Apple is expected to give MacBook Pro shoppers two distinct new options this fall: a MacBook Pro built around the M6 chip, and an all-new MacBook Ultra.
The MacBook Pro with M6 is expected to succeed last fall’s M5 model without a redesign or higher-end chip variants. Its main draw is that M6 will be the first Mac chip built on a 2nm manufacturing process, which typically brings efficiency gains even without a visual overhaul.
That 2nm process, known as TSMC’s N2 node, is expected to be the first mass-market chip to use gate-all-around transistors, a structural shift from the fin-based design Apple has relied on since the original M1 in 2020.
The MacBook Ultra is the more dramatic option. Rumors describe a thinner, lighter industrial design with an OLED touchscreen display, a Dynamic Island cutout and possibly a cellular option, features that would set it apart from every MacBook Pro released so far.
The MacBook Ultra name is new territory for Apple’s laptop lineup. The company has used the Ultra label only for its top-tier Mac chips, the M1 Ultra, M2 Ultra and M3 Ultra, and separately for the Apple Watch Ultra, never before for a MacBook itself.
The MacBook Ultra will not use the new M6 chip. Instead, it is expected to ship with M5 Pro and M5 Max variants, meaning the newest chip and the newest design will not arrive in the same machine this cycle.
Based on Apple’s past launch timing, both machines are expected to arrive in late October, giving buyers a choice between the familiar MacBook Pro shape with the newest silicon, or a more experimental design running last year’s high-end chips.
Apple has not confirmed either product. Reporting on the plans traces back to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, whose track record on Apple hardware roadmaps has generally proven reliable in past product cycles.
For anyone shopping now, refurbished current-generation MacBook Pro models remain available through Apple’s own refurb store at a discount, an option Apple has continued expanding even as it prepares the fall lineup.
