Since 2023, Apple has been updating the base 14-inch MacBook Pro every October, and this year will be no exception, as rumors point to an imminent refresh for this machine. This particular 14-inch MacBook Pro may not provide the most powerful performance compared to the higher-end models, but the standard chip it offers still provides the ideal balance between power and efficiency, with great everyday performance while also offering more high-end features such as the mini-LED display with ProMotion technology. Let’s talk about what we can expect for the updated 14-inch MacBook Pro.

Note that some of these details have not been official yet; they’re just pure speculation based on current rumors and patterns from other Apple products.

Chip

M6 Chip on Mac Mini - Apple
Image: Apple Newsroom

The most obvious upgrade has to be the M6 chip, which made its debut on the Mac mini a few months ago. The M6 chip is Apple’s first 2nm chip that’s made specifically for the Mac (and later the iPad in the near future). The M6 chip features an all-new architecture with a 12-core CPU (2 super cores, 4 performance cores, and 6 efficiency cores), a 12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators in each GPU core, and the Dual 16-core Neural Engine, which enables faster AI-related performance. Additionally, the memory bandwidth is increased to 170GB/s when configured with either 24GB or 32GB of unified memory. That’s the full-fledged variant that’s used on the latest base Mac mini. Since the base 14-inch MacBook Pro continues to feature the full-fledged M-series chip, it’s more than likely that the next model will feature this chip variant as well.

Connectivity

iPhone 17 Air with N1 chip
Image: Apple

The current base 14-inch MacBook Pro features both Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, but earlier this year in March, Apple updated the MacBook Air and the higher-end 14-inch/16-inch MacBook Pro to feature its custom-designed N1 wireless networking chip. Since more recent Apple products have continued to adopt the N1 chip, it’s certain that the next model will feature the N1 chip, which will bring Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread support. This will further future-proof this particular model in terms of connectivity.

In terms of I/O, this 14-inch MacBook Pro features MagSafe 3, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports impedance headphones, an HDMI port, and an SDXC card slot. I expect the same port arrangement for the updated model, which means Thunderbolt 5 will remain exclusive to the higher-end 14-inch/16-inch MacBook Pro models for now.

Design

I’d also expect the next model to retain the same design as the current model. This means the next model will retain the same 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED) display as the current model. Mark Gurman from Bloomberg reported that the base 14-inch MacBook Pro will get a brand new design along with the M7 chip as early as the first half of 2027; presumably, that design should be similar to the redesigned OLED MacBook Pro models that will be for another post.

However, there’s one small detail that will visually differentiate this M6 model from its predecessor, and that will be the Magic Keyboard. You see, when Apple updated both the MacBook Air and the higher-end 14-inch/16-inch MacBook Pro back in March, Apple tweaked the side keys to now show the glyphs instead of their respective words (at least in the U.S.). Apple later made this change to its wireless Magic Keyboard accessories when it updated both the Mac mini and the Mac Studio.

The MacBook models introduced in 2026 feature glyphs on the side keys such as Tab, Caps Lock, etc. for a minimalistic appearance. This design detail should make its way to the M6 base 14-inch MacBook Pro.

Pricing & Availability

When Apple updated the base 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 chip last October, it started at $1,599 with 16GB of unified memory and 512GB of storage. Earlier in March, Apple bumped the base storage to 1TB while also raising the price to $1,699. It wasn’t until July that Apple raised prices across many of its product categories due to the memory chip crisis, so this model now starts at $1,999.

Despite this model not getting a redesign, I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple raised the starting price for this model again. Not only did we see this with the HomePod mini 2 and the updated Apple TV 4K earlier this month, but Apple also raised the starting price for even the base Mac mini when Apple upgraded it to the M6 chip. Just before the M6 update, the M4 Mac mini with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage was priced at $799. Now, it starts at $899. So I’d expect at least a $100 price increase for the updated base 14-inch MacBook Pro.

I’d also expect the next model to retain the same memory and storage configurations as before:

  • Memory: 16GB / 24GB / 32GB
  • Storage: 1TB / 2TB / 4TB

Conclusion

All in all, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro has been the odd middle child once again, but this upcoming update will let this model play catch-up to its higher-end models by featuring the N1 wireless networking chip and the visually updated Magic Keyboard, which leaves us with one more product that we expect to announce later this week. In the meantime, make sure you bookmark this site and follow our socials so you can stay up to date with the latest news and deals about Apple.