Apple’s MacBook Pro just received an M4 update, and there’s an M5 version expected in late 2025. But it’s the model coming in late 2026 that sounds especially compelling. This new MacBook Pro could even be the biggest Mac upgrade ever. Here’s what’s coming.
‘Total redesign’ that’s thinner and lighter
The MacBook Pro last received a big redesign in 2021. That update restored previously-removed ports, fixed longstanding keyboard issues, and was largely seen as Apple’s apology for prior missteps.
According to multiple reports, the MacBook Pro will get its next big revision in 2026. This ‘total redesign’ will makes the device thinner and lighter.
Those words may ring alarm bells for MacBook Pro users who lived through the butterfly keyboard era. But with Apple Silicon, Apple has so far proven it’s able to make devices thinner and lighter without compromising on power.
I’m curious to see what the port situation is on the new MacBook Pro. My hope, though, is that Apple can slim the device down without sacrificing any ports it recently restored.
OLED display with no notch
Another key espect of the MacBook Pro redesign will be its display, which is expected to ditch the notch as part of a switch to OLED.
The new display is expected to feature similar OLED tech to what’s found in the M4 iPad Pro. And in place of the notch will be a smaller ‘hole cut.’
Does that mean we’ll get a Dynamic Island on the Mac? We’ll have to wait and see, but OLED on the iPad Pro is fantastic, so it will be great to see it come to the Mac too.
M6 chip line
The M4 has been available less than a year, and only just arrived on the Mac two months ago, so there’s nothing concrete known about the M6 yet.
However, Apple is expected to ship an M5 MacBook Pro in 2025 with the same basic design available now, which means 2026’s big update should come with M6, M6 Pro, and M6 Max configurations.
5G cellular connectivity
Apple’s new in-house 5G modems are launching this year in select products, and a second version of the modem is set to debut in 2026, with the MacBook Pro a likely recipient.
I’ve long advocated for adding cellular to the Mac, and identified Apple’s in-house modems as the next best chance for this to finally happen. Per Mark Gurman, it sounds like that’s what Apple is thinking too.
Wildcard: Touch support
Touch on the Mac has been rumored off and on for as long as the iPad’s existed. It hasn’t happened yet, and perhaps it never will.
However, there’s solid evidence that the 2026 MacBook Pro might be Apple’s target for the first touch-enabled Mac.
Back in early 2023, Mark Gurman reported that a touchscreen MacBook Pro was in development. He said at the time that 2025 was the targeted release window. In the same report, Gurman wrote:
As part of the MacBook Pro revamp, Apple is also planning to move its displays to organic light-emitting diode, or OLED technology.
So touch and OLED were, at least at one point, planned to go together in a new MacBook Pro.
The projected 2025 date was also reportedly when Apple wanted to ship OLED in the MacBook Pro, and that’s now been pushed to 2026.
It seems, then, that Apple’s plans to ship an OLED touch display in the MacBook Pro haven’t changed—just the timing.
All of this is reiterated by a more recent Gurman hint that Apple’s near-term plans for the Mac involve ‘faster chips, thinner designs and touch screens.’
Top comment by LeonardoM
The only touchscreen MacBook we'll ever see is whatever fullscreen iPad/MacBook mix will happen, hence, something that can be used flat on a surface, or slightly reclined.
The TouchBar failed because you had to extend the arm too far to press the virtual buttons, let alone the almost vertical Mac's screen.
I could be reading the tea leaves too closely, but it sounds a lot to me like 2026’s big MacBook Pro redesign could finally bring touch support to the Mac.
MacBook Pro 2026 upgrade: wrap-up
We’re still a solid 20+ months away from when Apple is expected to launch its big MacBook Pro redesign. As a result, many of the above details could change.
That said, if Apple is able to deliver all of these new features in a powerful, redesigned MacBook Pro, it will undoubtedly be the single best upgrade the device has ever seen—and perhaps the best Mac upgrade ever.
Do you expect to see these MacBook Pro changes happen in 2026? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
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