Apple's MacBook Pro is set to receive an overhaul, with a redesign, an an OLED touchscreen expected to be the key changes. Here's what the rumor mill has to say about the device.
While AppleInsider readers have wanted a Mac with an OLED screen for years, actual claims of an OLED-equipped MacBook Pro date back to at least 2019. As for when such an upgrade might arrive, it depends on who you ask.
Leakers and analysts alike have had a lot to say about the future of the MacBook Pro, with claims of hardware changes, performance upgrades, and more. Some have even claimed Apple's touchscreen laptop will be called the MacBook Ultra.
Here's everything rumored for the next major MacBook Pro upgrade.
OLED MacBook Pro: Release date rumors
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had called touchscreen laptops "ergonomically terrible" in 2010, and software chief Craig Federighi echoed the sentiment in 2018, when he called touchscreen laptops "experiments."
Apple is expected to introduce a redesigned MacBook Pro in either early 2027 or late 2026.
"We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do," said Federighi in 2018. However, rumors of a touchscreen MacBook Pro surfaced the very next year.
Reports from May 2019 and August 2021 said Samsung was reportedly set to produce OLED MacBook Pro screens. In January 2020, an Apple patent revealed the company hadn't ruled out the idea of a touchscreen MacBook Pro.
Since then, multiple sources have chimed in on the matter, all saying that an OLED MacBook Pro with a touchscreen was in development. Opinions on when it would be released, however, differed.
A November 2021 report from The Elec said the MacBook Pro would only gain an OLED panel in 2026. The same publication, however, said in July 2023 that the touchscreen MacBook Pro would actually be released in 2027 with an eighth-generation OLED panel.
Just days later, the same source went on to say that the MacBook Pro would actually be updated with a sixth-generation OLED panel in 2025. Then, in February 2024, they said the MacBook Pro with an OLED screen would actually arrive in 2027.
In January 2025 and February 2025, however, the same publication said the MacBook Pro would receive a hybrid OLED panel in 2026.
In February 2026, the same source claimed that mass production of MacBook Pro OLED panels would start in May 2026. In June 2026, however, The Elec then said that mass production would begin in July 2026, which contradicted a separate leaker, who said trial production had already started in January 2026.
The publication behind these claims has a mixed track record, and it has continued flip-flopping over the years, saying that the OLED MacBook would arrive in 2025, 2026, or 2027 at different points in time.
Apple is expected to replace the camera notch with a punch-hole design on the next-generation MacBook Pro.
In general, however, rumored release dates for the OLED MacBook have been all over the place. In January 2023, analyst Ming Chi Kuo said Apple would ship an "OLED MacBook by the end of 2024 at the earliest."
2024 has obviously come and gone, but Kuo has continued to make claims about the OLED MacBook Pro. In September 2025, he said the device would arrive in late 2026.
Separately, in May 2024, Omdia analysts said the MacBook Pro with an OLED screen would actually arrive in 2026. This claim resurfaced in December 2024 and July 2025. In June 2026, the analyst firm said Apple's touchscreen-equipped MacBook Pro could debut in July 2026, which seems unlikely.
Display analyst Ross Young said in April 2023 and October 2023 that the MacBook Pro would receive an OLED panel and touch screen in 2026.
Korean publication ET News claimed in January 2023 that Apple had ordered OLED panels for the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro, for devices expected to debut in 2026. This claim was reiterated a month later, and another Korean publication said the same thing in August 2025.
Meanwhile, in January 2023, a generally reliable leaker claimed the touchscreen-equipped MacBook Pro would arrive in 2025. However, by August 2025, their claim had changed to "late 2026 or early 2027."
This alleged late 2026 through early 2027 release date was reiterated in November 2025 and January 2026 by the same source.
In February 2026, the leaker was more specific, saying that the OLED MacBook Pro would debut in late 2026. In April 2026, however, they claimed that the revamped MacBook Pro was more likely to arrive in 2027, due to an ongoing industry-wide memory shortage.
More recently, in June 2026, they suggested that Apple has abandoned its plans for M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, opting to focus on the AI-focused M7 line of Apple Silicon system-on-chips instead.
On June 26, 2026, they claimed Apple would use the current M5 Pro and M5 Max chips for its touchscreen MacBook Pro. The laptop is still expected to debut "between late 2026 and early 2027."
Over the years, the same source listed 2025, 2026, and 2027 as release dates for the OLED-equipped MacBook Pro, so it's still not entirely clear when the laptop will arrive.
As for verifiable information, AppleInsider learned in July 2025 that MacBook Pros bearing the device identifiers K114 and K116 were in development. The two laptops were tested with internal distributions of macOS Tahoe and were seemingly never intended to debut before macOS 26.5, as we learned in October 2025.
In short, the revamped OLED MacBook Pro will most likely debut in early 2027 or late 2026, depending on who you ask. In any case, though, there's no doubt Apple has been researching the concept.
Apple's touchscreen MacBook patents
Ideas for touchscreen Macs can be seen in Apple patents as far back as August 2010, and the company hasn't abandoned associated research efforts.
A 2024 Apple patent with an illustration of a MacBook Pro equipped with a touchscreen. Image Credit: Apple.
An Apple patent, filed in 2023 and granted in September 2024, titled "Touch Sensing Utilizing Integrated Micro Circuitry," featured an illustration of a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen.
The text, meanwhile, repeatedly refers to "an example personal computer that includes a trackpad and an integrated touch screen." Another Apple patent from March 2024 detailed an all-glass MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, further suggesting the company has plans for a radical MacBook Pro redesign.
An Apple patent from August 2024 details a different approach, with multiple touchscreens across different areas of a MacBook Pro. An October 2020 patent, meanwhile, outlined how a traditional MacBook keyboard might be replaced with a deformable touchscreen.
Apple executives Greg Joswiak and Craig Federighi said, in April 2021 and June 2025, respectively, that the company has no plans to merge the iPad and Mac. However, Apple's own research suggests the Mac will become more iPad-like, thanks to the addition of a touchscreen.
OLED MacBook Pro: Display & hardware rumors
The cornerstone of the K116 and K116 MacBook Pro models is expected to be the addition of an OLED panel and touchscreen.
Apple's OLED-equipped MacBook Pro will likely be powered by the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.
With macOS Golden Gate offering support for touch-based input via Sidecar on iPad, a touchscreen Mac would make sense. In June 2026, a leaker with a mixed track record said that the touchscreen MacBook Pro is "100% confirmed," which isn't much of a surprise, given that all previous reporting mentioned a touchscreen.
According to an October 2025 rumor, Apple has developed a reinforced hinge meant to offset any display bounce when the MacBook Pro touchscreen is used. The same report also says that the updated MacBook Pro will feature a hole-punch design for the built-in camera, meaning it may not have a notch like the M5 models.
A hole-punch camera design would be a good hardware fit for the new-and-improved Siri AI. On iOS 27, Apple's virtual assistant shows up as part of the Dynamic Island, so Apple might opt for a similar approach with the MacBook Pro.
While a touchscreen is sure to change the way users interact with their MacBook Pros, an OLED panel would significantly improve the visual experience. Relative to the LCD screen of the M5 MacBook Pro, an OLED panel offers an improved contrast ratio and better response time.
The difference between an OLED panel and an LCD screen is especially noticeable when viewing images and videos with the color black. Movie scenes with lots of darkness or shadows typically look better on an OLED screen, appearing black rather than the sort of blue-ish gray you'll often find on LCD screens.
To be more specific, though, according to a July 2023 rumor, Apple will use an eighth-generation OLED panel with LTPO TFT technology.
LTPO TFT is short for Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistor. This display technology combines the benefits of both LTPS (Low-Temperature Polysilicon) TFT and IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) TFT technologies.
LTPO TFT would allow for improved power consumption and longer battery life on the MacBook Pro, compared to traditional TFT technologies. Samsung Display is expected to be the supplier for MacBook Pro OLED panels, per multiple sources.
The touchscreen MacBook Pro is expected to feature a reinforced hinge design.
As for what will power the OLED MacBook Pro, the device is expected to feature the current M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, per a rumor published on June 26, 2026. This means performance will be comparable to the existing M5 Pro and M5 Max variants of the MacBook Pro, which debuted in March 2026.
According to an earler to a June 2026 rumor from the same source, Apple has abandoned the development of M6 Pro and M6 Max chips. The second-generation touchscreen MacBook is, instead, expected to use Apple's M7 Pro and M7 Max chips.
Apple still has plans for a base M6 chip, which is expected to feature a memory bandwidth of 200GB/s, up from 153GB/s on the base M5 chip. However, according to a November 2025 rumor, it will only be used in the base-model 14-inch MacBook Pro, which will use the existing M5 design without a touchscreen or OLED screen.
Our own findings suggest this will be the case as well. As AppleInsider pointed out in October 2025, the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro bears the identifier J806, while the OLED MacBook Pros are broadly known as K114 and K116.
While chip and performance upgrades are to be expected, Apple is also said to have been exploring another upgrade for the MacBook Pro. According to a February 2024 rumor, Apple at one point considered adding a proprietary cellular modem to the MacBook Pro.
Devices like the iPhone Air, iPhone 16e, iPhone 17e, and M5 iPad Pro already feature Apple-designed modems. A December 2024 report claimed Apple was exploring adding a second-generation cellular modem to the MacBook Pro, and that the upgrade would not occur before 2026.
As for what the OLED-equipped MacBook Pro might be called, an April 2025 rumor says Apple will choose "MacBook Ultra" as the marketing name. This would expand the "Ultra" branding used for the Apple Watch and top-tier Apple Silicon chips.
However, this might not happen anytime soon. Apple was similarly expected to unveil an iPhone Ultra back in 2023, though that never amounted to anything.
As of late June 2026, there are no significant rumors about the battery capacity, speaker count, ports, or color options of the touchscreen MacBook Pro.
Hardware elements aside, the revamped MacBook Pro will likely be quite expensive. In June 2026, Apple increased the starting price of the M5 Pro MacBook Pro to $2,499, and that of the M5 Max MacBook Pro to $4,099.
The touchscreen-equipped models will likely hit an even higher price. The current memory chip shortage isn't expected to end in 2027, and at this point it's not reasonable to expect it to end in 2028 either.
What to expect with the 2027 MacBook Pro
Overall, it looks as though the next-generation MacBook Pro will deliver the following improvements over the current M5 lineup:
- OLED screen with better contrast, faster response times
- Touchscreen and touch-compatible apps, features
- Dynamic Island
- Redesigned thinner chassis with a reinforced hinge
The touchscreen-enhanced MacBook Pro is expected to debut either in early 2027 or early 2026.
