Ming-Chi Kuo, a reputable Apple analyst, now claims that the MacBook Pro models with the M5 series of chips won’t likely launch until next year. Previously, he was confident that those upcoming MacBook Pro models would launch this coming fall. After all, we saw the M3 family of MacBook Pros in October 2023 and the M4 family of those models last October.
However, the timing makes a bit more sense because Kuo says that the higher-end M5 Pro/Max chips will continue to be manufactured using discrete molding processes, so those chips will take a bit longer to develop. This should come as no surprise since those higher-end chips are typically announced several months after the new base M-chip was introduced. For example, the M4 chip was introduced in May 2024 with the iPad Pro, and eventually, the M4 Pro/Max chips were introduced in October 2024 with the Mac mini and MacBook Pro. So if this pattern repeats, we could see the M5 chip making its debut with the iPad Pro this fall before Apple introduces the M5 Pro/Max chips sometime next year with the update to the MacBook Pro.
For the future M6-based MacBook Pros, we may see those releases get pushed even further into early 2027. It’s possible that we could see the M5-based MacBook Pros arrive in early 2026 and the M6-based MacBook Pros with OLED arrive in late 2026 similar to what Apple did back in 2023. For what it’s worth, it’s better to hold off until the M6 MacBook Pros come out since that will be a much more substantial upgrade with tandem OLEDs and an all-new design. If you can’t wait that long, it’s will worth checking out this amazing deal for the 14-inch MacBook Pro (M4) on Amazon.
