Apple May Launch An Ultra-Premium MacBook Above The MacBook Pro
Coming off a whirlwind week jam-packed with new Apple product announcements, including the MacBook Neo, the most affordable MacBook to date, the rumor mill is bristling with what comes next. If the chatter ultimately proves accurate, we will see Apple launch a string of ultra-premium hardware devices. One of those products is said to be a MacBook that sits above the MacBook Pro, which has just been refreshed with new M5 Pro and M5 Max silicon.
A MacBook Ultra, if you will, would be the antithesis to the MacBook Neo. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and the latest edition of its Power On newsletter, Apple is prepping a "more significant shift" towards higher-end product launches after having unveiled lower-cost devices like the Neo and iPhone 17e. He describes them as 'ultra' products, though whether Apple ends up using that designation like it has for certain other products (Apple Watch Ultra, for example) remains to be seen.
In line with previous leaks and rumors, the MacBook Ultra (we'll go ahead and call it that for now) will feature an OLED panel with touchscreen support, both of which would be firsts for a MacBook. For context, the latest-generation MacBook Pro sports a Liquid Retina XDR display with mini LED backlighting and no touch support.
The move to a more premium display and overall makeup will be reflected in the price, with Gurman noting that the switch to an OLED panel on the iPad drove the starting price up by 20%. As such, he's expecting the MacBook Ultra to rank above and coexist with the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models as a separate product SKU.
Image generated with Grok (xAI)
Beyond a more premium MacBook Ultra, the shift to higher-end product launches is said to also include the oft-rumored iPhone Fold. We don't get any more juicy details, just that it's still in the cards, is likely to cost $2,000, and will have a huge inner screen with in-display sensors and other new tech.
The newsletter also lumps a new set of AirPods with computer-vision cameras into Apple's higher-end product focus. And since has already used the Max designation for its over-the-ear AirPods Max headset, the next-gen AirPods could be called AirPods Ultra. We shall see.
