- Apple’s incoming OLED touchscreen laptop is set to be called the MacBook Ultra, according to a source who spoke to Macworld
- With M6 silicon, it is expected to sit above the existing MacBook Pro M5
- Macworld notes, “This new MacBook will cost significantly more than the current MacBook Pro and offer an entirely new feature set.”
We’ve heard a little more about the rumored MacBook Ultra, a possible new model that Apple could have planned for its laptop lineup — and that Ultra branding could extend beyond laptops, too.
Macworld claims it has a source who reckons the rumored MacBook with an OLED touchscreen won’t be a MacBook Pro (as was believed until recently), but that Apple will instead introduce a new category: the MacBook Ultra.
You won’t like the reason for this potential name change, mind, which is basically that the MacBook OLED will be seriously expensive, hence the need to recategorize it as a new even higher-than offering, positioned above the MacBook Pro.
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As Macworld says, “This new MacBook will cost significantly more than the current MacBook Pro and offer an entirely new feature set than the existing models.”
Last month, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (via MacRumors) also said that the new top-end Apple laptop with OLED could be called the MacBook Ultra.
In addition to the touchscreen and OLED upgrades, the belief is that this MacBook Ultra will run on M6 Pro and Max chips, and will be thinner than the MacBook Pro (which would fit the idea of it being ultra-premium, so to speak). The touch screen in particular would of course change the MacBook experience considerably, or presumably that’s the idea.
The expected launch window for this new MacBook is the first half of 2027, we’re told, although Apple has apparently pushed it back from late 2026 due to the RAM crisis. All of this is hearsay, of course, so grab some handfuls of salt.
Analysis: Ultra branding feels like a clear opportunity
It makes sense for Apple to try to clearly differentiate a model that goes beyond where the MacBook Pro currently stands by adding an OLED touchscreen. After all, it will be an expensive upgrade, and the suggestion of a new MacBook Ultra name suggests that it could be very expensive. Of course, people don’t just have to pay for the hardware, but the cachet of owning an ‘Ultra’ device from Apple.
The branding also fits with Apple’s existing scheme for its processors, which have base models, then Pro and Max variants, followed by Ultra at the top.
I wouldn’t bet against a MacBook Ultra making an appearance then, especially since we’ve heard a few bits of talk from the grapevine about such a laptop in recent times. It seems the idea may be to keep the MacBook Pro M5 models in place, with the MacBook Ultra M6 coming out on top, offering something on the order of a 20% price increase, Gurman has previously speculated.
As mentioned at the outset, there could be a few more products bearing the Ultra name besides this MacBook.
Macworld also believes that Apple is planning an iPhone Ultra, a foldable device that has been rumored elsewhere, and further theorizes that an iPad Ultra, Mac Studio Ultra, and perhaps even an AirPods Ultra (with built-in cameras) could be on the cards in the future. This may well be the case if Apple really wants to push the Ultra branding and give it a presence across a whole range of (more expensive) hardware.
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