M6 MacBook Pro could launch in October ahead of bigger MacBook redesign

Apple could introduce a new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip as soon as October, giving the familiar MacBook Pro a performance upgrade while a much more dramatic high-end redesign waits in the wings.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has said Apple is preparing the M6 14-inch model for later this year. Unlike the company’s upcoming OLED notebooks, the entry model is expected to retain the existing MacBook Pro design.

Evidence of the machine has also appeared closer to home. The Apple Post reported on references to an unreleased entry-level MacBook Pro discovered in Apple’s own software.

The unusual part of Apple’s roadmap is that the M6 model may arrive around the same period as high-end MacBooks using M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. Those machines are expected to introduce OLED touchscreens, thinner designs and a significantly different display cutout.

That could make chip names less useful for understanding Apple’s MacBook hierarchy. The standard 14-inch model may move ahead to M6 while the more expensive redesigned notebooks use higher-performance variants from the older M5 generation.

There are also indications that Apple intends to keep conventional mini-LED MacBook Pro models around. Omdia expects mini-LED MacBook Pro hardware to remain in Apple’s lineup until at least 2028, suggesting OLED could initially occupy a separate premium tier.

October has repeatedly been used for Mac announcements, including the M3 MacBook Pro launch in 2023 and Apple’s multi-day M4 Mac rollout in 2024. Apple has not yet announced an October 2026 event, so the M6 MacBook Pro could equally arrive through a press release and product video.