The 2023 MacBook Professional was the primary to supply a Area Black possibility.
Apple will replace the present MacBook Professional once more in 2025, however these ready for a big redesign might have to attend a little bit longer.
The corporate usually tweaks the {hardware} of its MacBook Professional lineup from 12 months to 12 months. Main redesigns are extra generational with roughly 5 years between enclosure refreshes.
The lineup noticed just a few notable modifications since its final main redesign in 2021. In a report on Sunday, Apple is alleged to be more likely to launch an all-new search for the pocket book in 2026
The recently-announced 2024 MacBook Professional retains the design and new colour possibility — Area Black — of the 2023 fashions. The ports are nonetheless Thunderbolt 4 for the M4 model, however the M4 Professional and Professional Max will get Thunderbolt 5 ports as an alternative, which double the bandwidth.
The 2025 model is anticipated to maintain the identical design, with solely the processor being upgraded to the anticipated M5 chip household. The 2026 mannequin, nonetheless, is anticipated to see vital modifications from the present design — altering from mini-LED shows to OLED, and is alleged to be notably thinner and lighter, in response to Bloomberg.
MacBook Professional designs by means of the years
The primary Apple pocket book utilizing the identify “MacBook Professional” appeared in 2006, and so a 2026 redesign can be an acceptable method to have fun the laptop computer’s twentieth anniversary. By immediately’s requirements, the 2006 was thick, boxy, and heavy weighing in at 5.6 kilos.
It was the primary Mac pocket book to function the then-new MagSafe energy connector, and the primary to have a backlit keyboard. It was additionally the primary to sport an Intel-based processor.
The 2006 first-edition MacBook Professional. Picture credit score: Apple
Simply two years later, in 2008, Apple got here out with a brand new aluminum enclosure dubbed the “unibody” design that featured rounded corners, and tapered sides. Uniquely, it had all its ports on the left facet, and solely the Superdrive slot on the suitable.
In 2012 — 4 years later — Apple introduced out a far slimmer redesigned MacBook Professional that featured a better-than-HD Retina Show. In doing so, nonetheless, it dropped the inclusion of a built-in optical Superdrive, which was by no means to return.
This MacBook Professional was additionally the primary to incorporate an HDMI port, in addition to SSD-based storage. It additionally sported a brand new and thinner MagSafe 2 energy connector.
In 2015, Apple made one minor however vital {hardware} change to the 2012-design MacBook Professional: it revised the trackpad to include Drive Contact, which simulated the texture of truly urgent the floor downwards, changing that mechanical movement with haptic suggestions.
The corporate revised the design of the MacBook Professional but once more in 2016 to make it thinner and lighter, and launched a multitouch OLED touchbar — changing the earlier row of perform keys. This new mannequin additionally included Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports for the primary time.
A 13-inch MacBook Professional with contact bar, which may change perform by software.
As well as, it had a dramatically bigger trackpad, however eliminated the MagSafe 2 charging port in favor of a fourth USB-C/Thunderbolt port for charging. It additionally launched the now-notorious “butterfly” keyboard, but in addition included a Contact ID sensor for simpler entry.
In 2017, Apple launched the second-generation “butterfly” keyboard, and added the touchbar to the entry-level 13-inch mannequin. Aside from the keyboard change, the mannequin was not considerably completely different from the 2015 model.
Restore information from Apple-authorized service suppliers recommended that each variations of the “butterfly” keyboard had been solely mildly extra liable to failure than the earlier keyboards. Apple ultimately settled a lawsuit over the keyboards with a $50 million payout that provided free repairs and compensation to affected MacBook homeowners.
In late 2019, Apple launched the 16-inch MacBook Professional, that includes the most important Retina Show the corporate had but introduced out. Extra importantly, the corporate lastly gave up on the “butterfly” keyboard design, calling the brand new model the “Magic” keyboard.
The brand new mannequin additionally featured a a lot higher-fidelity six-speaker sound system and improved mic array for higher sound each popping out of the machine, in addition to going into it.
The Apple Silicon period
The next 12 months noticed the arrival of Apple’s personal ARM-based M1 processor, and the 13-inch MacBook Professional, alongside the M1 MacBook Air, had been the primary fashions to be launched with it in November of that 12 months.
Apple revised the now-14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Professional traces but once more in 2021. These new fashions introduced again the MagSafe charging port, dropping the variety of Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports to 3. It dropped the Touchbar from the bigger mannequin, returning to bodily perform keys.
The 2021 MacBook Professional returned to bodily perform keys after person outcry.
For comparability functions, by this time Apple had managed to shave a whole pound off the load of the 16-inch MacBook Professional in comparison with the 2006 15-inch MacBook Professional. That is a median of about one ounce misplaced per 12 months.
The chassis on the 2 fashions used a brand new design that allowed for bringing again the HDMI port in addition to incorporating an SDXC card slot for digicam playing cards. The built-in digicam on the 16-inch was upgraded to 1080p in the end as effectively.
In 2022, Apple revised the design very barely to take away the touchbar in favor of returning the perform key row to the 13-inch mannequin, with each fashions now sporting the M2 processor. The {hardware} design was in any other case unchanged from the 2021 M1 mannequin.
If Apple considerably revises the {hardware} design of the M5 MacBook Professional in 2026, will probably be the primary large case change since 2021. Based on new Apple specs for the forthcoming M4 MacBook Professional lineup, the one design change within the 2024 mannequin is the brand new possibility for nano-texture glass on the show.
