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If rumors are to be believed, 2026 will see an unusually large harvest of… Apple products. This is shaping up to be a banner year for MacBooks, and we may only have a week or two to see the first new models.
The MacBook Pro is set to be the first MacBook update of the year, as Apple delivers the top update M5 Pro and M5 Max chipsets To both the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro lines later this month or in March. Then Apple can go to the other end of the spectrum and release it The budget MacBook is rumored to be $599. Also in the first half of the year, the MacBook Air will likely receive an update to the M5 chip. Before the year is out, we can see The first MacBook Pro with an OLED touch screen.
So, yes, the internet is full of MacBook rumors. Let’s take a closer look at the timing, price, and details of the MacBook updates expected this year.
The 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro was released in October, so we expect the rest of the lineup to appear very soon.
M5 Pro and M5 Max updates for MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro was the first MacBook to get Apple’s latest M5 processor when it was released MacBook Pro 14 inch Released last October. Now, Apple is expected to expand its M5 offering and bring the higher-powered M5 Pro and M5 Max chipsets to the MacBook Pro.
the MacBook Pro 16 inch It’s still waiting for the M5 to be updated and it should also get the M5 Pro and M5 Max chipsets at the same time as its younger Pro sibling.
CNET’s Lori Gronin tested M5 chip He noted that it offers significant performance improvements over the M4 “in the narrow areas where it applies, which is on-GPU processing for AI and ray tracing graphics.” However, the M5 MacBook Pro struggles to keep up in the world of AAA gaming.
the M5 Pro and M5 Max processors It will likely follow in the footsteps of the previous M-series Pro and Max chipsets, which featured additional CPU and GPU cores and higher memory allocations.
MacBook Pro models with these high-end chips come at higher prices geared toward processing-intensive tasks like video rendering, 3D modeling, and AI workloads. If the price remains stable, this is not a sure bet with RAM shortages around the worldThe 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip will likely start at $1,999, and the 16-inch Pro with the M5 Pro chip will likely start at $2,499.
As with the last MacBook Pro update last October, these M5 updates will be internal upgrades without any major changes to the laptop’s design. according to Bloomberg Power NewsletterUpdates for the M5 Pro and M5 Max will arrive with Apple’s next major Mac software update. Mac 26.3in February or March. If you’re looking to buy a MacBook Pro, it might make sense to hold off and wait for the new models to arrive.
Finally, what is a true budget MacBook?
Apple is reportedly planning to enter the budget laptop market with a lower-cost model that will be much more affordable than the currently cheapest model, the M4 MacBook Air, which starts at $999. This new model will ditch Apple’s M-series in favor of an A-series chip — the same processor that powers the iPhone and can cost as little as $699 or as much as $599 with Apple’s education discount.
Apple already claims that A19 Pro chip Which debuted in the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone Air delivers “MacBook Pro levels of computing.” But according to Industry Analyst Ming-Chi KuoIt’s possible – even likely – that the budget MacBook will use the A18 Pro chip (the chip used in the iPhone 16 Pro) instead.
A budget laptop with the A18 Pro chip will likely offer diminishing returns compared to the MacBook M4 chipset, as it runs about 40% slower than the current generation of Macs. The A18 Pro also doesn’t feature support for Thunderbolt ports, so the budget MacBook will likely come with less capable USB-C ports instead.
The new budget MacBook will be more compact than the smaller M4 MacBook Air.
Another way Apple will reportedly keep prices low on the new budget MacBook is by shrinking the screen size. Kuo reported The laptop will have an “approximately 13-inch display,” a claim confirmed by the company Bloomberg correspondent Mark Gorman. It could have a 12.9-inch display, which would be slightly smaller than the 13.6-inch MacBook Air. But it should also be a bit lighter than the Air at 2.7 pounds, making it not only the least expensive MacBook but also the most portable.
The new budget MacBook will compete with Chromebooks and entry-level Windows laptops, which will be a new segment of Apple’s laptop market. Gorman wrote The device is intended for “people who primarily browse the web, work on documents, or do light media editing.” This could be the new MacBook for students. The timing is a bit vague for the release of the budget MacBook, but hopefully it will arrive before the start of next school year.
The M5 is coming to the MacBook Air
Just as Apple is reportedly gearing up to update its premium MacBook Pros with a new, more powerful chipset, its thinner, more portable MacBooks are also set to get an upgrade. It’s fairly typical for a MacBook Air to get a spring update, and the M4 MacBook Air was released in March 2025.
Gorman reported We’ll likely see the M5 MacBook Air released during the first quarter of the year, so we can expect the update in the same time frame this year. Like the MacBook Pros, we don’t expect to see a redesign of the M5 MacBook Air. The new look of the air is still at least another two years away, According to Gorman.
The 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage built into previous versions of the MacBook Air will likely be standard for any M5 MacBook Air. (Make sure the minimum storage space is moved to 512GB.)
The M4 MacBook Air starts at $999, and I expect the price of the M5 Air to remain unchanged.
The first OLED MacBook Pros
Will Apple release two different MacBook Pro laptops in the same year? It’s probably more than you thinkIt wouldn’t be unprecedented.
Apple will release two generations of MacBook Pro in 2023, starting in the year M2 MacBook Pros And it ends M3 MacBook Pro. So we know that if Apple deems the progress important enough, they will release multiple updates in the same year.
The OLED MacBook Pro lineup would certainly qualify as one of those advancements. According to Gormanthe OLED MacBook Pros will achieve many firsts for Mac computers, integrating a new generation of chips and a touch screen. Like previous MacBook Pros, the OLED MacBook lineup will include both 14- and 16-inch models.
The first Macs with OLED displays are also rumored to borrow the Dynamic Island camera hole from the iPhone.
Apple is trying to catch up with the rest of the industry by incorporating OLED panels into more products, including some earlier iPhone and iPad Pro models. But as Gorman notedthis will be “the first time this thin and slim system has been used in a Mac.”
Touchscreens have been popular in Windows laptops for some time, but this rumored design will be the first time Apple has integrated them into a MacBook. “It took the company years to formulate its approach to the market, with the goal of improving existing designs,” Gorman wrote. “Apple has developed a reinforced hinge and screen hardware to prevent the screen from bouncing or moving when touched.”
The design will reportedly still integrate the MacBook Pro’s standard keyboard and trackpad functionality. But what will apparently change is the camera hole at the top of the screen. Gorman reported That Apple is ditching the iconic “notch” in favor of “a so-called hole-punch design that leaves a display area around the sensor,” similar to the Dynamic Island that was introduced in iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
OLED MacBook Pros could be the first Mac computers to use next-generation M6 chips, According to Gorman. It will also have thinner and lighter bezels, making it more portable than current MacBook Pro designs.
If the MacBook Pro had a touchscreen design, the PC would be it The closest Mac-iPad fusion we’ve seen yet. Industry analyst Ku thought This shift reflects Apple’s “long-term observation of iPad user behavior, suggesting that in certain scenarios, touch controls can improve productivity and the overall user experience.”
However, for now, the OLED MacBook Pro will still provide a more traditional PC experience than other Apple products — don’t expect the full, hands-on navigation and touch of an iPad just yet. The trackpad and keyboard control system will remain important pillars of the MacBook experience.
More expensive components and OLED panels will likely lead to an increase in the price of the OLED MacBook Pro. OLED models will likely be hundreds of dollars more than their current Liquid Retina display counterparts. The current 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, and the 16-inch Pro starts at $2,499.
the OLED MacBook Pros It is rumored to go into production this year for a possible release towards the end of 2026.