Apple’s MacBook Pro is a strange beast. It marches on, unflinching, year after year — all brushed aluminum and self-importance — while the rest of us stumble around in the dark looking for meaning, faster load times, and maybe an OLED display that won’t blind us in bed. In the year of our corporate overlords, 2025, Apple will likely grace us with a new machine: the M5 MacBook Pro. Hallelujah, sort of.
Like time and death, Apple’s product cycles are inevitable. But meaning? Well, that’s harder to find.
The M5 Is Coming… Probably. Expect Modesty. Expect Confetti.
The MacBook Pro was last updated in November 2024, which followed an earlier November update in 2023. A pattern, perhaps? Of course. Apple’s engineers are many things, but spontaneous is not one of them.
This time around, rumor has it that the M5 chip will break free in Fall 2025 — just in time for pumpkin spice season and the latest bout of economic anxiety. The MacBook Pro is expected to lead the charge, with the iPad Pro following sheepishly behind, maybe even waiting until 2026.
But don’t expect fireworks. Expect a spec bump. New guts, same suit. That means your shiny new M5-powered 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro will look just like your M4 MacBook Pro, which looked just like your M3 MacBook Pro, which looked just like… well, you get the idea.
If you want a fresh look, buy a sticker.
Of Modems and Daydreams: The Cellular Mac That Isn’t (Yet)
The dream of a MacBook Pro that connects to the internet without begging your iPhone for a tethered signal has lingered like an unpaid parking ticket. Apple’s been tinkering with its own modem — the C1, freshly crammed into the iPhone 16e — and people are whispering: Could it happen? Could the MacBook finally break free of Wi-Fi tyranny?
Maybe. Probably not soon.
Reports tease the idea of an Apple-built modem sliding its way into the MacBook Pro, nestled within some future M-series chip like a spy in a tuxedo. The idea? Battery life improvements, better integration, less dependency on Qualcomm, and the ability to Google “Why is my Wi-Fi broken?” from a park bench.
But don’t hold your breath. Rumors point to 2026 or later. And Apple, in its infinite restraint, will wait until the idea is old enough to vote before letting it out into the world.
OLED or Bust: A Screen So Nice You’ll Never See It
If there’s one thing Apple loves more than courage, it’s waiting. The OLED MacBook Pro is a myth as old as AirPower, whispered in hushed tones in dark corners of Reddit and analyst meetings.
MiniLED displays have been pulling overtime for years now, trying to simulate the inky blacks of OLED like a high school drama student pretending to cry. But OLED is coming — someday. Maybe. The timelines vary like weather forecasts in the apocalypse.
January 2023 said “late 2024.” That didn’t happen. July said Samsung was on the job, production starting in mid-2025. April rolled around and they said 2026. Then came The Elec, flipping between 2026 and 2027 like a quantum particle with commitment issues.
2026 seems to be the frontrunner now — the year of OLED glory, the year the MacBook Pro finally gets a screen worthy of your retinas. But who’s to say? Maybe Apple will slap OLED on a toaster first.
And when it does arrive? Expect a keynote with all the solemnity of a moon landing. Tim Cook will stare into the camera, eyes twinkling, and whisper: “It’s OLED. Finally.”
In Conclusion: Progress by Drip, Design by God
The future of the MacBook Pro is less revolution, more cautious pilgrimage. There will be M5 chips, yes. Modems? Someday. OLEDs? Don’t ask. Apple isn’t in a rush — and why should it be? The crowd will cheer anyway.
So it goes.
