Apple's lighter laptop arrives next week

Apple will unveil a new MacBook Pro on October 28 at an event titled Pro and tell. According to reports, the device will feature a new design and OLED display but will not include any new processors. The laptop will run on the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips that have been available for nearly eight months.

Rumors describe a physical overhaul of the machine. The new model is expected to be lighter and slightly thinner than current versions. It will replace the screen notch with a Dynamic Island and add touch input to the OLED display. Some reports also mention a possible C2 cellular modem, though this feature remains less certain.

The lack of a speed upgrade stems from a change in Apple's internal plans. The company is reportedly skipping the M6 Pro and M6 Max generations entirely. Instead, Apple is fast-tracking the M7 Pro and M7 Max chips for release in 2027. This leaves the current redesign to launch in the gap between those hardware cycles.

Pricing for the new laptop is unclear. The MacBook Pro is already a high-cost product. Reports suggest the redesign could carry a premium, potentially raising the starting price to around $2,999. This would require buyers to pay more for a machine that offers no performance increase over current models. Some analysts think Apple might keep prices the same, but they view that as unlikely given the current memory crisis.

Apple has not confirmed these details yet. The company must now market the new model to professionals who may have waited to buy an M5 Pro or M5 Max laptop earlier this year. The October 28 event will reveal how the company positions this hardware against its own existing inventory.