Love the MacBook Pro? A new model could be on the way, with some significant upgrades

YouTuber Wylsacom with a leaked Apple MacBook Pro with M4 chip.

(Image credit: Wylsacom)

A newly redesigned MacBook Pro is rumored to arrive in 2026
If leaks are accurate, it will feature an OLED display and a thinner chassis
This redesign will also be powered by Apple's M6 silicon

It could finally be happening, folks: the long-awaited OLED MacBook is finally on the way, if new claims from renowned Apple leaker Mark Gurman are to be believed.

Gurman has claimed in his latest Power On newsletter for Bloomberg that Apple is planning a major overhaul to the MacBook Pro in 2026, which will deliver several noteworthy changes – and chief among them is the introduction of a Tandem OLED display designed by Samsung, the same type seen on last year's new iPad Pro 13-inch.

It may also ditch the 'notch' in the screen for the webcam in favor of a floating 'hole cut' camera – perhaps adopting something more similar to the Dynamic Island seen on modern iPhones.

That's not all, though: Gurman's sources also state that the new MacBook Pro will feature a thinner design than previous models, stating that Apple "had once hoped to release this new version in 2025".

In other words, next year's MacBook Pro could look very different from the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro we reviewed back in November. But how does Apple plan to make its pro-grade laptop even more compact without sacrificing power? The answer could lie with the M6 chip.

Powered up

Yes, Gurman also believes that these next-gen MacBook Pros will come featuring the M6 chip (presumably also with M6 Pro and M6 Max versions) - implying that we can expect M5 MacBooks this year, without the OLED upgrade.

The M6 chips will be the first laptop processors from Apple that utilize chip fabricator TSMC's new 2nm process (alongside the expected A20 chips for iPhones). The 2nm process is expected to bring new developments in both performance and power efficiency, which could explain how Apple expects the M6 chips to run at a high performance level even in a thinner MacBook.

As for the MacBook Air, there's no news on any potential M5 or M6 variants, but we have to assume that they'll be in the works; after all, the new M4 MacBook Air didn't arrive on the scene until several months after the M4 chip landed in MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models. However, a previous report we covered claims that an OLED MacBook Air is still on the way, though it won't use the same Tandem OLED panel as the Pro and will likely arrive in 2027 or later - something that would align with Apple's existing release cadence, if the OLED MacBook Pro does indeed land in late 2026.

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Christian is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing Editor. He came to us from Maximum PC magazine, where he fell in love with computer hardware and building PCs. He was a regular fixture amongst our freelance review team before making the jump to TechRadar, and can usually be found drooling over the latest high-end graphics card or gaming laptop before looking at his bank account balance and crying.

Christian is a keen campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights and the owner of a charming rescue dog named Lucy, having adopted her after he beat cancer in 2021. She keeps him fit and healthy through a combination of face-licking and long walks, and only occasionally barks at him to demand treats when he’s trying to work from home.