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Future of MacBook Pro

tangfish

tangfish

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 12, 2014
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With an M5 MacBook Pro likely coming this week do we think this is a final speed bump iteration ahead of a major redesign next year?

I'm looking to upgrade at some point but also not in a big rush, currently running a still serviceable but older Apple Silicon MBP. I'd upgrade to the M5 but if there's a good chance of a redesign next year I can definitely wait.
 
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From what has been reported thus far, it looks like this low-end 14" MacBook Pro design will stick around for at least one more iteration (M6) next year, whilst the higher-end 14" and 16" get the redesign with all that entails (tandem OLED, thinner design, etc).
 
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ruslan120 said:
I really hope they stick with Mini LED.

OLED will burn in…
Click to expand...

Seems pretty certain that they are switching to OLED with the M6 generation (late 2026 or early 2027).
I'm sure that they are cognizant of the burn-in risk. Not sure what steps they will take to avoid it specifically, but I have not noticed any burn-in in other Apple OLED devices that I have (including my watch with always-on display, which has been displaying the same complications in the same place for years). I think that it is much less of an issue than it was with early OLEDs.
 
I'm going to have MacRumors permanently burned into mine!
 
I think a price increase, tandem OLED screen, bye bye Mini LED, and I believe cellular and well touch screens? And lighter and thinner an more powerful yadda yadda.

And this foldable device they are rumoured to be working on which will become more of a reality if they do give the MB Pro a touchscreen.
 
No one knows for sure, but yes, it certainly seems like all signs are pointing that way. It will have been 5 years since the 2021 MBP current model re-design (and before that, it was the 2016 re-design to Touchbar + 4 Thunderbolt), so 5 year cadence last 2 generations... and all the rumors around OLED are pointing to that timeline as well.

For what it's worth, I had a 2016 13" MBP (day 1 buyer), and a 2021 M1 Pro 14" MBP (day 1 buyer also). My 2021 M1 Pro MBP was completely still good - however, I realized I don't really need the power of the Pro. So I took advantage of the current great Amazon sales for the 15" M4 MBA, got the base 16/512gb model for $200 off. Sold my 2021 M1 Pro MBP on Swappa for a decent price (significantly more than current Apple trade-in value). And am basically going to enjoy this newer, snappier 15" MBA, with the idea that if the new 2026(?) MBP OLED re-design is compelling, I feel better jumping to that (even if it's only been 1.5years).
 
The M6 is likely to have a redesign, but I expect it's pushed to early (or even mid) 2027. This would give Apple time to launch the M5 Pro/Max in Spring, sell through the stock of their existing designs, build a larger supply of 2nm chips, and hammer out any kinks in the new hardware.
 
Think the M5 will be the last version before a redesign. M6 should bring OLED, removal of notch, maybe a bit lighter, cellular connectivity. But the base version of MacBook Pro with M6 chip (not Pro/Max) will most likely not be getting a refresh.
 
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Pezimak said:
Yes, it does. All OLED's are at risk of burn in.
Click to expand...

I'm really wondering how much of a thing this will be. How much has the technology matured? Is burn-in a real risk in this day and age?

Real example: My Apple Watch Series 8 (which has an OLED display) has been running the same watch face and complications for three years. It's an always-on display so it is ... always on. Not at full brightness, mind you, but... three years.

If I switch to different apps, I can't see any evidence of burn-in from the main watch face elements.
 
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I would of thought we might start hearing some more rumours and real specs about the redesigned MacBook Pros in the next 6 months or less given we're about 12 months or a little more away, which is exciting.
 
For the base model 14" which has just been updated, I expect it to lag a year or two behind again before it catches up to the new form factor that the M6 Pro/Max MacBook Pros will get next year. Similar to how the M1 and M2 models retained the Touch Bar design. So likely we will see the current mini LED design also updated with an M6 and probably M7 as well.
 
I am thankful for discovering this topic.

I am having macbook pro 16' 2021.
It is a powerful machine, no doubt. I am quite sure that it can serve well at least for 5 years and even more.
But, in late 2026, one year from now, it will be 5 years old. And I know that at about 7 years from launching, apple drops support for new major os updates, also critical os fixes etc.
So, I do not want to live in such a condition, at least for my main computer, as mbp always is.

So, I have decided to make the leap and go for the mbp 16' with M6 cpu.
It would be a good step, I think, to be again, more future proof with my main machine.
After 5 years, any advancements would be real and not...marketing!

Anyone else on the same stage and thinking?

As far as I can remember, Apple use to show new mbp 16' in autumns each years.
Is this happening now, or new mbp 16' are presented at the start of each year, so it would be possibly, early 2027, for a mbp 16' with M6 cpu?
 
cool11 said:
Anyone else on the same stage and thinking?
Click to expand...

This sounds like a good plan.
Depending on what's going on with Apple's manufacturing, we might see M6 + M6 Pro + M6 Max at the tail end of 2026, or we might have something similar to now where M6 launches in late 2026 (14" only) and M6 Pro + M6 Max launch in early 2027 (14" + 16"). So, you might be waiting a little over a year yet.

I think it will be worth waiting for this iteration because they'll be refreshing the chassis and adding the OLED display.

There isn't really a risk of running out of OS support; it looks like macOS 27 will still support all Apple Silicon Macs (but they will be dropping support for all Intel Macs).

I'm looking at a similar timeline for myself, just one cycle behind. (I currently have an M2 Max system, and I will be probably upgrading for the M7 generation.)
 
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