As a diehard Apple fan and a know-how journalist, I attempt to refresh my gear yearly or so to maintain up with the newest options. Nevertheless, whereas my three-year-old M2 MacBook Air might actually use an improve—and I’ve bought my eye on a new MacBook Professional—it’s going to should final for one more yr. Not solely are the M5 MacBooks not anticipated to deliver a lot in the way in which of recent options, however Apple is reportedly set to kickstart a brand new period with the M6 MacBook Professional as quickly as subsequent yr. Right here’s why I’m ready to improve—and so do you have to.
A brand new design that’s even thinner
With the introduction of the primary Apple Silicon MacBook Professional, Apple adopted a boxier design with flat edges, skinny bezels, and a notch. It has since turn into the default design for all of its laptops, with the principle variations between the MacBook Air and Professional designated by options reasonably than kind issue.
The forthcoming Apple design chapter seems to be all about slimness. We’ve already bought the ultra-thin iPad Professional fashions, and the iPhone 17 Air is predicted to undertake an identical components later this yr. Equally, the MacBook Professional M6 might observe swimsuit in late 2026 and boast a sleeker physique that makes it lighter and extra cell. Consequently, choosing a comparably chunky MacBook now doesn’t really feel like a really clever choice.
A primary-of-its-kind show
One other anticipated improve for the M6 MacBook Professional is its enhanced show. For the primary time on a MacBook, Apple is predicted to debut an OLED panel, contributing to true black ranges and extra vibrant colours.
We’ve already seen the advantages of OLED on the iPhone and iPad Professional, however they’ll be much more noticeable on the MacBook’s bigger display. In comparison with the MacBook Professional, the iPad Professional’s tandem OLED display has higher sustained HDR brightness with the entire identical pro-level options we already love: 120Hz refresh charges (ProMotion know-how), TrueTone, and the nano-texture choice. In comparison with my MacBook Air display, it’s a complete new world—and one value ready for.
The M6 MacBook Professional is predicted to have a fair thinner design just like the Air.
Foundry
Quicker efficiency (with 5G?)
It goes with out saying that changing a MacBook Air M2 with an M4 MacBook Professional will remarkably increase the efficiency, with no less than doubling my 8GB of RAM and much sooner speeds. Nevertheless, the M6 chip coming subsequent yr seems to be to be an enormous improve to my M2 chip that brings substantial enhancements to the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine that powers on-device Apple Intelligence options.
Apple silicon Macs appear to observe a four-generation efficiency cycle. Benchmark outcomes point out that transitioning from an M1 to an M4 chip can improve CPU capabilities by round 60 p.c in each single-core and multi-core duties. The M4’s GPU efficiency is roughly 60 p.c higher than that of the M1, and its Neural Engine is about 3 times sooner.
As such, by the point the M5 processor debuts, the incremental developments through the years may have stacked up, warranting an improve for M1 Mac customers. Likewise, it is smart for M2 Mac customers like me to attend for an M6 to get essentially the most bang for his or her improve bucks.
And simply possibly, Apple will give us a long-requested characteristic within the M6 MacBook Professional: mobile connectivity. With its new C1 modem within the iPhone 16e, Apple has management over the associated fee, efficiency, and effectivity of the wi-fi chip, so it may hopefully deliver it to the MacBook Professional to unlock 5G connectivity and make engaged on the go extra possible.
Even higher battery life
M-powered MacBooks are famend for his or her power effectivity and lengthy battery lives. My M2 MacBook Air’s battery, regardless of now having a most capability of 82 p.c, nonetheless manages to get me by way of a number of hours of steady searching at full show brightness. Nevertheless, its shortcomings floor every time I do heavy work, forcing me to cost it no less than as soon as a day.
Based on Apple, the MacBook Air M2 can last as long as 18 hours on a single cost, whereas the M4 MacBook Professional stretches that to 24 hours. When the M6 MacBook Professional debuts, it’s protected to imagine that the 24-hour restrict may have been maintained or improved because of enhancements in effectivity, the OLED show, and cooling. Even when it’s simply an hour or two, it might imply the M6 MacBook Professional will comfortably make it by way of a number of days of labor with out a cost.
The MacBook’s notch has to go.
Foundry
The tip of the notch
One among Apple’s most unsung options is Middle Stage. When FaceTiming my buddies, the digital camera body adapts to my actions and ensures that I keep centered always. Present MacBook fashions have already ported this characteristic, together with the 12MP entrance digital camera from the iPhone and iPad. Nevertheless, additionally they nonetheless have an unpleasant notch.
There was a time when the MacBook’s notch mirrored the iPhone’s design, however with only one iPhone left with a notch (the 16e), it’s time to maneuver on. Together with the OLED show, subsequent yr’s MacBook Professional fashions is also retiring the controversial notch in favor of a hole-punch digital camera design. This might unencumber area within the menubar and look a lot better with macOS Tahoe’s new invisible menu bar design.
The very best issues come to those that wait
Now that mainstream client gadgets have typically matured, there are two principal methods to go about recent releases. We both improve yearly and complain about how insignificant the variations are, or we ignore them for just a few years and benefit from the larger, cumulative influence when a substitute is due.
A bounce from my M2 MacBook Air M2 to an M3 or M4 MacBook Professional could be a pleasant improve, however ready for the M6 MacBook Professional received’t simply be an enormous improve for me, however a full refresh of Apple’s high-end laptop computer with a brand new design, a sooner processor, longer battery life, and essentially the most superior MacBook display but. Ready isn’t going to be straightforward—nevertheless it’ll be value it.
