Per Mark Gurman in his weekend Power On newsletter, Apple is preparing to launch M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros as early as the week of March 2. For those waiting on the major redesign with OLED displays and touch support, this spec bump revision that we expect first can’t come soon enough.
Does waiting another month for the M5 Pro update to arrive rule out an M6 Pro release in 2026? There’s a good reason to keep the M6 Pro MacBook Pro dream alive this year.
MacBook Pro upgrades can be unpredictable
It hasn’t been long since Apple refreshed its flagship laptop twice in a single calendar year.
January 17, 2023: Apple unveils the M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pro.
October 30, 2023: Just nine months later, Apple announces the M3 Pro/Max MacBook Pro.
When flagship MacBook Pro updates can take 12-18 months, two chip upgrades in one year feels impossibly fast. Apple proved that when new technology is ready (in that case, the 3nm manufacturing process), they will ship.
Hopefully we see a repeat of that in 2026.
If the M5 Pro lands in early March 2026, a subsequent update around the end of the year would create a similar gap.
While that is aggressive, the contexts are surprisingly similar. In 2023, the M2 update was a minor spec bump to keep the line moving, while the M3 update was the strategic shift to a new chip architecture.
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