It was reported recently that Apple plans to launch the M6 MacBook Pro in the fall of 2026, as the company apparently completed development of the product “months ago.” Also, as previously mentioned, the M6 generation will be “short-lived” compared to other generations, as Apple is now rumored to move quickly on from the M6 by skipping the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips to focus on substantial AI optimizations for the future M7 family of chips.
Now, Bloomberg reports that Apple will launch a revamped M7 model in the first half of 2027, shortly after the M6 MacBook Pro debuts. Now, while that may sound unprecedented, it is still possible. When Apple updated the higher-end MacBook Pros with the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips in January 2023, they were quickly succeeded by the M3 family of MacBook Pros in October 2023.
Now, this M7 MacBook Pro that is set to launch in the first half of 2027 will share the same, upcoming design for the rumored “MacBook Ultra” with OLED touchscreens. Previous rumors suggested that this upcoming redesign would be thinner than the current MacBook Pros.
Now, the release timeframes for all of those upcoming laptops remain to be seen as the company continues to navigate through the ongoing memory chip crisis. Still, I’d bet that Apple could announce those products in the following order with the estimated timeframes:
- “MacBook Ultra” with newer design and M5 Pro / M5 Max: October 2026
- MacBook Pro with current design and M6: November 2026
- MacBook Pro with newer design and M7: 1H 2027
Now, I don’t know about you, but it would feel strange to have the M7 model with the newer design called the “MacBook Pro” even if it would share the same design as the “MacBook Ultra.” Remember the 2008 aluminum MacBook? It apparently shared the same design cues with the aluminum unibody enclosure as the larger MacBook Pros. Apple would be better off calling the M7 model as part of the “MacBook Ultra” family, so people could associate the newer design with the “Ultra” family. It’s possible that Apple may have skimped out on some features for the M7 model, such as using mini-LED displays instead of OLED touchscreens. That product differentiation would be quite similar to how Apple offered a lower-end 13-inch MacBook Pro with function keys back in October 2016 when the higher-end models introduced a controversial Touch Bar and Touch ID.
Only time will tell, but with the upcoming addition of the “MacBook Ultra” as well as future MacBook models with next-generation Apple Silicon, the MacBook lineup will certainly be stronger than ever overall.
