The newest MacEbook Ultra rumors: OLED show, pricing, launch date

Table of Contents

With a recent batch of iPhones out of the way in which, and new good dwelling gadgets seemingly ready within the wings, new MacBooks are nearly actually subsequent on Apple’s docket.

An up to date MacEbook Pro with the M6 chip is anticipated to reach someday this fall, primarily based on its standard improve cycle. But rumor has it that one other mysterious new Mac can be within the pipeline — the primary with an OLED touchscreen.

Here’s a working listing of all the things we all know concerning the so-called “MacBook Ultra.”

When will Apple launch the OLED MacEbook?

Bloomberg managing editor Mark Gurman — a fount of Apple scoops —  initially reported that the OLED touchscreen MacEbook would arrive between the tip of 2026 and early 2027. This spring, he was leaning in the direction of the latter half of that timeframe due to the reminiscence disaster. But as of late, he is banking on an imminent launch. (So are 55 % of Mashable readers, in keeping with the outcomes of our Big Guessing Game: Apple Edition.)

The touchscreen MacEbook launch “is scheduled on or around Tuesday, Oct. 27,” Gurman reported not too long ago, including that its launch will contain “an online video presentation and in-person component for the press.”

Gurman thinks the touchscreen MacEbook will likely be joined by an M6 MacEbook Pro, M6 iMac, and an up to date iPad mini with OLED. All of the brand new gadgets “will be geared toward creative professionals who work in video production, photo editing and music production,” he stated.

The OLED touchscreen MacEbook would mark Apple’s second all-new laptop computer of 2026 after the outrageously well-liked price range MacEbook Neo.

How a lot will the OLED MacEbook price?

The OLED touchscreen MacEbook will probably be Apple’s priciest laptop computer, given its upper-end processors and fancy show. For reference, the present MacEbook Pro with the M5 Pro chip begins at $2,499 within the 14-inch measurement and $2,999 within the 16-inch measurement.

Knowing that the iPad Pros obtained about 20 % costlier as a part of their OLED improve, it is attainable {that a} 14-inch OLED touchscreen MacEbook will begin round $2,999. Of course, that is assuming the worldwide reminiscence disaster would not wreak any extra havoc on element prices earlier than its launch, which can be overly optimistic. (Apple already needed to increase its MacEbook costs as soon as this 12 months amid “RAMageddon.”)

Why an OLED touchscreen MacEbook is a giant deal

Touch-enabled OLED shows are available on most high-end Windows laptops, however Apple has by no means outfitted its MacBooks with OLED panels or contact capabilities earlier than. (The iPad Pro does have an OLED show, nevertheless.) In reality, firm executives have lengthy derided the latter. In 2010, late Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs referred to as touchscreen laptops “ergonomically terrible.” In 2018, software program head Craig Federighi informed Wired that he is “not into touchscreens” on laptops.

The MacEbook Pro with the Touch Bar (RIP) was the closest factor we have needed to a touch-enabled MacEbook.
Credit: Brenda Stolyar / Mashable

Then-hardware chief John Ternus, who not too long ago ascended to the function of Apple’s CEO, was nonetheless dismissing the thought of a touchscreen MacEbook in 2021. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, he stated Apple had already made “the world’s best touch computer on an iPad…And the Mac is totally optimized for indirect input.”

“We haven’t really felt a reason to change that,” Ternus added. For whatever reason, that longtime strategy may have changed.

Apple experimented with an OLED “Touch Bar” on MacEbook Pros from 2016 to 2021, changing their bodily operate row with a customizable touchscreen strip. It was both cool or ineffective, relying on who you requested.

At current, the one Apple merchandise with OLED touchscreens are the iPad Pros and iPhones. (The former particularly have tandem OLED shows, that are brighter.) The present 14- and 16-inch MacEbook Pros have static mini-LED shows. They’re “beautifully crisp,” to cite Mashable’s tech editor, however a touch-supported OLED mannequin could be a extra interactive laptop computer with higher distinction, wider viewing angles, and 0 blooming in addition.

How do we all know Apple is engaged on an OLED MacEbook?

A slate of well-known Apple insiders have all individually claimed to have intel that the corporate is getting ready an OLED touchscreen MacEbook for launch in 2026.

Gurman — the supply of so many Apple scoops — first broke the information in early 2023, calling it “a move that would defy long-held company orthodoxy” (see: that Jobs quote). Gurman has continued to report on the system’s supposed improvement through the years.

In fall 2025, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote on X that an upcoming “OLED MacBook Pro…will incorporate a touch panel using on-cell touch technology.” Kuo has foretold the arrival of Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo, Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, and USB-C iPads.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This June, a dependable leaker often known as Instant Digital added extra gasoline to the fireplace with a brief publish on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. “It’s 100% confirmed that the MacBook screen will be touch-enabled,” he wrote.

Just days later, Gurman reported that the developer beta for macOS 27 contained “the first tangible evidence from Apple itself” of the OLED touchscreen MacEbook: newly added assist for touch-responsive software program options like a pull-to-refresh motion. At this level, the system is all however confirmed.

What will the OLED MacEbook be referred to as?

Existing MacEbook Pros have had the identical design since 2021.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

According to Gurman, the OLED touchscreen Mac is internally code-named K114 and K116. (That most likely means it can additionally are available in 14- and 16-inch sizes.) Both he and Kuo have referred to it as a high-end variant of the MacEbook Pro, although Gurman’s theorized that it may have a unique title: MacEbook Ultra, perhaps?

“A ‘MacBook Ultra’ label would more clearly signal their [the OLED touchscreen Macs’] position at the top of the lineup,” Gurman wrote in a March version of his weekly “Power On” publication. Apple already calls its most superior smartwatch and silicon chip the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and M5 Ultra, respectively.

But do not put an excessive amount of inventory in that simply but. We thought the foldable iPhone could be referred to as the iPhone Ultra for some time, and it wound up getting the Duo identifier.

OLED MacEbook rumored options

Gurman stated the OLED touchscreen MacEbook has a brand new interface that makes it straightforward to modify between contact and conventional point-and-click controls. Updates within the macOS 27 beta clue us in to 3 software program options that may doubtless present up on it:

• The iPhones’ Dynamic Island, a pill-shaped notification space with a hole-punch digicam cutout (no extra notch!)

• A pull-to-refresh motion, just like the way you’d reload a web site or social media feed on an iPhone or iPad

• The capacity to work together with an prolonged or mirrored iPad display screen through contact inputs

Gurman has additionally acknowledged that the brand new MacEbook can have a full keyboard and trackpad, so utilizing its touchscreen will likely be “completely optional.” In different phrases, this isn’t going to be some form of MacEbook-iPad love little one.

Looks-wise, Gurman thinks the OLED touchscreen MacEbook will likely be “significantly lighter” than present Pro fashions, which have had the identical kind issue since 2021. Apple’s iPad Pros obtained as much as 15 % lighter once they gained OLED shows.

Apple’s iPad Pro has had an OLED touchscreen since 2024.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

“Apple has reengineered the machine’s interior, miniaturizing parts and rearranging components to make the computer much easier to carry,” Gurman wrote.

Bloomberg’s Apple guru beforehand reported that the OLED touchscreen MacEbook would even be a lot thinner than normal MacEbook Pros, however he walked that again this month.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

In 2024, Gurman reported that Apple was “investigating the idea of bringing cellular connectivity to the Mac for the first time,” however did not specify whether or not that characteristic was supposed for the OLED touchscreen MacEbook or one other future mannequin. He hasn’t talked about it since, so Apple may’ve left that one on the again burner.

What chip will the OLED MacEbook have?

The OLED touchscreen MacEbook will reportedly run on Apple’s M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, not brand-new silicon. That’s in keeping with Gurman once more, who credited his sources as “people with knowledge of the matter … who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.”

Launched in March of this 12 months, the M5 Pro and M5 Max gasoline Apple’s present top-end MacEbook Pros. They’re designed to deal with the intensive computing workloads of energy customers like skilled creatives, builders, and AI researchers. With that in thoughts, the OLED touchscreen MacEbook won’t be a laptop computer for the common particular person.