MacRumors

Along with the low-cost MacBook, Apple could introduce a refreshed version of the MacBook Air next week. Most of the focus will be on the new machine, but the ‌MacBook Air‌ is expected to get some useful internal updates.

M5 Chip

The next-generation ‌MacBook Air‌ will adopt the M5 chip, which Apple already introduced in the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro models that came out last year.

Apple's M5 chip uses third-generation 3-nanometer technology, and it features up to a 10-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU with 3.5x faster performance than the M4 chip.

The M5's multithreaded CPU performance is up to 15 percent faster than the M4, and it offers 30 percent faster GPU performance. Apple added a Neural Accelerator to each GPU core to improve the speeds of GPU-based AI workloads. Unified memory bandwidth is 153GB/s, which is close to a 30 percent improvement over the M4's memory bandwidth. Unified memory architecture lets the chip use a single memory pool for running AI models on device, boosting GPU performance, and improving multithreaded performance in apps, so an upgrade there is meaningful. RAM will continue to start at 16GB, with 24GB and 32GB available as upgrade options.

Third-generation ray-tracing, second-generation dynamic caching, and enhanced shader cores bring improvements to gaming and other system-intensive tasks. An updated 16-core Neural Engine is more energy efficient than before, so we could see battery life improvements.

Storage tiers are likely to stay the same, starting at 256GB with 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB available as upgrade options.

Design

The ‌MacBook Air‌ got a design overhaul in 2022, and there are no signs that Apple is planning for an updated chassis in 2026. Apple often uses the same design for several years before updating, and design refreshes are usually tied to major new features.

There are rumors that the ‌MacBook Air‌ will get an OLED display sometime after Apple launches new ‌MacBook Pro‌ models with OLED technology in late 2026, so we could be waiting for OLED before we get another major design update.

We're expecting Apple to release the same 13-inch and 15-inch size options in 2026. Both will feature the same aluminum unibody design and fanless thermal system, along with a Retina LCD display.

The ‌MacBook Air‌ is likely to continue to offer two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, and the same speaker, microphone, and camera setup.

Pricing

‌MacBook Air‌ pricing is not expected to change, and it should continue to start at $1,099. There is a possibility that memory upgrades will be more expensive due to DRAM shortages that have driven prices up.

Release Date

Apple CEO Tim Cook teased product announcements that are set to start on Monday, so we could see the ‌MacBook Air‌ as soon as next week.

Razer today introduced a new 16-inch laptop sleeve that has an integrated wireless charging feature for smartphones and other small devices like earbuds. Priced at $130, the sleeve includes two MagSafe-compatible wireless charging zones, so it can charge an iPhone and AirPods at the same time.

The wireless charger is integrated into the top of the laptop sleeve, and the magnets serve as a clasp when the sleeve is closed and being used to transport a laptop. Power is delivered through a USB-C cable that can be plugged into a 30W+ power adapter or a Mac.

Charging speeds are limited to 15W, so you won't get full speed wireless charging on newer iPhones that support up to 25W wireless charging. The sleeve has one 15W charging spot for an ‌iPhone‌ and a 5W charging spot for the AirPods. It is not designed to charge two iPhones at once, both because there's just one 15W charger and because of space constraints.

There is built-in padding to keep a MacBook safe from drops, and a plush lining inside protects it from scratches. The exterior is black and made from a polyester material that's designed to resist wear and tear while also protecting a laptop from rain. Reinforced corners ensure no damage in case of accidental bumps.

The sleeve is sized to fit laptops up to 16 inches, so it works with Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The Razer Laptop Sleeve 16 With Wireless Charging for Devices can be purchased from the Razer website for $130.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance, which includes Apple, today released the Aliro 1.0 specification. Aliro is a new standard aimed at improving the way that smart door locks work with smartphones and wearables.

Aliro supports interoperability between mobile devices, wearables, and access control readers, so smart locks can work with any smartphone or wearable device without the need for a dedicated app. It is aimed at improving smart locks for the home, but also for corporate offices, universities, and hotels.

Apple, Google, and Samsung support Aliro, and Aliro-enabled locks will be able to be added to wallet apps on iPhone and Android devices. Major smart home companies that produce smart locks have also signed on to support Aliro. The Alliance says that Apple, Allegion, Aqara, Google, HID, Kastle, Kwikset, Last Lock, Nordic Semiconductor, Nuki Home Solutions, NXP Semiconductors, Qorvo, Samsung, and STMicroelectronics will be among the first to achieve Aliro 1.0 certification.

With Aliro, more smart locks should support Apple Home Key for hands-free unlocking with NFC and UWB.

The Aliro 1.0 specification includes a framework for using asymmetric cryptography for secure interactions between user devices and readers, without sacrificing user privacy. It supports multiple communication methods, including NFC, Bluetooth LE, and ultra wideband (UWB).

Aliro will be updated over time to meet new market and ecosystem requirements. Features like secure key sharing will come in the future.

Apple today released visionOS 26.3.1, a minor update to the visionOS 26 operating system. visionOS 26.3.1 comes two weeks after the launch of visionOS 26.3.

‌visionOS 26‌.3 can be downloaded on all Vision Pro headsets by navigating to the Settings app, selecting the General section, and choosing the Software Update option. To install an update, the Vision Pro headset needs to be removed, and there is a software progress bar available on the exterior EyeSight display.

According to Apple's release notes for the update, it fixes a flicker issue that could happen when watching sports content with MultiView in the Apple TV app.

One of the new products that we could see next week is a refreshed version of the low-cost iPad. As with the iPad Air, we're not expecting major changes, but it is expected to get some meaningful internal upgrades.

Design

The 12th-generation ‌iPad‌ isn't going to get a design update this year, and we're expecting it to have the same 11-inch edge-to-edge display with Touch ID Side Button and thick bezels.

Apple last updated the ‌iPad‌'s design with the 10th-generation model, giving the device a more modern look to better match the designs of the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. It's still a relatively new design, and Apple doesn't update the low-cost ‌iPad‌'s chassis often.

The low-cost ‌iPad‌ is only available in a single screen size, and it is Apple's thickest tablet at 7mm. It features a Retina LCD display with no ProMotion support, no P3 wide color, and no lamination (display technology that cuts down on glare, provides a more responsive feel, and allows for a thinner size) compared to Apple's other tablets.

Apple makes the low-cost ‌iPad‌ in several fun colors, and we could see some new shades in 2026. Current colors include blue, pink, silver, and yellow.

No changes are expected for the rear camera, front camera, USB-C port, or compatibility with accessories like the Apple Pencil.

A-Series Processor

The low-cost ‌iPad‌ will likely be equipped with Apple's A19 chip, which is the chip that Apple used for the iPhone 17. It is built on a 3-nanometer process and it will offer speed and efficiency improvements over the A16 chip that's in the current model.

The A16 chip that Apple used in 2025 does not support Apple Intelligence, but the A19 does, so that will mark a major update for Apple's affordable tablet. The 2026 model should be able to support ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features that are unavailable with the 2025 model.

The A19 also offers hardware-accelerated ray tracing for gaming improvements. The 11th-generation ‌iPad‌ has 6GB RAM, but Apple will need to bump that up to 8GB for ‌Apple Intelligence‌.

N1 Chip

Apple introduced its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, called the N1, in the ‌iPhone 17‌ models. The N1 was added to the ‌iPad Pro‌, and it's possible that Apple plans to add the chip to all future devices coming in 2026 and beyond.

The N1 chip supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread networking technology for smart home devices.

The 11th-generation ‌iPad‌ is limited to Wi-Fi 6, so if the 12th-generation version gets Wi-Fi 7, it will be able to connect to faster 6GHz networks for the first time. Bluetooth 6 would also be an improvement over Bluetooth 5.3. There is a chance that Apple is reserving the N1 chip for its more premium devices, based on leaked internal code. If that's the case, the ‌iPad‌ won't include the N1 chip.

Apple Modem

Apple has designed C1 and C1X modem chips that it has used in iPhones and iPads in 2025, and the next-generation version of the ‌iPad‌ could also get an Apple-designed modem chip for cellular models.

Apple's modem chips are more power efficient than Qualcomm chips while providing similar performance.

Pricing

The 11th-generation ‌iPad‌ is priced starting at $349 for 128GB of storage, and there are so far no indications that pricing is going to change for the 12th-generation model.

Launch Date

Apple will likely launch the low-cost ‌iPad‌ sometime next week, just ahead of the Special Experience planned for March 4.

Global memory scarcity will cause a 13 percent drop in smartphone sales in 2026, according to IDC (via Bloomberg). DRAM is in short supply because AI companies are buying huge quantities of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for servers in data centers, and manufacturers are prioritizing HBM instead of the memory used in consumer devices.

IDC says that the global memory supply has been drained into next year, putting smartphone makers in a tough spot. Prices have spiked because there's not enough memory to meet production needs, which will cause a smartphone market "crisis like no other."

Smartphone makers are expected to ship 1.1 billion devices in 2026, down from 1.26 billion in 2025.

"The tariffs and pandemic crisis seem a joke compared to this," said IDC Senior Research Director Nabila Popal. "The smartphone market will witness a seismic shift by the time this crisis is over -- in size, average selling prices and competitive landscape. We don't expect the situation to ease up until mid-2027, at least."

Cheap Android smartphones will be impacted most heavily by increasing DRAM costs, but Apple is well-positioned to avoid major impact because it focuses on more expensive, premium devices. Apple has more profit margin to work with and is better able to secure available DRAM supply.

Apple is expected to absorb higher memory costs in the short term, but it isn't unaffected by the shortages. Just today, a report suggested Apple is paying Samsung twice as much for the LPDDR5X memory chips that it needs for producing iPhone 17 models.

During Apple's January earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that memory price increases had a "minimal impact" on Apple's gross margin during the 2025 holiday quarter, but the company is expecting a "bit more of an impact" during the first calendar quarter of 2026.

IDC says that even when the DRAM shortage is resolved, memory prices are not expected to return to 2025 levels, so there could be a permanent shift toward higher-priced smartphones.

After several weeks of testing, Apple today released Xcode 26.3, an update that allows developers to use tools like Anthropic's Claude Agent and OpenAI's Codex for app creation directly in Xcode.

With support for agentic coding, Xcode can complete more complex app development tasks autonomously. Apple worked with Anthropic and OpenAI to configure their agents for use in Xcode and to ensure that AI models can access a full range of Xcode features.

Agents are able to create new files, examine code structure of a project, build a project directly and run tests, take image snapshots to check their work, and access Apple's full, up-to-date developer documentation.

Along with OpenAI and Anthropic models, Xcode 26.3 is compatible with any agent or tool that uses the open standard Model Context Protocol.

Xcode 26.3 is available for download today from Apple's developer website.

The iPhone and iPad can be used with NATO restricted level classified information after meeting NATO's information assurance requirements, Apple said today. No special software or settings are required.

Apple's devices are the first and only consumer mobile products that have reached this government certification level after security testing and evaluation by the German government. iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 are now certified for use with classified data in all NATO nations.

In an announcement of the security clearance, Apple touted its security features.

Apple designs security into all of its products from the start, ensuring the most sophisticated protections are built in across hardware, software, and Apple silicon. This unique approach allows Apple users to benefit from industry-leading security protections such as best-in-class encryption, biometric authentication with Face ID, and groundbreaking features like Memory Integrity Enforcement. These same protections are now recognized as meeting stringent government and international security requirements, even for restricted data.

Apple's vice president of security Ivan Krstić said the achievement reflects Apple's commitment to security.

This achievement recognizes that Apple has transformed how security is traditionally delivered. Prior to iPhone, secure devices were only available to sophisticated government and enterprise organizations after a massive investment in bespoke security solutions. Instead, Apple has built the most secure devices in the world for all its users, and those same protections are now uniquely certified under assurance requirements for NATO nations -- unlike any other device in the industry.

Apple's ‌iOS 26‌ and ‌iPadOS 26‌ updates are listed on the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue, which says Apple devices are able to provide secure access to Mail, Calendar, and Contacts with built-in apps.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple's imminent series of announcements will focus on chip updates, rather than redesigned devices, according to a known leaker.

In a new post, the Weibo leaker known as "Fixed Focus Digital" said Apple's scheduled announcements for next week focus on refreshed devices with basic generational chip upgrades, rather than more fundamental redesigns.

Earlier this month, Apple invited the media to an "Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai on Wednesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. Today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased "a big week ahead," with announcements starting Monday.

Successors to the iPhone 16e, entry-level iPad, iPad Air, M4 MacBook Air, M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro, Apple TV, and HomePod are all rumored to arrive soon, offering little more than chip refreshes. The most significant new device in the immediate pipeline is the low-cost MacBook, which is set to feature an iPhone's A-series chip. Little is known about what the machine will look like beyond offering a 12.9-inch LCD display and a selection of fun color options, and there's a high chance it will re-use components from existing devices.

Apple devices with major new designs are still expected to arrive this year, such as the first foldable ‌iPhone‌, a smart home hub product, and the M6-series ‌MacBook Pro‌, but largely not until the second-half of the year.

Samsung this week debuted pre-orders for its newest line of Galaxy products, including the S26 smartphones and Galaxy Buds4. You can find a few early launch discounts on some of these products, plus discounts on Samsung's most popular monitors and TVs, with notable markdowns on products like The Frame TVs.

Galaxy Products

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

You can get up to $500 instant trade-in credit when pre-ordering the Galaxy S26, up to $700 credit for the Galaxy S26+, and up to $900 credit for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. If not trading in an older device, Samsung is still offering $150 in Samsung credit when pre-ordering each smartphone.

• Galaxy S26 - Up to $500 trade-in credit
• Galaxy S26+ - Up to $700 trade-in credit
• Galaxy S26 Ultra - Up to $900 trade-in credit
• Galaxy Buds4 - Save 30% on select cases when pre-ordering
• Galaxy Buds4 Pro - Save 30% on select cases when pre-ordering
• Galaxy XR - Save up to $1,140 with the Explorer Pack

TVs

In regards to TVs, there are quite a few models of The Frame TV on sale, including all-time low prices on The Frame models from 2025. You can get the 2025 65-inch The Frame TV for $1,199.99 ($600 off), as well as the 75-inch Frame Pro for $1,999.99 ($1,200 off), a match of the all-time low price.

• 55-inch QLED QEF1 Smart TV - $399.99, down from $599.99
• 55-inch QLED Q7F Smart TV - $399.99, down from $529.99
• 55-inch QLED Q8F Smart TV - $599.99, down from $749.99
• 75-inch Vision AI Smart TV - $699.99, down from $1,199.99
• 50-inch The Frame - $799.99, down from $1,099.99
• 75-inch Neo QLED QN70F Smart TV - $1,199.99, down from $1,599.99
• 65-inch The Frame - $1,199.99, down from $1,799.99
• 55-inch OLED S95F Smart TV - $1,999.99, down from $2,299.99
  

• 75-inch The Frame Pro - $1,999.99, down from $3,199.99
• 85-inch The Frame Pro - $3,299.99, down from $4,299.99
• 85-inch Neo QLED QN90F Smart TV - $2,499.99, down from $4,499.99

Monitors

Samsung also has a few unique monitor deals this week, offering a free copy of Resident Evil Requiem at no cost when purchasing select monitors. This includes the 27-inch Odyssey OLED G50SF Monitor for $349.99, down from $549.99, and the 49-inch Odyssey G95C Monitor for $849.99, down from $1,299.99. When you register these monitors after purchasing them, you'll get a download code for Resident Evil Requiem, which is a $70 value.

• 32-inch ViewFinity S70A UHD Monitor - $299.99, down from $459.99
• 27-inch Odyssey OLED G50SF - $349.99, down from $549.99 (with free copy of Resident Evil Requiem)
• 32-inch Smart Monitor M8 - $399.99, down from $699.99
• 49-inch Odyssey G95C - $849.99, down from $1,299.99 (with free copy of Resident Evil Requiem)
• 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 - $1,499.99, down from $2,299.99
• 55-inch Odyssey Ark 2nd Gen - $1,699.99, down from $2,699.99

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook today teased "a big week ahead," with announcements starting Monday. His post included an #AppleLaunch hashtag with a colorful Apple logo, along with a short video that ultimately shows an Apple logo on the lid of a Mac.

Apple is reportedly planning a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4, with up to five new products expected to be unveiled, including a lower-cost MacBook, an iPhone 17e, and more.

Other possible products include an iPad Air with an M4 chip, an iPad 12 with an A18 chip and Apple Intelligence support, a MacBook Air with the M5 chip, and MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. We are also waiting for long-awaited updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, but it is unclear if those are coming next week.

Apple already invited selected journalists and content creators to an "Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai on Wednesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. During these in-person gatherings, attendees will likely receive hands-on time with the new products that Apple unveils between Monday and Wednesday next week.

The products are expected to be announced in press releases published on the Apple Newsroom website, with no Apple Event live stream expected.

MacRumors will have in-depth coverage of Apple's announcements next week, and we will be attending the "Apple Experience" in New York.

Apple has agreed to pay Samsung twice as much for the LPDDR5X memory chips that it needs for ongoing iPhone 17 production, claims a report from Korean outlet Dealsite.

According to the report's sources, Apple recently held emergency meetings with Samsung's semiconductor division to negotiate delivery volumes of RAM for the first half of this year. The 12GB LPDDR5X modules used in the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro have already roughly doubled in price since early 2025, rising from around $30 to approximately $70.

Samsung is said to have originally planned to push for a 60% price increase on LPDDR5X modules supplied to Apple. Instead, however, Samsung opened with a 100% markup as a negotiating tactic – and Apple apparently accepted it on the spot.

If the publication's industry sources are accurate, Apple's immediate acceptance just goes to show how desperate smartphone makers have become to lock down memory supply. Chipmakers like SK Hynix and Micron have been redirecting production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI servers, and that has left mobile DRAM in extremely short supply.

Samsung's own mobile division isn't immune to the squeeze, either. The same report says initial Galaxy S26 production is using a 50/50 split of LPDDR5X from Samsung's semiconductor division and Micron, with both suppliers planning steep price increases after the first batch. Samsung is expected to raise Galaxy S26 pricing partly in response, while attempting to offset costs by using its in-house Exynos 2600 chip in roughly 30% of units.

Despite the cost pressure, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said Apple's current plan is to keep iPhone 18 Pro starting prices flat. On a recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that rising chip prices would have "a bit more of an impact" on gross margins, but the company still expects year-on-year revenue growth of 13% to 16% this quarter.

Apple Maps has been updated with a new guide called "2026 Formula 1 Tracks Around the World," ahead of the new season which is being streamed exclusively on Apple TV in the United States.

Spotted by 9to5Mac within the Apple TV Formula 1 Channel, the guide offers an immersive way to explore the circuits, starting with Albert Park in Australia, with more 3D circuit experiences to be added as the season progresses.

The Albert Park circuit map highlights turn numbers, grandstands, and a three-dimensional model of the F1 pit building. The experience also doubles as a navigation tool for those attending the Australian Grand Prix, with walking directions to key locations.

The track is rendered with realistic kerbs, clearly labelled 3D grandstands and footbridges, and all 14 turns. Temporary pop-up locations pinpoint entrance gates and essential amenities, including restrooms, water stations, first aid points, and merchandise stands, with step-by-step walking directions to individual grandstands.

Several other tracks have been upgraded with new 3D graphics, but not yet to the extent of Albert Park. For a preview of what's changed, it's worth visiting the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Miami International Autodrome in Florida, the Circuit de Monaco, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain, Silverstone in the UK, the Red Bull Ring in Austria, and more.

The 2026 F1 season kicks off in Australia on March 8. Last October, Apple and Formula 1 announced a five-year partnership including exclusive streaming rights in the U.S. The partnership allows ‌Apple TV‌ to provide comprehensive coverage of Formula 1, including all practice, qualifying, Sprint sessions, and Grands Prix.

At the time, Apple said it planned to "amplify" the sport across Apple News, Apple Maps, Apple Music, and Apple Fitness+. For example, the Apple Sports app will feature live updates for every qualifying, Sprint, and race for each Grand Prix across the season, along with real-time leaderboards, season driver and constructor standings, Live Activities, and widgets.

Apple is in talks with major Indian banks as it prepares to introduce Apple Pay in the country sometime in the middle of 2026, reports Bloomberg.

Apple is said to be in discussions with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke to the publication.

The report corroborates a story in January by Business Standard that said Apple Pay was preparing to go live in the Indian market before the end of the year. The Times of India also earlier reported the India plans for Apple Pay.

Today's report says Apple is talking through the plan with global payment networks Mastercard and Visa. UPI dominates digital payments in India, and Apple Pay is expected to support the state-backed payments interface, which allows customers to instantly transfer money and bills.

Apple Pay launched more than 10 years ago, and is already available across 89 markets globally. Late last year, India's central bank approved new rules that allow biometric authentication like Touch ID and Face ID for digital payments. The country's authentication methods previously relied on one-time passwords sent over SMS messages.

The timing comes at a good moment for Apple in India. The company recorded its highest quarterly shipments in the country during Q3 2025, reaching 5 million units and securing fourth place in the market for the first time, according to IDC data. Apple is also rapidly expanding its retail presence in India, with a sixth store opening in Mumbai on Thursday.

Some customers are having problems with the App Store, Mac App Store, and iTunes Store, according to Apple's System Status page.

The three services have been experiencing issues since 7:22 p.m. Eastern Time. Not all users are affected, but if you've been having trouble accessing or downloading apps, the outage is the reason why.

We'll update this article when the problems have been resolved.

Apple is working on a new MacBook Pro that could launch next week ahead of the "Special Experience" planned for March 4, so we thought we'd highlight all of the rumors about the device so far.

Design

There are no rumors of design changes, and we are expecting the upcoming M5 ‌MacBook Pro‌ models to look just like the M4 versions. Apple will continue to offer 14-inch and 16-inch size options, both of which should come in M5 Pro and M5 Max varieties.

M5 Max and M5 Pro Chip

We already got the base model 14-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ with the new M5 chip in October, so what we're expecting are upgraded 14-inch and 16-inch models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.

The M5 family is built on a more advanced N3P 3-nanometer process from TSMC, and it offers speed and efficiency improvements. The M5 chip is up to 20 percent faster in multi-core CPU performance than the M4 chip, and we could see similar improvements for the M5 Pro and M5 Max chip options. GPU performance is up to 30 percent faster.

With the M5, Apple added a Neural Accelerator to each GPU core, improving the speeds of GPU-based AI workloads. The chip also supports third-generation ray-tracing, second-generation dynamic caching, and enhanced shader cores.

The 16-core Neural Engine is more energy efficient than before, and unified memory bandwidth has improved significantly. These are all features that we're likely to see with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as well.

Other Possible Updates

We haven't heard rumors about any other features coming to the ‌MacBook Pro‌ line. Apple did update SSD speeds for the M5 ‌MacBook Pro‌ models, so we could see the same upgrade to the M5 Pro and M5 Max machines.

Why You Shouldn't Buy an M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro

If you're not in serious need of a new ‌MacBook Pro‌ right away, early 2026 is a bad time to upgrade. The next-generation ‌MacBook Pro‌ after the early 2026 models is expected to feature an OLED display and touchscreen capabilities, both of which will mark a major upgrade in display quality. It's expected to include a Dynamic Island instead of a notch, and macOS will be optimized for touch interactions.

Most people shelling out extra money for a ‌MacBook Pro‌ with a higher-end M5 Pro or M5 Max chip need the extra performance or display quality, so it is worth waiting for the huge update that's coming.

The transition to OLED will also likely bring a design update along with M6 Pro and M6 Max chip technology, which is another reason to wait.

Of course, the new features could be limited to higher-end ‌MacBook Pro‌ models or could be significantly more expensive. If you're on a budget, need a Mac now, or don't care about OLED, the M5 Pro and Max models could still be worth considering.

Launch Date

The new ‌MacBook Pro‌ models could be announced via press release next week ahead of Apple's Special Experience.

macOS 27 is still months away, but there are already a handful of rumors about the upcoming software update, as outlined below.

We expect the first beta of macOS 27 to be seeded to developers during WWDC 2026 in June, and a public beta to follow in July. Following beta testing, the update should be released to all users with a compatible Mac in September.

macOS 26 is known as macOS Tahoe, but the name of macOS 27 has yet to leak.

Siri Upgrades

macOS 27 will reportedly include a full-out Siri chatbot that you can have back-and-forth conversations with. This would make Siri more like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. Due to delays, macOS 27 might also include at least some of the personalized Siri features that Apple previewed all the way back at WWDC 2024.

For example, Apple showed a user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation based on info retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps. This functionality was previewed on an iPhone, but it will extend to the iPad and Mac.

More Apple Intelligence Features

Last month, Apple and Google announced that Google Gemini will help power future Apple Intelligence features, and that will extend beyond the more personalized version of Siri. However, exactly which features arrive remains to be seen.

Touch Interface

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman this week reported that Apple is preparing a touch-optimized version of macOS for the rumored MacBook Pro with a touch screen.

For example, if a user touches a button or control on the screen, the report said a relevant set of commands will instantly appear in a menu surrounding their finger. And if a user taps on an item in the menu bar at the top of the screen, the report said the controls will enlarge so they are easier to select with a finger.

Gurman expects the MacBook Pro with a touch screen to be released in late 2026, so these touch optimizations will presumably arrive in macOS 27. However, the changes might be hidden until the touch-screen MacBook Pro launches.

Improved Stability

macOS 27 will reportedly be similar to 2009's Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is apparently very focused on improving "quality and underlying performance." Apple is expected to implement many bug fixes and stability improvements, and there may also be some much-needed Liquid Glass design enhancements.

No Intel Macs

Last year, Apple announced that macOS Tahoe would be the final major macOS release for Intel-based Macs, meaning that macOS 27 will be compatible with Apple silicon Macs with the M1 chip and newer only. However, Apple will likely continue to release security fixes for some Intel-based Macs for at least a few more years.

No AirPort Time Capsule Support

Starting with macOS 27, Macs will not support the AirPort Time Capsule or any other storage drives that use the Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), according to a warning shown by Apple on macOS Tahoe. Time Capsule backups will require a storage drive that supports more current file-sharing protocols like SMBv2 and SMBv3.