Apple's base MacBook Pro reportedly gets the new design about six months after the high end

A team that orders base 14-inch MacBook Pros this fall will, on Bloomberg's reporting, get an M6 laptop in the current chassis. It launches alongside high-end models that already have the new one ^[8]. In spring 2027 the same tier is expected to get an M7 chip and the redesign ^[1][2]. For roughly six months, the newest base model on sale would be the outgoing design ^[14].

The Bloomberg report, as quoted by 9to5mac, says Apple "is also preparing a revamped entry-level MacBook Pro, code-named K104, for as early as the first half of next year" ^[6]. It continues: "The 14-inch laptop will adopt a new design in line with what Apple is preparing for higher-end MacBooks with touch screens due between the end of this year and early next year" ^[7].

Both dates are approximate. "As early as" is the report's own hedge ^[6]. The high-end window also runs into early 2027, so the roughly six-month gap 9to5mac describes could narrow, or the base model could land after spring ^[3][7]. The timeline comes from Bloomberg's reporting, relayed by 9to5mac ^[1].

The chip lineup is lopsided too. With the high end on M5-generation chips, a spring M7 base model would carry the newest chip in the MacBook Pro range until the M7 Pro and M7 Max refresh expected in fall 2027 ^[15]. In our view, the parts a user deals with every working day are the screen and the body. The spring model is expected to get the new ones along with the newer chip ^[11].

The report does not include a price for the M7 model. 9to5mac expects the redesigned 14-inch with M5 Pro to cost more than $2,500 ^[16]. Its writer said that buyers wanting "something more in budget with the M7 chip and the redesign" will "only have to wait until the following spring" ^[17].

We think teams with a scheduled 2027 refresh should hold base-model orders for the spring machine. The tradeoff is exposure to a slipped date and to whatever Apple charges for it. Two tests sort the rest: whether the laptops being replaced can last through the first half of 2027, and whether users need the new touch OLED screen or only more compute. A laptop that has to go now and only needs compute points to the M6 base model, old chassis accepted ^[8]. One that has to go now and needs the new screen points to the high-end models and their higher price ^[16]. Where the old machines can last, both cells point the same way: wait, and get the newer chip and the new chassis at the entry tier ^[15].