Apple preps MacBook Pro, MacBook Neo refresh in bigger AI push
Apple’s fall Mac updates will include a brand new entry-level MacBook Pro, but there are other alterations in the pipeline coming relatively soon, like a revised MacBook Neo and a speed-boosted MacBook Air.
Apple’s fall releases tend to include a number of Mac and MacBook launches alongside the usual iPhones. For 2026, Apple is preparing a very AI-forward refresh of its catalog, starting this fall.
According to Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple’s refreshes are all to capitalize on the demand for more powerful notebooks, all thanks to AI. That apparently means Apple’s bringing out new versions of every Mac model it sells in the next year.
The initial batch of changes will be this fall, with a big one being a new low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro.
The model is said to be one of the first Macs to use the M6 chip. Coincidentally, the M6 is forecast to be a short-cycled, and largely be skipped in favor of the AI-focused M7 chips.
The entry-level MacBook Pro is codenamed J804.
A new Neo
As for future launches, the report claims there’s a refreshed MacBook Neo in development. Apple has been testing a version using an updated A19 chip with more memory. A19 has 12GB of RAM, and a faster single-core processor speed than A18 Pro does.
The current model runs on the A18 Pro, but it seems that the popularity of the model may exhaust Apple’s remaining stockpile of the chip.
They won’t be the only changes to the model. Apple’s intentions with its periodic refresh of the popular MacBook are to introduce new colorways, giving more options for personalization.
MacBook Air modest upgrade in 2027, then a big one
Also coming soon is a new MacBook Air. The rumored code numbers for the new Air are J913, and J915.
An early 2027 refresh isn’t expected to have a redesign, and just be an incremental one. A 2028 refresh is rumored to carry an OLED screen, like the highest-end MacBook Pro expected in the fall of 2026.
