The M5 MacBook Pro may be another boring update

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Caleb Denison / Digital Trends

The recently announced 2024 MacBook Pro lineup is not even on the market yet, but there is already buzz about the next two generations of the laptop series. Speculation suggests that there likely won’t be any exciting features on the Apple device until 2026.

There have already been rumors circulating, which indicate the MacBook Pro may upgrade from a mini-LED display to an OLED display in 2026, has been speculated for many months. Industry analysts, including Ming-Chi Kuo and Ross Young, have stated that the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are set to remain as mini-LED displays in 2025.

Apple has been using the same display on the MacBook Pro since 2021, although the SDR brightness has been heightened on the upcoming M4 release.

Now, confirmation from Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman gave a clearer answer on the trajectory of the MacBook Pro design timeline, which suggests the OLED MacBook Pro will receive a more in-depth overhaul in 2026.

While answering questions as part of his “Power On” newsletter, Gurman shared insight about the prospective feature timeline of the next few MacBook Pro generations. The question posed: “Should I wait for next year’s MacBook Pro to upgrade?” To which he responded, “The MacBook Pro probably won’t get another true overhaul until 2026.”

It should be noted that this is nothing more than informed speculation, but Gurman has a pretty good pulse on Mac product timing.

TechRadar noted that Apple has shifted into more of a five-year cycle where it completely revamps the look and feel of its devices, as opposed to a four-year cycle in the past. In addition to outfitting the 2026 MacBook Pro with an OLED display, which would be one of the most significant changes, the laptop is expected to have a thinner chassis and a higher-performance M6 chip based on the 2nm process.

The 2025 MacBook Pro is, of course, still expected to have a boost in performance thanks to the M5 series chip. There will likely be other small tweaks too, just as there have been on the M4, M3, and M2 models. For example, the recently announced M4 Max chip not only looks to yield some impressive scores in leaked benchmarks so far, but also came with an upgraded webcam, Thunderbolt 5, and the option for a nano-texture display.