means, sales might suffer. For me, it depends how slow my M3 Pro MBP is after updating to Golden Gate. So Apple better nerf my MBP hardcore if they want me to upgrade 🤣

SSD-GUY said:
After doing some further research, do you think Apple could adopt a similar release pattern to when the 2012 MacBook Pros came out? From https://appleosophy.com/2026/06/27/...o-stick-with-current-m5-pro-and-m5-max-chips/



So the MacBook Ultra will be the new redesigned MacBook Pro chassis with OLED screen, potential thinner design, and they still sell the 'older' design MBP with the M6, and then eventually, the designs will converge and the older MBP design will no longer exist?
Click to expand...
It's plausible. They have done that in the past. Cue everyone complaining how they don't want to pay for touchscreen on their MBPs.
 
SSD-GUY said:
So the MacBook Ultra will be the new redesigned MacBook Pro chassis with OLED screen, potential thinner design, and they still sell the 'older' design MBP with the M6, and then eventually, the designs will converge and the older MBP design will no longer exist?
Click to expand...
That’s the big question, isn’t it?

Everyone naturally assumed these new redesigned, slim MBPs with OLED touchscreens would be an all-new higher end Ultra tier with pricing to match. That of course would have required them to be based on the new M6 Pro and Max SoCs.

But now those SOCs are not going to be produced. And there won’t be a suitable high end chip until the M7 Pro and Max for another 16 months.

So Apple has three choices:

1. Put the base M6 into the otherwise unchanged entry-level 14” MBP at the new $1999 price point, while leaving the now price-hiked M5 Pro and Max models unchanged, and push the entire “Ultra” brand concept to the end of next year with the M7 Pro and Max.

2. Introduce the Ultra brand this year in place of or above the current M5 Pro/Max models, but with the same M5 Pro/Max chips, while putting the base M6 into the unchanged entry level 14” MBP.

3. The “Ultra” redesign with the slimmer design and OLED touchscreen actually goes into the $1999 14” MacBook Pro first, and the M5 Pro and Max models are left on sale “as is” until fall 2027, when they would get the redesign the M7 allows. Very much like how the M4 Max and M3 Ultra Mac Studios have been left un-updated for months and months.

Number 2 is now the conventional wisdom, but it seems unlikely to me. Number 3 is what I would personally prefer, as a $1999 M6 MacBook Executive would be a day one purchase for me. But number 1 seems the most likely: the RAMpocalypse will push the entire Ultra redesign to fall 2027.
 
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Vincent Hanna said:
That’s the big question, isn’t it?

Everyone naturally assumed these new redesigned, slim MBPs with OLED touchscreens would be an all-new higher end Ultra tier with pricing to match. That of course would have required them to be based on the new M6 Pro and Max SoCs.

But now those SOCs are not going to be produced. And there won’t be a suitable high end chip until the M7 Pro and Max for another 16 months.

So Apple has three choices:

1. Put the base M6 into the otherwise unchanged entry-level 14” MBP at the new $1999 price point, while leaving the now price-hiked M5 Pro and Max models unchanged, and push the entire “Ultra” brand concept to the end of next year with the M7 Pro and Max.

2. Introduce the Ultra brand this year in place of or above the current M5 Pro/Max models, but with the same M5 Pro/Max chips, while putting the base M6 into the unchanged entry level 14” MBP.

3. The “Ultra” redesign with the slimmer design and OLED touchscreen actually goes into the $1999 14” MacBook Pro first, and the M5 Pro and Max models are left on sale “as is” until fall 2027, when they would get the redesign the M7 allows. Very much like how the M4 Max and M3 Ultra Mac Studios have been left un-updated for months and months.

Number 2 is now the conventional wisdom, but it seems unlikely to me. Number 3 is what I would personally prefer, as a $1999 M6 MacBook Executive would be a day one purchase for me. But number 1 seems the most likely: the RAMpocalypse will push the entire Ultra redesign to fall 2027.
Click to expand...

The more I think about it, the more
2 makes sense
 
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