181: All the New Macs Coming This Year

Welcome back to another episode of The Mac Rumors Show—good afternoon, Hartley. Are you due for an upgrade, and are we really about to see M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros drop with the next macOS Tahoe update as the RC just hit?

Stock is thinning and the base M5 has been out for a bit, so the pro chips feel overdue. It’s one of those years where M5 lands now and M6 shows up later, so we could see multiple MacBook Pro updates inside a single year.

What should buyers expect—anything beyond the chips? Sounds like a straight silicon swap, no design changes, and the bigger refresh with OLED later, so unless you’re aging out of an M2 Pro or Max, waiting might make sense.

This round is mainly for business fleets and anyone coming from much older machines who just wants the latest Pro or Max off the shelf. Most buyers aren’t tracking rumors and will be thrilled with the performance regardless.

If you do jump in, performance will be excellent as always. But let’s look at the rest of the Mac roadmap—what’s happening with MacBook Air, Studio, and Mini?

They’re mostly getting chip bumps, while the standout is a new low‑cost MacBook: LCD, likely A18 Pro, bright colors, and a target around 699 dollars to make the Mac far more accessible for students and first‑time buyers.

No Thunderbolt, which is fine for that crowd, but USB‑C will be there; I’m curious about fun colors and maybe a white keyboard to set it apart.

Cost control is the whole brief, so expect reused design language—either a refreshed wedge or a thicker Air look—plus the iPhone‑class chip and LCD to keep the price down without feeling stale.

Displays next: is the Studio Display finally getting a higher refresh and a smarter chip, and what’s the word on Pro Display XDR and Mac Pro?

A Studio Display update with a newer Apple chip (likely A19) and a higher refresh—possibly 90 hertz—seems plausible, while MiniLED is uncertain. Pro Display XDR rumors are quiet, and Mac Pro’s future looks shaky since a Mac Studio covers most needs unless you must have PCIe.

I loved the modular Intel Mac Pro, but my Studio is smaller, powerful enough, and easier to live with; we’d love your workflow stories—email us at podcast at macramers dot com.

Now for the big one: OLED MacBook Pros with M6 later this year, and a cellular option—yes please, because tethering drains phones, often caps data, and feels weaker on the road.

Apple’s custom modem roadmap makes this viable now—the C2 modem should pair with M6 for efficient, integrated cellular without wrecking battery life, and they can ship it across the line whether you activate it or not.

Touchscreen on Mac still feels debatable, but OLED is a lock; I’m not sold on touch unless the form factor changes, because drawing or heavy touch input is awkward without a fold‑flat design.

No folding redesign is rumored, so think simple touch for people coming from PCs who expect to tap, pinch, or scroll on the screen, and you can ignore it if you don’t care.

What about the notch—can we move to a hole‑punch or a smaller cutout, and is Face ID realistic?

OLED plus a redesign is the moment to shrink the notch to a hole‑punch for the camera and sensors, but Face ID is unlikely because the lid is too thin and Touch ID fits where your hands already are.

I’d still love faster, more reliable Touch ID or a smarter face unlock tied to nearby devices, since watch unlock is already handy even if Face ID isn’t happening.

Long term, having both Face and Touch across devices would be ideal, with options to prioritize speed or require both for higher security, but that’s years away.

Before we wrap, clarify the base model: is an M6 variant coming without OLED as the entry MacBook Pro?

Yes, the M6 base model is expected to stick with MiniLED and possibly the current chassis to create a clearer split from the OLED Pro and Max models, while avoiding overlap with MacBook Air pricing.

Quick recap: M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros look imminent with the next macOS Tahoe release; MacBook Air, Studio, and Mini get chip bumps; a low‑cost MacBook could open the door for new users; and the year likely ends with OLED, touchscreen, and cellular M6 MacBook Pros—email us at podcast at macramers dot com, and we’ll see you next week.