In summary:
- Macworld reports that Apple’s redesigned MacBook Pro featuring OLED displays and M6 chips is expected to launch in Q4 2026, not this year as initially suggested.
- Samsung Display will begin mass production of OLED panels in May, with Apple reportedly redesigning components to reduce manufacturing costs for the premium displays.
- The OLED MacBook Pro will arrive in 14-inch and 16-inch models, while upcoming M5 MacBook Pros will feature no design changes.
New MacBook Pro models could be with us any day now, apparently waiting only for the rollout of macOS 26.3. But those new machines won’t look any different from their predecessors. They’ll have new M5 Pro/M5 Max chips, but the designs will be the same old, same old.
If you’re hoping for a new look in 2026, however, there’s reason to be hopeful. Apple is expected to follow the imminent launch with something much more exciting: a redesigned MacBook Pro with an M6 chip and its first OLED screen. (Possibly with a touchscreen, although some rumors suggest touch input will only be supported on the M6 Pro and Max models.) And the latest report indicates that we can expect that machine by the end of the year.
In a supply-chain report this week based on anonymous industry sources, the Korean-language site The Elec (via 9to5Mac) claims that Samsung Display, which will be making the OLED panels for the redesigned MacBook, is set to begin mass production in May: “Samsung Display has decided to begin mass-production glass substrates for its A6 [OLED production] line starting in May and has shared the schedule with its partners,” the site writes, via Google Translate.
The site further reports that the OLED MacBook Pro is “scheduled to be released in the fourth quarter of this year” and will feature both 14- and 16-inch models. While the OLED panels are well in hand, The Elec notes that some other components are still being developed. “Apple has been gradually redesigning components to lower the manufacturing costs of the OLED MacBook,” the site says. “Reliability must also be tested before product launch.”
A Q4 launch schedule fits with what we’ve heard previously. Last month, we covered another report that said it would be here by the end of the year.
Apple’s Q4 launches tend to cluster around October, which is when new MacBook Airs and Mac minis were announced in 2018, MacBook Pros were announced in 2021, and both MacBook Pro and iMac models were announced in 2023; November and December launches are less common. But they’re not unknown: the M1 chip was unveiled in November 2020. And of course, delays are possible too, so we shouldn’t rule out a release in early 2027.
For all the latest information as we head towards the launch, check our regularly updated guide to the M6 touchscreen MacBook Pro.
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
David has been writing about technology for well over two decades, and got on board the Apple hype train when covering the original iPhone launch in 2007. He is an enthusiastic Apple Watch evangelist and feels that the HomePod is misunderstood.