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M6 MacBook Pro Coming in Late 2026, Redesigned M7 Model Launching in 1H 2027

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Apple plans to release an updated 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 chip in late 2026, and then follow it with a revamped M7 model in the first half of 2027, reports Bloomberg.

macbook-pro-orange.jpeg

Apple apparently finished work on a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 chip "months ago," and the device is expected to launch before the end of the year. Apple's M6 chip cycle will be shorter than prior chip cycles because it is not planning for M6 Pro and M6 Max chips. Apple is aiming to have a quick transition between M6 and M7 because its M7 chips have optimizations for AI workloads.

The M7 MacBook Pro coming in 2027 will have a new design that's "in line" with the design that Apple plans to use for its rumored high-end OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro models. Prior rumors have suggested the high-end OLED MacBook Pro models could get a slimmed down design.

It's still unclear when the OLED MacBook Pro models will come out, but Bloomberg believes a launch is slated for the end of 2026 or early 2027.

Apple's release timelines are uncertain because of the ongoing memory chip shortages and increased costs that it's dealing with.

Apple has a long list of products that could come in the first half of 2027, including new iPad Pro models, the iPhone Air 2 with a second camera, the iPhone 18, and the iPhone 18e.

Article Link: M6 MacBook Pro Coming in Late 2026, Redesigned M7 Model Launching in 1H 2027
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/01/redesigned-m7-macbook-pro-2027/
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Okay so the 'not ultra/touch' MBP's with M7 Pro's and Max's are basically now forecast for the first half of 2027? I'm somewhat betting these get delayed to second half of 2027 as it would be so odd to have the newly very expensive Ultra with an M5 out less than 6 months and then an M7 MAX comes out that blows it away.
 
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notnotafanboy said:
very strange rollout. why not just skip the base M6?
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I can see the M6 being useful in a number of Apple products including iPads, MacBook Airs, base MacBook Pros, iMacs and base Mac Minis. Especially since the M7 family is likely to cost considerably more. The rumors I’ve read so far seem to indicate the M6 will still be a solid advancement over the base M5.

EDIT: Added iMac to list.
 
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Biro said:
I can see the M6 being useful in a number of Apple products including iPads, MacBook Airs, base MacBook Pros and base Mac Minis. Especially since the M7 family is likely to cost considerably more. The rumors I’ve read so fair seem to indicate the M6 will still be a solid advancement over the base M5.
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What will be interesting though is that the 14” will then have 3 distinct chips for 6-12 months:
M6 with faster single core performance and neural cores
M5 Pro, with faster multi-core and graphics
M5 Max with much faster graphics
 
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notnotafanboy said:
very strange rollout. why not just skip the base M6?
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For that (presumably base) model—it probably is just an ok-sized evolutionary gain. So you have a fair point.

More generally, the M6 may have already been taped out. And it could be used in the next iPad Pro, iMac, and Mac mini, too. The latter two never got the M5.

We really need to know the technical specifics of the M6 and M7 to provide better answers than this. Maybe it includes better encoders. Maybe faster RAM, with more throughout. Maybe more GPU cores. It definitely starts the TSMC 2nm cycle, which every advanced electronic device in the world is moving to. It could simply allow TSMC runway to work out kinks like they did with their first 3nm process.
 
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sea800 said:
where are the regulators requiring customer-upgradable RAM, this would make technical and economic sense (vs. collecting economic rent on expensive RAM with high mark-up)
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Without legislation, why would you think regulators have the power to mandate this? And why would Congress care enough to mandate this, when they do not even want to pass something like a consumer’s right-to-repair bill?
 
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Elwe said:
For that (presumably base) model—it probably is just ann ok-sized evolutionary gain. So you have a fair point.

More generally, the M6 may have already been taped out. And it could be used in the next iPad Pro, iMac, and Mac mini, too. The latter two never got the M5.

We really need to know the technical specifics of the M6 and and M7 to provide better answers than this. Maybe it includes better encoders. Maybe faster RAM, with more throughout. Maybe more GPU cores. It definitely starts the TSMC 2nm cycle, which every advanced electronic device in the world is moving to. It could simply allow TSMC runway to work out kinks like they did with their first 3nm process.
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This from Macworld:

“The M7 generation is expected to bring a significant boost to on-device AI performance. The base M7 will have memory bandwidth of around 240 gigabytes per second, a 20 percent boost over the rumored 200 GB/sec of the coming M6, and about 57 percent higher than the 153 GB/sec of the current M5. Pro and Max versions scale bandwidth up from there.

“Beyond memory bandwidth, both GPU performance and Neural Engine performance are crucial to on-device AI processing. The M6 is alleged to have a new-generation GPU with more cores, an improved Neural Engine, and better performance across all processing cores. It’s unclear what further advancements the M7 will have, but one should expect an AI-focused chip to focus on GPU and Neural Engine improvements.”

I’d love an M6 in an iMac with 32GB of RAM. Especially if there was a 27-or 32-inch screen.
 
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anthony13 said:
Okay so the 'not ultra/touch' MBP's with M7 Pro's and Max's are basically now forecast for the first half of 2027? I'm somewhat betting these get delayed to second half of 2027 as it would be so odd to have the newly very expensive Ultra with an M5 out less than 6 months and then an M7 MAX comes out that blows it away.
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Very unlikely Apple will launch a MacBook Ultra with the older M5 Pro/Max chip early 2027 if the M6 is being released this fall. They will wait for the M7 Pro/Max whether the OLED MB Ultra and Pros are the same or separate machines.
anthony13 said:
the MB Ultra is reportedly getting the M5 MAX and M5 PRO this fall now.
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I thought the rumor was early 2027 they were launching? If they do launch this fall, they could use the M5 Pro/Max, but a lot of people like me will hold off for the M7 Pro/Max machines.
 
What on earth Apple? At this rate they are going to have 2 chips a year releasing. Dundee and foolish. That how quality goes down.
 
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I'm not skeptical at all that Apple would release a redesigned MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. They previously released the MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips in January 2023 and the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips in November of the same year. They also released new Intel MacBook Pros and Apple Silicon MacBook Pros both in 2020. Plus, the Mac Studio got an M3 Ultra even though the M4 Max already existed. It seems like they want to start volume production of the new MacBook Pros and have to release it with whatever chips are ready now. Most likely they would've released with the M6 Pro and M6 Max but they decided to can those to deliver a bigger leap with M7 Pro and M7 Max.
 
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Not gonna happen. According to rumors this week alone, we're going to see the M5 Max released later this year, then also see the M6..... and then see the M6 Max both this year with the M7 coming right after it, all in the next year? Not a chance.
 
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Apple MessagePad said:
Not gonna happen. According to rumors this week alone, we're going to see the M5 Max released later this year, then also see the M6..... and then see the M6 Max both this year with the M7 coming right after it, all in the next year? Not a chance.
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M6 Pro/Max isn’t coming at all.

M7 is a right hand turn in architectural design geared towards AI, probably agentic AI. Apple likely realized late in the game M6 doesn’t cut it for future AI tasks and had to do a clean sheet for M7.
 
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This entire industry has me just shaking my head .... Who are all these people who feel they need a notebook computer that's optimized for AI, anyway? And don't forget, it's AI that ran prices of memory and storage through the roof You can't even buy a new computer with decent specs at anything affordable anymore.

I'm still using my Macbook Pro M1 Max w/4TB storage and 64GB of RAM. Would I normally have resold it and upgraded to have a more current model? Absolutely ... but now I'm just waiting things out. None of this makes sense.
 
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