2025 M5 MacBook Pro will be a “chip-and-ship” update; major redesign due in 2026
The long-anticipated redesign of Apple’s MacBook Pro laptop won’t arrive before 2026, as this year’s models will only get faster M5 chips and nothing else.
Mark Gurman wrote in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg that new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are being prepared for a launch later this year. The laptops will run the unreleased Apple M5 Pro and Apple M5 Max chips that will likely be announced alongside the new MacBook Pros.
Nothing else will be changed. In Apple talk, this is called a “chip-and-ship” update. The term refers to a type of device refresh where you mostly put in a faster chip and maybe update the color finish, with no other hardware changes.
2025 M5 MacBook Pro said to be a “chip-and-ship” update
“In other M5-related news, the MacBook Pro is a lock to get the chip later this year,” Gurman wrote. “It will probably happen around the same time of year that it received the M4 processor in 2024 and the M3 in 2023.” The laptop is expected to look the same overall as the M3 and M4-based MacBook Pro.
Gurman didn’t say whether the laptop would include an onboard cellular modem or whether there would be versions with and without a built-in modem for 5G cellular connectivity. Having a built-in modem would enable the laptop to maintain internet connectivity even if there are no Wi-Fi networks to hop on to.
Plus, the laptop could function as a wireless hotspot for other devices, similar to the iPhone’s Personal Hotspot feature. If Apple uses the C1 or its successor in the 2026 MacBook Pro, the laptop will also feature satellite connectivity and GPS.
Gurman also mentioned that we should see another “chip-and-ship” upgrade in the form of an M5-powered MacBook Air later this year, probably in October. There should also be an M5-focused upgrade to the iPad Pro this year, and the company is allegedly already developing an M6 iPad Pro for a launch in 2026. A twelfth-generation iPad with a faster chip is allegedly also in the works.
A major MacBook Pro redesign is due in 2026
Apple usually times significant product redesigns around major technological changes. Case in point: The iPhone X was the first Apple smartphone featuring a fullscreen design, dedicated facial unlocking hardware and an OLED display panel. Apple has been rumored to bring OLED to the MacBook Pro for some time, but Gurman’s report indicates this won’t happen this year.
And that’s not a surprise. The iPhone X redesign happened in 2017, on the iPhone’s tenth anniversary. Apple launched the first MacBook Air in 2006, so the laptop will celebrate its twentieth anniversary in 2026.
Earlier rumors calling for a significant MacBook Pro redesign this year were wrong. According to the latest rumor calling for a MacBook Pro redesign in 2026, the improvements should include bright OLED-based displays replacing mini-LED backlight in the current MacBook Pro, a custom cellular modem and a revamped appearance as the machine is expected to be visibly thinner thanks to OLED instead of mini-LED. It’s unclear whether the laptop will have a touch-sensitive display that Gurman previously called for.
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