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Waiting for the Perfect MacBook Pro? 2026 Might Be the Year

Reading this on my 10th Gen Thinkpad Yoga running Ubuntu. My Macbook Pro is my work machine, but for a truly great portable experience... gotta go with the Yoga. It will likely never happen, but an MBP Air Yoga == Instant buy. Flame away, but I've been solidly in the Mac camp for decades, but no longer. Think different Tim et al. PLEASE.
 
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swingerofbirch said:
When there's an Apple product I really like and I hear "new version" I just automatically assume they'll ruin it. It wasn't always that way with Apple, but it has been lately.

I love my M1 Pro 14" MBP.

I love that it's over-engineered with two fans that it probably doesn't need because they barely ever come on and are more than the M1 Pro needs. I love that it's relatively thick and has no risk of overheating. I love that it has an SD card slot for expandable storage. Given that they haven't updated the SD card slot specification with MBP spec bumps, I'm guessing the new thinner model will get rid of it altogether.

I love gorgeous mini-LED display with no risk of burn-in. I love the speakers that don't sound like they come from a laptop.

They're going to mess it up. That's just my gut feeling. I had years with thinner MBPs and they were not in any way as nice as this laptop. With my previous MBPs, with regard to thermals, it seems like they wanted to push the envelope and give it just not quite enough room to breathe and work efficiently without throttling and quietly and cool. The ethos of the current models is exactly the opposite, and it's a breath of fresh air.
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Same with my 16”. The best laptop I have ever had.

Yes it is heavy, but work horse and basically sits on my desk like a Mac Studio with a screen. Have an Apple display, so two screens (best of both worlds).

Had an intel 15” MacBook Pro that was thin with all USB-C ports and Touch Bar. I like it. But…fans would always sound like a jet engine when doing video work.

Though the M-Silicone chips are good and do not over heat, they still get hot and need good thermal management for more intense workloads.

I sold my new M4 Mac Mini Pro after one week because my M1 MacBook Pro 2021 STILL runs circles around it, especially for video work with the GPU’s; even though it was an M4.

Would LOVE a thin MacBook Pro, but not for video editing (not YouTube stuff but Pro work). There is a 15” MacBook Air for those type of work loads.

The M1 MacBook Pro 2021 version was finally the laptop I had been waiting for…for a LONG time and after a grip load of money spent over the years.
 
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It‘s simply not true that increased brightness is a plus over Mini-LED. OLED struggles to deliver and sustain such high brightness levels Apple introduced with Mini-LED. Apple‘s tandem OLEDs should be on par but let‘s see what they can on the bigger 14/16 displays. OLED can be more energy efficient but not when it has to deliver so much brightness as the current models do.

I also dislike the constant silly complaints about the MBP‘s current notch design as it does not reduce the actual display size. E.G. the actual screen size of the MBP 16 is 16.2 and the extra inches are reserved for the menu bar/notch so the viewable area remains the full 16.

Nonetheless I am very excited what the next big redesign might bring to the MBP.
 
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I want a MacBook Pro with a screen that is as large as possible and as thin a body as possible. The current MacBook Pros are waaaay too thick and heavy.
 
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“How Apple will make its 2026 ‌MacBook Pro‌ thinner without removing the functionality it reintroduced fairly recently is the big question.”

My guess is it will only be the display half of the laptop that gets thinner, the base with the ports likely stay the same. That would still make for a thinner laptop however.

Also @tim Hardwick - you need to update the “5G modem” section. Has phone SE and old info in it.
 
I wish or hope that Apple also makes current ipad pro-like macbook, which would be called MacPad. This MacPad would have two ports similar to macbook air and detachable standard mac keyboard and apple pencile support.
 
The notch does not bother me at all, it goes into the menu bar and everything I do seems to fit. I would totally be on board for a hidden behind the screen camera though, would look really slick. I don't care too much about the quality of the MacBook Pro camera either as when ever I do a video chat I use my iPhones camera through FaceTime on my MacBook Pro, such a slick feature! I hope they don't go down the "thin" road again. If you need that they have the MacBook Air. Pro users want the ports which made them so much more functional. If Apple really wanted to step up their game they would move to slick ways of upgrading the RAM and HD by the user. That of course won't happen as Apple really does not want a device to be used as long as possible as part of their Green commitment.
 
Oh yeah, 2026 is DEFINITELY going to be the year. The new MacBook Pro. More Pro than ever. Now starting at only $2,499!
 
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What MBP have you been using for years that were thinner? The current 14" is 1/2mm thicker than the old 13", and the same thickness as the 15", and the current 16" is just over 1mm thicker than the old 15". It is the chips that make the most difference not that small increase.

swingerofbirch said:
When there's an Apple product I really like and I hear "new version" I just automatically assume they'll ruin it. It wasn't always that way with Apple, but it has been lately.

I love my M1 Pro 14" MBP.

I love that it's over-engineered with two fans that it probably doesn't need because they barely ever come on and are more than the M1 Pro needs. I love that it's relatively thick and has no risk of overheating. I love that it has an SD card slot for expandable storage. Given that they haven't updated the SD card slot specification with MBP spec bumps, I'm guessing the new thinner model will get rid of it altogether.

I love gorgeous mini-LED display with no risk of burn-in. I love the speakers that don't sound like they come from a laptop.

They're going to mess it up. That's just my gut feeling. I had years with thinner MBPs and they were not in any way as nice as this laptop. With my previous MBPs, with regard to thermals, it seems like they wanted to push the envelope and give it just not quite enough room to breathe and work efficiently without throttling and quietly and cool. The ethos of the current models is exactly the opposite, and it's a breath of fresh air.
Click to expand...
 
MacRumors said:


Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again.

M6-MacBook-Pro-Feature-1.jpg

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small performance boost for the 2025 MacBook Pro models with the introduction of new M5 chips, while the "true overhaul" for the laptop will come in 2026. So if you are planning to skip this year's MacBook Pro, or you're just plain curious about what's two generations away, here are the biggest changes rumored to be coming to Apple's premium laptop line next year.

OLED Display
Goodbye, mini-LED
Several rumors have indicated that the first MacBook Pro models with OLED displays will be released in 2026. Research firm Omdia claims Apple is "highly likely" to introduce new MacBook Pros featuring OLED displays next year, while display analyst Ross Young has said that Apple's supply chain is expected to have sufficient notebook-optimized OLED display production capacity in 2026 to bring the technology to MacBook Pro. Compared to current MacBook Pro models that use mini-LED screens, the benefits of OLED technology would include increased brightness, higher contrast ratio with deeper blacks, improved power efficiency for longer battery life, and more.

Thinner, Lighter Laptop
Major Redesign
The switch to OLED displays could allow future MacBook Pro models to have a thinner design, and rumors suggest that is indeed what Apple intends. When the M4 iPad Pro was unveiled in May 2024, Apple touted it as the company's thinnest product ever. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman subsequently called the iPad Pro the "beginning of a new class of Apple devices," and said Apple was working to make the MacBook Pro thinner over the "next couple of years." Apple is reportedly focusing on delivering the thinnest possible device without compromising on battery life or major new features.

Notably, the MacBook Pro got thicker and heavier with its most recent redesign in 2021. A major highlight was the reintroduction of several ports that were removed in previous iterations in favor of chassis thinness. How Apple will make its 2026 MacBook Pro thinner without removing the functionality it reintroduced fairly recently is the big question.

Punch-Hole Camera
No More Notch
If you are fed up of the notch intruding on your Mac display, here's some good news. Apple plans to remove the notch from the MacBook Pro in 2026, according to a roadmap shared by research firm Omdia. The roadmap indicates that 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models released next year will have a hole-punch camera at the top of the display, rather than the notch we've become accustomed to. A MacBook Pro without a notch would offer additional visible pixels on the screen, creating a more uninterrupted and cohesive display design.

5G Modem
Cellular Connectivity
Early in 2025, Apple plans to introduce the custom-built 5G chip that it's had in the works for years now. The modem chip will be added to the iPhone SE, low-cost iPad, and iPhone 17 "Air," giving Apple an opportunity to test the technology before rolling it out to flagship devices. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple will then consider bringing cellular connectivity to the Mac lineup for the first time. The company is said to be "investigating" the possibility of adding a second-generation modem chip to a future Mac as soon as 2026, teasing the potential for a cellular MacBook Pro in the same year. The first Apple modem chip will be limited to sub-6GHz 5G speeds, but the second-generation version will support faster mmWave technology, according to Gurman.

M6 Series Chip
2nm Process
Assuming Apple follows a similar timeframe to its M4 chip rollout, Apple will update the MacBook Pro lineup in October this year with M5 series chips. The chips will be manufactured with TSMC's third-generation 3nm process, known as N3P, resulting in typical year-over-year performance and power efficiency improvements compared to the M4 series of chips. M6 chips, on the other hand, could adopt a completely new packaging process for Apple's 2026 MacBook Pro models.

According to one rumor, Apple's A20 chip in next year's iPhone 18 models will switch from the previous InFo (Integrated Fan-Out) packaging to WMCM (Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module) packaging. WMCM integrates multiple chips within the same package, allowing for the development of more complex chipsets. Components such as the CPU, GPUs, DRAM, and Neural Engine would therefore be more tightly integrated. While we don't know for sure, this could see Apple develop the M6 using the 2nm process while taking advantage of WMCM packaging to make even more powerful versions of its custom processor.

Article Link: Waiting for the Perfect MacBook Pro? 2026 Might Be the Year
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No such thing as a perfect macbook since they are always years behind
 
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I’m hoping they’d offer a mini-LED display just like when they made nano-textured screen an option.
 
I don’t mind my thick & heavy MacBook Pro 2021 16”. It’s awesome. The only thing tempting me to upgrade is the improved processing power for video editing.

I’m debating between waiting for M5 or M6.
 
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I have MacBook Pro M4… a very good machine and if I had an m3 (not 8gb of ram), m2 pro or M1 Pro… well it’s also very good in 2025 and there is not a lot of reasons to upgrade unless you need more performances. In my case I am perfect and I don’t think the m6 will be necessary since I don’t need more performances… unless of course something like crazy apple intelligence releases then I might need to run crazy LLM on my Mac… maybe then yes but I don’t think apple will release something like this and for what? We can use ChatGPT we don’t really need a crazy AI on device. Oh and I have tested some on device AI on my Mac and they take an amount of RAM while generating but I am ok since it will use swap for 30 secs and it’s over… no performance problems. (Swap of course if I am running another big program)

Ok next step : ((Thinner, Lighter Laptop)) I am scared about this because where are the fans going? Where are the ports going and is the battery going to be worse? Not sure if apple will keep all this… So there is pros and cons about this… This might be a better upgrade for MacBook Pro 16 inch users… I think 14 inch users are ok.

OLED Display? Ok interesting but mini-led already pretty good for 99% of users… (and MacBook Air users aren’t even on mini-led) I don’t think it’s a good reason to upgrade…

Punch-Hole Camera… it’s ok but no reason to upgrade for this…

5G Modem… interesting for some users… useless for people who are always at home or mostly since they can use WiFi or use the connection of their iPhone…

So finally this is an interesting upgrade for the MacBook Pro. But I don’t think this is a revolution like the MacBook Pro 2021 against the MacBook Pro of 2019… so not everyone will upgrade to it…
 
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