'MacBook Ultra' Coming Soon With These 12 New Features

[deconstruct60]

Exactly my point. A few is not enough for Apple, that’s why the Touch Bar was canned. And that’s why the touch screen will be a temporal anomaly as well in the MacBook feature set.

The touchbar and touchscreen are pretty far from being in the same equivalence class. The touchbar replaced keys that more than a few people used by touch. It removed the 'feel' of the keys.

Addtionally, applications had to be modified to put specialized controls on the touchbar screen ( apps were drawing to the screes).

Major difference here is currently Mac users are not using the screen. However, lots of iPhone , iPad , and lower amounts of folks are using touchscreens. Touchscreens are hardly rare on in the Windows PC segement of the market. How common were 'touchbars'. Not. It is an already proven feature that some folks miss. It is not a replacement. It is bringing a feature that folk actually do use on other systems.
[ It used to be case could ony resize a Mac windows with grab box in lower right corner. Windows (and other GUI systems) allowed folks to grab the edge and 'pull'. Eventually macOS adopted that also. Relatively similar case here. ]

iPad/iPhone apps that are 'ported' to a capability will work better because they were designed that way in the first place. So not asking them to change as much as enabling the features they need to be present. That is fewer software adjustments; not more.

If touch screens required substantive changes to ripple through the generall macOS only applications then that would cause problems. However, the descriptions ( menus getting dynamically larger... it is the same menu; just magnified. Just draw a bigger picture. The core of that is already in the 'Accessibility' feature in macOS already. Just localizing it to some specific widgets.

The more these are 'custom just for Apple' screens the more economies of scale Apple will get by using the same approach for both large screen iPad screens and Mac screens. Long term it could give them cheaper panels over both product lines.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

This might be the one to have me upgrade from my MBP M1 Max .

 

[deconstruct60]

I don't see how it's going to be significantly thinner with M5 Max/Pro CPU options. With fans. With a battery capable of providing the usual run times.

The lid is thinner. Remember when Apple shrank the bezels on the iPhone and the Mac? The anti-bezel folks went crazy... revolutionary ... bezels are 'evi'l When can we git to bezeless (oops hole punch in the screen now...) .

Probably same thing here. Dramatic talk at the intro of how amazing and magically thin the lid is. Super duper thin but doesn't bend/break. Probably more pandering to the anti-bezel folks also.
[ Likely going to end up with the 'sharper' lid have to pull open and easier to get fingers on glass in the process because bezel is minimized. ]

This will incrementally reduce the weight of the system. However, the balance of the weight of the clamshell will be more skewed to the lower part of the 'clamshell' than the top. That actually helps if some folks are 'poking' at the screen that might tip it over.

[ A possible downside is that thinner lid might have worse Wi-FI/Bluetooth antennas. ]

If you want thinner, just get an Air.

The MBA will likely still be thinner and lighter. The gap would shrink on both attributes, but MBA would still win.

No fans. Lower power CPU that presumably requires a smaller battery.

The OLED will be lower power consumer. Battery life ( especially in 'dark mode' ) is likely going to be better.
If offset the lower screen consumption with higher CPU consumption then that is a value add for folks who need the latter. Optionally, Apple could make trade-off of lowering battery to make lighter, but that isn't directly 'thinner' .

There is no reason to buy the Pro/Max 14" if really don't need the CPU uplift. The 'plain' MBP 14" is right there with the Mn series processor. The Air isn't even an issue. Unless, do not need ports or better screen also.

 

[nateo200]

Eh, that was also like two decades ago.

Sure but I'm not sure anyone is going to buy a 17 or 18" device in large numbers. People really love their 14" laptops.

 

[VisceralRealist]

The M* Pro and Max chips.

All that's happening here is they are splitting the three current MacBook Pro models into two product lines: Base M series in what we have always called the entry-level MacBook Pro, which will now be the ONLY MacBook Pro, and the more powerful versions with the Pro and Max chips will be re-branded as Ultra.

These first Ultra models will at first have additional features the now separate MacBook Pro won't, like the touchscreen, but in time these features will come to every Apple laptop. But the Ultras will always have the faster SoCs, just as they did when they were still marketed as MacBook Pros.

That seems possible. While my first thought is that it would be odd to have a Pro laptop that isn't available with the Pro chip, I do realize the "iPad Pro" has never been available with a Pro chip, despite its name.

However, the entry-level Pro has only ever been 14". It makes me wonder if you want a larger screen size, you will have to go for the Ultra. Unless they end up introducing a 16" model with the base M chip. The Air with two screen sizes, the Ultra with two screen sizes, and the Pro with only one size seems a bit unlikely, but then I don't know what kind of demand there is for a 16" laptop without the highest specs (the iPhone Plus was always the worst-selling, for example).

 

[deconstruct60]

The base 14 inch MacBook Pro is rumored to get all of these exact same upgrades in the spring of 2027, along with an M7.
Apple isn’t going to invent a brand new MacBook line just to exist for six months.

If Apple went manically down the 'thinnest possible' rabbit hole then they have already have invented a new "line". If the thinness politburo got control again then could end up with something akin to the butterfly keyboard situation. If Apple had contained the butterfly keyboard just to the MacBook product the MBP would have been spared years of trying ot climb out of that ditch.

But yes, Apple's natural inclination is going to to use the plain MBP product category to ramp up the new Display and shared components ( hole punch camera , lid chassis , etc) to higher volumes to grab higher economies of scale.
If the thinness hype is overblown and they want to ramp the tandem OLED to higher numbers faster, then new models are not that new.

Hole punch camera and dynamic island is partially trying to repair the notch problem. A bit unwinding the 'bezels are evil' mania path that went too far down.

Apple also isn’t going to keep around the mini LED MacBook Pro just for people who suffer with PWM. I don’t say that to sound harsh, they just have not done that with literally any of their other products, this will not be an exception.

The Mini-LED has PWM also. Basically putting something like a IBM Thnkpad T/P in the line up. A 'boring' business laptop that is just solid. No snazzy , zippity do-da features poured on top. Repairable, Durable (spill won't kill it), a reasonable screen with not 'thinnest' and 'magical' contest going on.

 

[capamac]

Yeah I personally am not swayed much by thinness. I had a 2011 MBP that I thought was plenty thin, and was maybe twice as thick as my M1 Air.

There's also got to be a limit to thinness.

If a laptop were as thin as a sheet of paper it would also break easily. Like on the first hour of use you'd break it.

Strength and thinness ... they're at odds.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

If Apple went manically down the 'thinnest possible' rabbit hole then they have already have invented a new "line". If the thinness politburo got control again then could end up with something akin to the butterfly keyboard situation. If Apple had contained the butterfly keyboard just to the MacBook product the MBP would have been spared years of trying ot climb out of that ditch.

I think people are reading way, way too much into the extremely vague mentions of the new MacBook Pro being thinner and lighter.
That could mean literally anything, OLED is thinner, therefore the lid can get thinner, that literally could be all it means.
What it doesn’t mean necessarily is that apples returning to the 2016 design with the butterfly keyboard and nothing but USBC, that has not been rumoured at all.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

That seems possible. While my first thought is that it would be odd to have a Pro laptop that isn't available with the Pro chip, I do realize the "iPad Pro" has never been available with a Pro chip, despite its name.

Exactly. In my scenario, the single model of MacBook Pro won't offer a Pro chip, and the newly re-branded Ultras will only offer Pro and Max chips. The hobbyists will scream, but the actual buyers won't care.

However, the entry-level Pro has only ever been 14". It makes me wonder if you want a larger screen size, you will have to go for the Ultra. Unless they end up introducing a 16" model with the base M chip. The Air with two screen sizes, the Ultra with two screen sizes, and the Pro with only one size seems a bit unlikely, but then I don't know what kind of demand there is for a 16" laptop without the highest specs (the iPhone Plus was always the worst-selling, for example).

The 14" MacBook Pro (the soon-to-be only MacBook Pro) will have the base M-series chips. If someone in that market segment wants a bigger screen, they can get the 15" MacBook Air, also with the base M-series chip.

Reserving the 16" screen for the absolute most expensive MacBook Ultra creates upsell. There are lots of regular people with money that are completely price insensitive. I have an older friend who is a big shot lawyer who can barely send email, yet he has an 16" M5 Max MacBook Pro that cost $4500 because he just walked into the Apple Store and said "give me the best laptop you've got". There are WAY more people like this is the professional classes of big cities than most MR posters realize. And Apple makes tons of extra money off them.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

I think people are reading way, way too much into the extremely vague mentions of the new MacBook Pro being thinner and lighter.

Agreed. The OLED touchscreen itself is much thinner, and that will make the lid thinner and shave off a few ounces of weight, but I don't expect the chassis to get any thinner, especially as it now has to still host the hot M5 Max chip.

Then when the 14" MacBook Pro gets the M7 and OLED touchscreen in 1H 2027, then IT can be the one that gets substantially thinner, since it can be redesigned around the super power efficient, 2nm base M7 SoC.

This all feeds into the big picture of the MacBook Air/MacBook Pro/MacBook Ultra branding strategy over the next 20 months, as all three lines get the same OLED touchscreen and the cooler running M7 (and beyond) SoCs. By Spring 2028 we wind up with this very simple and compelling lineup where thickness, weight, performance, and price all go up in lockstep:


13" M7 MacBook Air (Super thin redesign with OLED touchscreen. Shockingly thin, like the iPhone Air.)

14" M7 MacBook Pro (Thin redesign with OLED touchscreen. Thicker than the new Airs, but still noticeably thinner and lighter than the full-size Ultras.)

14" and 16" M7 Pro/Max MacBook Ultra (Thin lid from the OLED touchscreen, but traditional chassis thickness and weight to accommodate their much hotter chips and the two-fan cooling system they require.)

 

[deconstruct60]

I think people are reading way, way too much into the extremely vague mentions of the new MacBook Pro being thinner and lighter.

There is good chance the lid is very minimally thinner. But Apple has gone ridiculous before. But they can substantively denigrate the overall system by screwing up a just a subcomponent.

That could mean literally anything, OLED is thinner, therefore the lid can get thinner, that literally could be all it means.

Bscially, that is aligned with what the 'rumors' say if bother to follow the links on the first article. iPad Pro got thinning so the other Apple 'rectangles' with a screen will get thinner too. That is just the lid.

If Apple wasn't using 'thinness' as talking points about the product then they probably wouldn't leak in rumors.

However, it doesn't mean that Apple couldn't have screwed up the lid in some way in the quest for a dog-n-pony show hype point on stage. "Can't innovate my ass" like moment.

What it doesn’t mean necessarily is that apples returning to the 2016 design with the butterfly keyboard and nothing but USBC, that has not been rumoured at all.

The is a return to the mentality of not paying attention to trade-eff impacts. That is the issue. Stuff like the 'middle' of the menu bar is empty so we'll just take that as a notch. Works for some , doesn't work for apps with higher than average menu items and user with lots of menu widgets.

Folks running butterfly keyboard in clamshell mode wouldn't really notice keys degrading over time; because usage way lower.

iPhone Air $1K for a phone with one camera... but its thinnest.

 

[rickatk]

Apple's first high-end MacBook redesign in five years is expected to arrive in the near future, bringing a run of firsts to the Mac.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the laptop to arrive between late 2026 and early 2027, with the later window now looking more likely owing to the global memory chip shortage. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects mass production to begin by late 2026.

Apple last redesigned the MacBook Pro in 2021 with the M1 Pro and M1 Max models, so this would be its first new high-end laptop design in at least five years. Here is everything rumored about the device so far:

• "MacBook Ultra" branding: Apple has reportedly decided to market two new "Ultra" products over the next year, the foldable iPhone and this laptop, which would establish a tier above the MacBook Pro for the first time. The name is not confirmed and Apple theoretically could still use "MacBook Pro" branding, but for now, "MacBook Ultra" seems highly likely.
• OLED display: The MacBook Ultra is expected to be the first Mac with an OLED display, replacing the mini-LED backlighting used in current MacBook Pro models. It should deliver richer colors, a higher contrast ratio with true blacks, greater brightness, and improved power efficiency, since individual pixels switch off rather than dim. The laptop will reportedly use hybrid OLED technology combining an oxide TFT backplane with a tandem two-stack OLED structure, the same approach used in the iPad Pro, offering a longer panel lifespan.
• Touch screen: The device is expected to be the first Mac to support touch input directly on the display, ending years of Apple resistance to the idea. Kuo first claimed the panel would support touch, Gurman corroborated it, and the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital" says the feature is now confirmed. Apple is apparently not positioning the machine as a touch-first device like the iPad, instead letting customers move between touch, trackpad, and keyboard interchangeably, in what Gurman describes as "touch-friendly, not touch-first." The laptop is said to remain a conventional clamshell, with the keyboard and trackpad retained and no detachable or convertible design.
• Touch-optimized macOS: Apple is reportedly reworking macOS so that controls adapt to the input method being used. Tapping a menu bar item would apparently surface a larger set of touch-optimized controls, and the system is said to gain iPad-style gestures including pinch-to-zoom and fast scrolling. Touch-based options would be integrated throughout the operating system rather than confined to a handful of apps.
• Reinforced hinge: Apple likely plans to add a reinforced hinge so the display does not wobble when it is tapped. The current MacBook Pro hinge moves easily and does not tilt especially far back, both of which could be a problem on a machine designed to be prodded.
• Hole-punch camera: The "notch" is expected to disappear, replaced by a far smaller hole-punch camera at the top of the display. The change was first indicated by a roadmap from research firm Omdia and has since been corroborated by Bloomberg. Losing the notch would add visible screen area and free up the menu bar space it currently intrudes upon, taking the design a step closer to an uninterrupted, edge-to-edge display.
• Dynamic Island: The cutout is expected to digitally expand into an iPhone-style Dynamic Island. It would be interactive and expand contextually based on the app or Mac feature in use, surfacing items such as Siri, low battery alerts, and AirPods connection indicators in the area surrounding the camera.
• M5 Pro and M5 Max chips: The laptop is now expected to ship with the existing M5 Pro and M5 Max chips already found in the current MacBook Pro, rather than the "M6 Pro" and "M6 Max." Apple has apparently scrapped the M6 Pro and M6 Max altogether, accelerating instead to M7 Pro and M7 Max chips said to be optimized for intensive AI workloads with upgraded neural accelerators, graphics improvements, and increased memory bandwidth. A second-generation model with those chips is reportedly planned for late 2027.
• Thinner design: The MacBook Ultra is expected to be noticeably thinner and lighter than the current MacBook Pro. Moving away from mini-LED backlighting should itself help slim down the lid. There has so far been no indication that Apple intends to remove ports such as HDMI, MagSafe, or the SD card slot to achieve it, which was a deeply unpopular decision the last time around.
• Two display sizes: The laptop is expected to be offered in both 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, mirroring the current MacBook Pro lineup, with the two models reportedly code-named K114 and K116.
• Slimmer bezels: Research firm Omdia claims Samsung Display will supply 14.3-inch and 16.3-inch panels, marginally larger than the 14.2-inch and 16.2-inch screens on current models, which would suggest thinner bezels around a slightly bigger display. A February report from Bloomberg indicated that overall screen sizes are not expected to change compared to the MacBook Pro.
• Built-in cellular: Apple has reportedly at least considered built-in cellular connectivity for future Macs, which would be a first for the platform. If the plan goes ahead, the MacBook Ultra would likely use Apple's existing C1X modem or its next-generation C2 modem for 5G and LTE. This is seemingly the most uncertain feature on this list.

There are already signs of the touchscreen MacBook in Apple's software. macOS 27 Golden Gate hints at t... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: 'MacBook Ultra' Coming Soon With These 12 New Features

Not to take anything from Mac and macOS they don’t do it for me anymore. I have had a couple rounds of refreshes of iPad, iPad Pro and iPadOS all of which has kept me very satisfied.

 

[capamac]

If this were taken to extremes, at some point Macbooks would start failing by the millions coz they were so thin people were easily bending and breaking them in half. So then the key marketing phrase would be "strength" not "thinness." Apple's new marketing would be about how the upcoming new Macbook is better coz it's "50 percent thicker and stronger" then the old weak and thin ones.

It's all rather silly.

What problem does having a thinner laptop solve? Are y'all having trouble carrying these 3 pound computers? Can't fit them in your briefcase or backpack coz they're so thick?

 

[Vincent Hanna]

People like thin, light devices. It's as simple as that.

Normal people don't do engineering tradeoffs like nerds do. As long as it doesn't break, they prefer thin and light.

Nerds love to rag on the iPhone Air, but since most of them have ever even interacted with one, they are ignorant of the beautiful engineering job Apple did. Shockingly thin, but the chassis is super strong and confidence inspiring. Sure, the iPhone Air is an expensive compromise in its first version, but Apple got the engineering right. Just as they did with the original expensive and compromised MacBook Air, and we all know how that tuned out.

 

[zenmacx]

I must admit to being a little puzzled about what this new Ultra brand will bring to the laptop form factor. Thinner, better screen, faster, battery life? etc. This is just an evolution or where we are today.

I concur.

What we need is a substantial evolution of what the current laptop form factor can provide.

So true.

Ask me where we should go from here and I cannot give you an answer since we are stuck in the old laptop paradigm. What I need is a light, portable machine that is easy to carry around and integrates with my ecosystem in a transparent and seamless way.

Again, I agree.

As an early adopter, what surprised me is the experience provided by my Samsung Z fold7.

Expecting it to simply be another smartphone albeit a different form factor, turns out it's replaced the need to carry my work issued MacBook Air daily Monday through Friday. The amount of work that can be accomplished on this device is quite surprising.

Now, I'm not advocating for Samsung. I wish Apple's upcoming foldable wasn't the odd, wide shape it is. I would enjoy an iPhone foldable, but the work I do benefits from the form factor that I currently enjoy on the Z fold7, taller rather than short and fat.

What I am sharing is at times there's no way to imagine just what a certain device will do, until one owns the device. It would be refreshing to have something that's entirely new, yet I have no idea what that might look like. Time will tell.

 

[iDento]

Who does Apple think is buying this in the current technology economy? The 16" MacBook Pro already now starts at $3,000. What will the MacBook Ultra start at, $4,000? MacBook Pros are already expensive enough, we don't need another insanely expensive Mac.

They’re also targeting those who benefit from inflation.

 

[Peter_M]

That's great - a MacBook Ultra, with an ultra price point.

Nah, I'm good.

 

[Techwatcher]

Will be getting this, but if this Mac doesn’t have 5G it immediately becomes a disappointment.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

Who does Apple think is buying this in the current technology economy?

The actual professionals who need it for their revenue-generating workflows, and the price insensitive, high-end consumers who “just want the best”. There are more than enough of both for Apple.

Everyone else can get an M6 MacBook Pro or an M5 MacBook Air that more then meets their actual needs.

The hobbyists are being priced out of the professional gear they only think they need.

 

[deconstruct60]

ince it can be redesigned around the super power efficient, 2nm base M7 SoC.

TSMC N2 is super power efficient primarily if keep the clocks constant. If trying to do more work than the M6 can then likely probably not going to see 'radical' reduction solely from TSMC N2. Pretty likely in some cases Apple will trade more work for the possible power gains.

14" M7 MacBook Pro (Thin redesign with OLED touchscreen. Thicker than the new Airs, but still noticeably thinner and lighter than the full-size Ultras.)

14" and 16" M7 Pro/Max MacBook Ultra (Thin lid from the OLED touchscreen, but traditional chassis thickness and weight to accommodate their much hotter chips and the two-fan cooling system they require.)

The 'plain' Mn MBP 14" has the same set of ports that the MBP 14" Pro/Max does. If chucking the HDMI for mini-HDMI can thin , but otherwise the ports are mainly driving the thickness on the bottom half of the clamshell. OLED doesn't do anything to make them thinner.

The MBA skips parts besides USB-C ( and new MagSafe is approximately USB-C height. )

 

[dalestrauss]

I hope all this is a lie and Apple never make a touchscreen Mac, touch input sucks on laptops

Why is it that people who don't like a prospective feature feel that have "Veto Rights" to determine what features others of us want? Maybe it's not that "touch input sucks on laptops" as much as "I don't know HOW to use touch input on a laptop."

 

[capamac]

Ultimately the market will veto touch laptops, or not.

Some people (myself included) are anti-touch and dislike the thought of having their trackpad/mouse/keyboard OS/UI being "contaminated" or wrecked with touch.

I'm on my lappy rn ... I have simulated touching the screen. I see several problems with it: blocking view of screen with my hand, smudges, "Gorilla arm," lack of precision, inferior UI compared to trackpad/mouse/keyboard.

With a mouse/trackpad you can get pixel-level precision. You can't do that with touch. Touch is a blunt club of a UI method ... medieval. Nowhere near as precise as mouse/trackpad. A lot of software has tiny tools that rely on that precision. Those tools will simply not work with touch. You'd have to make all the tools larger, which means less screen real estate for other things.

 

[_sudo11]

Why does this need to be a separate-but-not-really tier instead of a direct upgrade to the existing MBPs

upgrading a pc is putting more ram or storage or even a better cpu/gpu SOC inside, these features aren't something that can just be tacked onto the old mac, as that would require them to make it all individual options, and that's just too much, plus it gives people the incentive to buy the new ULTRA PRO MAX branding, cuz branding is everything

 

[_sudo11]

Waiting to see the new MacBook. Would be nice if cellular capability is also available at least as an added option.

that's the iPhone hotspot's job, why put in a cellular modem when you can just force(ish) users to buy an $700-$1200 iphone

 

[Vincent Hanna]

The 'plain' Mn MBP 14" has the same set of ports that the MBP 14" Pro/Max does. If chucking the HDMI for mini-HDMI can thin , but otherwise the ports are mainly driving the thickness on the bottom half of the clamshell. OLED doesn't do anything to make them thinner.

No need to go to mini HDMI to make the Mn MBP14 thinner. Plenty of room vertical height left for the full size port with even a noticeably thinner case.