The lower-end 14-inch MacBook Pro got an update on Tuesday, with the model getting better wireless networking, and most importantly, more power with the M6 processor.

It's not the flashiest of upgrades, nor is there an associated enclosure re-design. But, in the middle of a week of upgrades, Apple announced the new model in a press release.

There's still no M6 Pro or M6 Max processor, and those are not expected soon, if ever. However, the "entry level" MacBook Pro is getting the M6 chip that debuted in the Mac mini.

The M6 processor here has 12 processing cores broken down into two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. The M6 here also has 12 GPU cores.

It comes standard with 16GB of RAM. Thunderbolt 4 remains.

Apple also says that the battery life has been extended to up to 14 hours of use.

Along with that, Apple's N2 chip is included. That incorporates Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. And, as before, Apple claims that improves performance and reliability of AirDrop and other wireless connectivity features.

"The 14-inch MacBook Pro is the pro laptop of choice for a wide range of users — from college students, to business professionals across every industry, to multidisciplinary creators doing it all on one device," said Shelly Goldberg, Apple's vice president of Hardware Engineering. "With the powerful M6 chip, we're taking performance to the next level, with a boost in CPU speed and graphics and even more powerful capabilities for on-device AI. With its amazing battery life, remarkable Liquid Retina XDR display, and even faster connectivity, the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 delivers a fantastic combination of performance, capability, and value."

Apple's performance testing

The company also has something to say about performance versus prior generations. Take these with a grain of salt, as always.

  • Up to 13x faster time to first token performance for LLM prompt processing compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1, and up to 1.3x faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5.
  • Up to 11.7x faster render performance with ray tracing in Blender compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1, and up to 1.3x faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5.
  • Up to 3.3x faster image-processing performance in Affinity compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1, and up to 1.2x faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5.
  • Up to 2.5x faster project build performance when compiling code in Xcode compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1, and up to 1.3x faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5.

Preorder timing and cost

Prices start at $1999 with the M6, 1TB of storage, and 16GB of RAM. There is only one M6 chip to pick from, but with 32GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD, the new model sells for $3899.

Preorders start on October 28, with models expected to arrive on November 6.