Source: The Mac Observer
Apple’s first half of 2026 has been eventful to say the least…
We said hello to the MacBook Neo, goodbye to the Mac Pro and all MacBooks were finally upgraded to M5. Apple turned 50, then announced John Ternus will replace Tim Cook as CEO, and all the while soaring AI demand has kept the Mac mini and Studio out of stock and forced Apple into its biggest price hike since COVID-19.
What will 2026 pt.2 bring? A major Mac rollout, the world’s fastest chip and a first in Apple Silicon history! Nothing is certain of course, but here’s what we know so far about the products we expect to land before the year is out.
All three Mac desktops with M5
It was ambitious to hope for any Mac desktop upgrades at WWDC in June, but autumn feels much more realistic. Apple recently removed all RAM options on the current Mac Studio with M3 Ultra, except for 96GB. This has never happened before and points towards forthcoming upgrades, which will be with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips.
M5 Ultra is said to be the fastest chip ever made in mass production, and it’s coming in the new Mac Studio. It’s expected to pack 36 CPU cores and 80 GPU cores, bringing huge performance leaps across the board and making the Mac Studio with M5 Ultra the very best desktop available when it lands. Bloomberg’s chief correspondent for Apple, Mark Gurman, predicts a launch in Apple’s second autumn event in October/November.
The Mac mini with M5 and M5 Pro is expected to launch alongside the Mac Studio in autumn, with a major performance boost, including AI accelerators in each GPU core. This will come as good news for those leveraging the Mac mini to run local AI agents. The Mac mini was redesigned with the previous M4 upgrade, so expect no changes here, just the chip upgrades.
And to complete the hat trick, the iMac is also likely to receive the M5 chip upgrade at the autumn event – again, with no other design changes expected.
M6 chip to remain at baseline, launching in MacBook Pro
Mark Gurman has confirmed that Apple will jump straight from the base M6 chips to the M7, M7 Pro, Max and Ultra chips – effectively cancelling M6 Pro, Max and Ultra. It’s a total shake-up of Apple’s usual chip strategy to focus their attention on an AI-focused M7 lineup to launch by the end of 2027.
Wondering whether to go for the M6 base or wait for the M7 Pro/Max/Ultra? Here’s a quick comparison:
| Base M6 chip | M7 Pro, Max, Ultra |
| Ideal for busy office work, non-intensive workloads and students. | Ideal for video editors, developers, 3D and pro workloads. |
| 200 GB/s bandwidth, up to 12-core GPU and a faster Neural Engine. | Higher CPU and GPU cores with enhanced AI performance. |
| Expected autumn 2026. | Expected end of 2027. |
| Downside: No Pro or Max options. | Downside: Roadmap could change again. |
The M6 chip is expected to debut in the upgraded 14-inch MacBook Pro this autumn, which is likely to launch with the same design. After being stuck at 10 CPU cores for the last few years, M6 is expected to bring 12, with an increase to GPU cores too. It will most likely have the same AI chip tech features as the M5 Pro and Max.
If you want to make the jump from retiring Intel chips or M1, the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is ideal. Looking for more processing power in your MacBook Pro? Revert back to the M5 Pro and Max chips, or level up to the Mac Studio with M5 Ultra and take off with “the world’s fastest chip”.
MacBook Ultra is (almost) here
The highly anticipated MacBook Ultra could also finally be unveiled this autumn. This will be a high-end device sitting above the M5 Max MacBook Pro at the top of Apple’s laptop tree. Rumours suggest that it will launch with the M5 Pro and Max chips.
Here’s what you can expect from the new design:
- Redesigned chassis with a vapour chamber cooler
- Tandem OLED display
- Touchscreen for the first time
- Dynamic island with ultra-thin bezels
The MacBook Ultra’s price point comes down to this design, not its processing power. It’s also likely why Apple can launch the Ultra this year at all: it already has plenty of the M5 Pro and Max chips in stock. And from a pricing standpoint, it makes sense – not everyone will want to pay above the odds for new design features if the performance wasn’t at least on par with the MacBook Pro.
Protect your cash flow, choose leasing
That’s a lot of Macs in one go, we know, but we don’t expect any other major releases to land between now and autumn. Forgive us for repeating ourselves, too, but no rumours are certain when it comes to Apple – although they don’t come much more verified than from Mark Gurman. If it weren’t for the soaring memory and chip costs, many of these releases would probably have launched already.
If you have a business need to boost productivity, improve retention and put a smile on your team’s faces, we’d be glad to talk you through how we can help through leasing – with the award-winning customer service to match. Give us a call on 01952 876928, email sales@leaseloop.co or fill out our online contact form.