The cheapest MacBook Pro is set to get Apple's new design about six months after the high-end models, with an M7 chip, as early as spring 2027.
Apple is reportedly planning to bring its big MacBook Pro redesign to the entry-level 14-inch model as early as the first half of 2027, with an M7 chip. Bloomberg says the model is code-named K104.
That's unusually fast. Apple usually keeps a new design on its expensive laptops for two or three years before the base model gets it. This time the gap could be about six months, because the high-end touchscreen MacBook Pro is expected to be announced around Apple's October 28 event, using M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.
Prices aren't announced. Today's entry-level MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, so budget buyers who want the new look may be best off waiting for spring.
For the first time in more than a decade, the cheapest MacBook Pro may not have to wait years for Apple’s new look. Bloomberg reports that Apple is preparing a redesigned entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, code-named K104, with an M7 chip, for as early as the first half of 2027.
That matters if you were planning to buy a MacBook Pro soon. The flashy redesign arriving this fall is expected to live only in the expensive Pro and Max models. If the report is right, a more affordable version of the same design follows roughly six months later, so the choice is between buying now, paying a lot more for the high end, or waiting until spring.
The entry-level MacBook Pro redesign is expected in spring 2027, after a confusing fall in which Apple sells old and new designs side by side. Based on Bloomberg’s reporting, the plan looks like this:
None of this is confirmed by Apple. It comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has a strong record on Apple’s product plans, but dates can still move.
Apple normally keeps a new MacBook Pro design for its priciest models for years before it trickles down. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max arrived in 2021, yet the base model kept the older 13-inch body until 2023, when it finally got the 14-inch chassis along with the M3 chip.
The pattern goes back further. After the 2016 redesign, the entry model didn’t get the Touch Bar until 2019, and the 2012 Retina redesign followed a similar path. A gap of about six months would be the shortest Apple has managed, which is why this report caught people’s attention.
The odd part of the plan is that three chip generations would be on sale in MacBook Pros within a year. Apple is reportedly “pretty much done” with M6 after the base chip, Gurman said on his podcast in mid-October. The M6 has already appeared in the Mac mini and is planned for an iMac and the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, but there won’t be M6 Pro, M6 Max or M6 Ultra chips.
Instead, Apple is jumping from the M5 family straight to M7, which includes technology aimed at artificial intelligence workloads. That’s why the new high-end touchscreen models are expected to launch with the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips Apple has sold since March, with no chip upgrade until M7 Pro and M7 Max arrive at the end of 2027. An M7 Ultra is slated for the first half of 2028, which makes a new Mac Studio in 2027 unlikely.
In plain terms, the cheaper spring 2027 model could carry a newer chip generation than the expensive models sold that winter, even if the Pro and Max chips stay faster at heavy work.
The redesigned MacBook Pro is expected to be slightly thinner, with Apple’s first OLED Mac display (a screen type that shows deeper blacks and richer contrast), touch support and possibly an iPhone-style Dynamic Island in place of the notch. Reports also point to touch-friendly gestures being prepared in macOS 27 for apps like Safari and Photos.
What isn’t clear is how much of that reaches K104. Bloomberg says the 14-inch model will adopt a new design in line with the high-end touchscreen MacBooks, but it doesn’t spell out whether the cheaper model keeps the touchscreen or the most expensive display technology. Some buyers will be happy either way: the thinner body and a base M7 chip may matter more to them than touch.
If you’re buying a laptop in the next six months, this report should shape your timing. Here’s how the choices look:
Don’t expect a bargain. The entry-level MacBook Pro already starts at $1,999, the price you paid for a Pro-chip model not long ago, a jump blamed on the global memory shortage. OLED panels and supply-chain pressure could push redesigned models higher still.
Apple confirmed on October 19 that it will hold a media event on October 28, 2026. Gurman reported that the first touchscreen MacBook Pro will be announced around then, with shipping expected from November 6. That event should reveal the new design and its pricing, which gives you the best preview of what the spring 2027 entry-level model will look like and roughly what it could cost.
Bloomberg says as early as the first half of 2027, roughly six months after the high-end redesign. Apple hasn’t confirmed a date.
Yes, but only as an entry-level model with the current design, expected this fall. Apple is reportedly skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max.
That’s still unclear. It’s set to share the new design, but reports haven’t confirmed whether touch and OLED come to the entry-level model.
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