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Entry-level MacBook Pro could get its overdue design overhaul next year

You might want to hold off on the new M6 MacBook Pro, as its successor could offer a substantially different design.

By Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam Published November 1, 2026 9:50 AM

M6 MacBook Pro lifestyle — Apple

Apple recently unveiled the new entry-level MacBook Pro with an M6 chip, alongside the touchscreen model, which the company is calling the “MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display.” The entry-level model does have some upgrades besides the chip, like a longer battery life and a 12MP Center Stage camera system, but it completely missed out on many of the core design overhauls that the premium model carries. That said, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that next year’s model will come with a redesign similar to the OLED model.

What could change with the M7 MacBook Pro?

According to Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter, Apple is preparing a new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M7 chip, which will reportedly adopt the thinner, lighter chassis and slimmer display bezels of the recently launched premium models.

For those catching up, Apple’s new OLED MacBook Pros have received quite a few changes to their overall design. The 14-inch model now weighs just 3 pounds, compared to 3.4 pounds on the previous model. Apple has also replaced the familiar display notch with Dynamic Island, brought back the illuminated Apple logo, and redesigned the cooling system. Despite having a thinner chassis, the laptops still retain important ports like Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, MagSafe, and an SD card slot.

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However, Gurman has only mentioned the thinner and lighter design, along with slimmer bezels, for the upcoming entry-level M7 MacBook Pro. There’s no information on whether Apple will also bring the OLED touchscreen, Dynamic Island, and other hardware changes to the cheaper model.

A redesign that’s been years in the making

Apple introduced the current MacBook Pro design back in 2021 with the M1 Pro and M1 Max models, and while the company has made several upgrades to the hardware over the years, the overall design has remained mostly unchanged.

Interestingly, the upcoming redesign isn’t something we’re hearing about for the first time. Bloomberg reported back in July that Apple was working on a redesigned entry-level MacBook Pro, codenamed K104, which was expected to arrive in the first half of 2027. The same report also mentioned an interim M6 model that would retain the older design, which Apple has now released.

Going by Gurman’s latest report, those planning to buy an entry-level MacBook Pro might finally get a more substantial upgrade next year, instead of another model with a new processor and the same old design.

Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam

Contributor

Sudhanshu Kumar Manglam is a tech journalist at Digital Trends, where he covers consumer technology, science, and games.

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