If the rumor is to be believed, 2026 will show an unusually large harvest of Apple products. It’s shaping up to be an amazing year for MacBooks, and we’re probably just a week or two away from seeing the first new models.

The MacBook Pro is lined up to be the first MacBook update of the year, with Apple bringing more power M5 Pro and M5 Max chips in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro lines later this month or in March. Then Apple can move to the other end of the spectrum and release it rumored $599 budget MacBook. Also in the first half of the year, the MacBook Air will likely receive an M5 chip refresh. And before the end of the year, we will see the first MacBook Pros with OLED touchscreens.

So, yes, the internet is full of MacBook rumors. Let’s take a closer look at the timing, pricing and details of the MacBook refreshes expected this year.

M5 Pro and M5 Max updates for MacBook Pro

The MacBook Pro was the first MacBook to receive Apple’s latest M5 processor when the 14-inch MacBook Pro was released in October. Now, Apple is expected to extend its M5 offerings and bring the higher-powered M5 Pro and M5 Max chips to the MacBook Pro.

the 16-inch MacBook Pro still waiting for its M5 update and should also get M5 Pro and M5 Max chips along with its smaller brother Pro.

CNET’s Lori Grunin tested the M5 chip and noted that it provides significant improvements in the M4’s performance “in the narrow areas where it can be used, namely on-GPU processing for AI and ray-traced graphics.” However, the M5 MacBook Pro is struggling to keep up in the world of AAA gaming.

the M5 Pro and M5 Max processors likely to follow in the footsteps of the previous M-series Pro and Max chips, with more CPU and GPU cores and higher memory allotment.

MacBook Pro models with these high-end chips come at a higher price point aimed at processing-intensive tasks such as video rendering, 3D modeling and AI workloads. If the price remains stable, that is not a safe bet RAM shortage worldwidethe 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip will likely start at $1,999 and the 16-inch Pro with the M5 Pro will likely start at $2,499.

Like the last MacBook Pro update in October, these M5 updates will be internal upgrades without significant changes to the laptop’s design. According to Bloomberg’s Power On newsletterThese M5 Pro and M5 Max updates come with Apple’s next major Mac software update, macOS 26.3in February or March. If you’re looking at a MacBook Pro purchase, it might make sense to hold off on it and wait for new models to arrive.

Finally, a true budget MacBook?

Apple is reportedly planning to enter the budget laptop market with an affordable model that will be more affordable than its current cheapest model, the M4 MacBook Air, which starts at $999. This new model will ditch Apple’s M-series in favor of an A-series chip — the same processor that powers the iPhone and can cost as little as $699 or as low as $599 with Apple’s education discount.

Apple has already made the claim that the A19 Pro chip which debuted with the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone Air provides “MacBook Pro level of compute.” But according to industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuoit’s possible — even likely — that a budget MacBook will use an A18 Pro chip (the chip used in the iPhone 16 Pro).

A budget laptop with an A18 Pro chip is likely to provide diminishing returns compared to MacBook M4 chips, which run roughly 40% slower than the current generation of Macs. The A18 Pro also lacks support for Thunderbolt ports, so the budget MacBook will likely come with less capable USB-C ports.

Another way that Apple will reportedly keep the prices of this new budget MacBook is to reduce the size of the display. Kuo reported the laptop will feature an “approximately 13-inch display,” which is a claim confirmed by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. It can have a 12.9-inch screen, which is smaller than the 13.6-inch MacBook Air. But it should also be a little lighter than the 2.7-pound Air, making it not only the cheapest MacBook but also the most portable.

This new budget MacBook will compete with Chromebooks and entry-level Windows laptops, which will be a new market segment for Apple laptops. Written by Gurman that the tool is intended for “people who primarily browse the web, work on documents or perform light media editing.” This could be the new MacBook for students. The timing is a little murkier for the release of this budget MacBook, but it is expected to arrive before the start of the next school year.

M5 coming to MacBook Air

Just as Apple is reportedly preparing to give its premium MacBook Pros a refresh with new, more powerful chips, the thinnest, most portable MacBooks are also set to get an upgrade. This is the basis for the MacBook Air to get a refresh in the spring, and the M4 MacBook Air is released in March 2025.

Reported by Gurman that we will probably see an M5 MacBook Air release during the first quarter of the year, so we can expect the refresh in the same time frame this year. Like the MacBook Pros, we don’t expect to see a new design on the M5 MacBook Air. A new-look Air is at least a few years away, according to Gurman.

The 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage that were integrated with previous versions of the MacBook Air will likely become standard for any M5 MacBook Air. (I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the minimum storage moves up to 512GB, though.)

The M4 MacBook Air starts at $999, and I expect the price to remain unchanged for the M5 Air.

The first OLED MacBook Pros

Will Apple release two different sets of MacBook Pro laptops in the same year? This is more likely than you thinkand it never happened before.

Apple released two generations of MacBook Pros in 2023, starting with the year with M2 MacBook Pros and end it with M3 MacBook Pros. So we know that if Apple considers an improvement important, it will issue several refreshes in the same year.

An OLED MacBook Pro line definitely qualifies as one of those improvements. Gurman saidThe OLED MacBook Pros will achieve many firsts for Mac computers, combining a new generation of chips and a touchscreen display. Like previous MacBook Pros, the OLED MacBook lineup will include 14- and 16-inch models.

Apple is catching up with the rest of the industry by integrating OLED panels into many of its products, including some of its earlier iPhone and iPad Pro models. But as Gurman announcedit will mark “the first time this higher-end, thinner system has been used on a Mac.”

Touchscreen displays have been common on Windows laptops for a long time, but this rumored design is the first time Apple has integrated them into a MacBook. “The company took years to shape its approach to the market, aiming to improve on current designs,” Gurman wrote. “(Apple) has developed a reinforced hinge and screen hardware to prevent the display from bouncing back or moving when touched.”

The design will reportedly still integrate the standard MacBook Pro keyboard and trackpad functionality. What will obviously change, however, is the camera cutout at the top of the screen. Reported by Gurman that Apple is retiring the iconic “notch” in favor of “a so-called hole-punch design that leaves a display area around the sensor,” similar to the Dynamic Island introduced in iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.

The OLED MacBook Pros will be the first Mac computers to use the next-generation M6 chips, according to Gurman. They will also feature thinner, lighter frames that make them more portable than current MacBook Pro designs.

If the MacBook Pro adopts a touchscreen design, the computer is closest integration between Mac and iPad we’ve seen. Industry analyst Kuo believed this shift “reflects Apple’s long-term observation of iPad user behavior, which has shown that in certain scenarios, touch controls can improve productivity and the overall user experience.”

As it stands, however, the OLED MacBook Pro will still provide a more traditional computing experience than other Apple products — don’t expect the full hands-on, tactile navigation of an iPad yet. The trackpad and keyboard control scheme will remain important pillars of the MacBook experience.

More expensive components and OLED panels will likely result in an increase in the price of the OLED MacBook Pro. OLED models are likely to be several hundred dollars more than their current Liquid Retina display counterparts. The current 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, and the 16-inch Pro starts at $2,499.

the OLED MacBook Pros It is rumored to go into production this year for a potential release near the end of 2026.