We’re just about due for the next-generation Apple silicon chip, which will kick off a new wave of Mac refreshes. The M5 chip is expected to make an appearance in some new products before the end of the year, but most Mac refreshes will happen in 2026.
We’ve rounded up current rumors on when we might see updates for Apple’s notebook and desktop machines.
It’s also entirely possible new M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max MacBook Pro models will all come out at the same time, either in 2025 around the late October timeframe, or in early 2026.
New 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with M5 chips are expected in early 2026, right around the March or April timeframe. The M4 MacBook Air models came out in March 2025.
Apple added an M4 chip to the iMac in October 2024, so it could be updated alongside the 14-inch MacBook Pro models or alongside the M5 MacBook Air models. There haven’t been rumors about specific timing, but it’s one of the Macs that will be in the late 2025 to early 2026 timeframe.
The Mac mini could get a refresh as soon as early 2026. An alleged identifier for a Mac mini with an M5 chip was discovered in August, so it sounds like an upgrade is in the works.
Timing isn’t clear, but with no word about an update, it probably won’t happen this year. Last year, the Mac mini got an M4 and M4 Pro update in October.
Earlier this year, Gurman backtracked on the M4 Ultra chip and said that Apple wasn’t developing one. The M4 Max chip architecture does not have the UltraFusion functionality that allowed for prior-generation Ultra-series chips, so it’s not likely that there’s going to be an M4 Ultra at all.
Apple could either update the Mac Pro with the M3 Ultra that it added to the Mac Studio this year, or use an M5 Ultra chip. If Apple was going to update the Mac Pro with the M3 Ultra, it would have made sense to do so earlier this year with the Mac Studio refresh. Since that didn’t happen, it looks like Apple is waiting for the M5 chips.
It often takes Apple more time to develop the Ultra versions of its M-series chips, so if the plan is an M5 Ultra chip, it’s not likely going to be ready this year. Mid to late 2026 timing would make more sense for an M5 Ultra chip.
While most of the M5 Mac refreshes are going to happen in 2026, there are other M5 devices slated for launch in 2025. A new iPad Pro and a refreshed version of the Vision Pro are expected to have the M5 chip, and rumors suggest they’re coming soon.
Apple could hold an event to unveil the M5 Apple silicon chip and the new products, or it could announce them with press releases.
