MacBook Pro Likely to Get OLED Display and Thinner Design in 2026

Sunday November 3, 2024 5:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol

While the new MacBook Pro lineup features faster M4 chip options, Thunderbolt 5 support for higher-end configurations, a nano-texture display option, and more, most of the previous MacBook Pro models with Apple silicon chips still offer the latest overall design, and fast performance, which might lead you to avoid upgrading this year.

Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero
If you are planning to skip the new MacBook Pro, here are two bigger changes that are rumored to come to the laptop in a few years from now.

First is an OLED display. Previous rumors have claimed the MacBook Pro will switch to OLED display technology as early as 2026. In the meantime, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and display industry analyst Ross Young both recently predicted that the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro will continue to have mini-LED displays in 2025.

Compared to current MacBook Pro models with mini-LED screens, benefits of OLED technology would include increased brightness, higher contrast ratio with deeper blacks, improved power efficiency for longer battery life, and more. The switch to OLED displays could also contribute to future MacBook Pro models having a thinner design.

Second is the just-mentioned thinner design. Earlier this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was working to make the MacBook Pro thinner over the "next couple of years." He said that Apple is aiming to create a class of devices that "should be the thinnest and lightest products in their categories across the whole tech industry."

A more vivid OLED display and a much thinner design would be more compelling upgrades that might finally drive existing Apple silicon MacBook Pro users to upgrade.

Update — November 3: In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that the MacBook Pro will "probably" get a "true overhaul" in 2026, with an OLED display and a thinner design. He expects only a small performance boost for the 2025 MacBook Pro models, with M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chips that are "already near completion."

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro

Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)

Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...

• 41 comments

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by Joe Rossignol

iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...

• 27 comments

Apple Launches Second Limited-Edition iPhone Accessory in a Month

Friday November 21, 2025 3:53 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple has begun selling the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand, a new limited-edition iPhone accessory designed with accessibility in mind. Designed by LA-based Bailey Hikawa to celebrate the 40th anniversary of accessibility at Apple, the grip uses magnets to securely snap onto any iPhone with MagSafe. Apple says it can be removed with ease, and doubles as a stand with two different viewing...

• 132 comments

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Wednesday November 19, 2025 4:00 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...

• 105 comments

The Best Early Black Friday iPad Deals

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:20 am PST by Mitchel Broussard

Black Friday is just over a week away, and iPad deals have finally started to flood in at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. Below we're tracking discounts on every current generation iPad, including lowest-ever prices on M3 iPad Air and M5 iPad Pro, plus steep markdowns on iPad and iPad mini. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a ...

• 7 comments

iPad Mini 8: Four Major New Features to Expect

Wednesday November 19, 2025 7:50 am PST by Hartley Charlton

Apple's eighth-generation iPad mini is highly likely to arrive next year, offering a significant refresh of the device with at least four major new features. OLED Display The next-generation version of the iPad mini could feature an OLED display, as part of Apple's plan to expand the display technology across many more of its devices. Apple's first OLED device was the Apple Watch in 2015, ...

• 67 comments

Apple Watch Users Claim Workout App Is Now Worse in Every Way

Thursday November 20, 2025 7:01 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple Watch owners have been voicing their frustration online over changes to the Workout app that Apple introduced in watchOS 26, with many finding the redesigned interface makes starting exercises difficult and exasperating. When Apple launched watchOS 26 in September, the Workout app went from large, easily tapped workout tiles to a scrolling, corner-button interface. Instead of tapping a ...

• 229 comments

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by Hartley Charlton

On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...

• 39 comments

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Two Breakthrough Features

Wednesday November 19, 2025 7:26 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include two standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...

Top Rated Comments

wdfly

14 months ago

Give me more power over thinner and lighter any day.

Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Trusteft

14 months ago

Why this obsession with thinner above all? With as few ports etc as possible?
I don't know, it feels like there are deeper issues here which manifest as this push for more and more thin and less and less...functional? I don't know. It feels weird.

Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)

neuropsychguy

14 months ago

“Compared to current MacBook Pro models with mini-LED screens, benefits of OLED technology would include increased brightness”

There are no commercially available OLED screens of the size and quality needed that will be brighter than what Apple is using now. I could be unaware of one, but I’ve looked. Maybe for much higher costs, if there is one. I know this is a rumor for future devices but if I wrote this article I’d hedge the “increased brightness” part. Maybe there will be brighter large OLED screens within the next 1.5 years (to make a late 2026 release deadline), but what’s getting released now (13” iPad Pro) is just matching the LEDs for brightness.

Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)