Apple quietly refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro on October 15, 2025, shipping a new M5 chip, faster storage and a headline-grabbing “up to 24-hour” battery life. On paper, it’s a tidy evolution — a machine that keeps Apple’s pro pedigree while leaning harder into on-device AI. But according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the real story is what’s coming after: a much deeper redesign that could finally bring OLED panels and a touchscreen to the MacBook Pro lineup. That rewrite, Gurman says, has been delayed to late 2026 or early 2027 because of supply issues — and it would come with some notable hardware and price changes.

Apple’s October announcement was straightforward: the 14-inch Pro gets the M5, faster SSD options and software tuned for Apple Intelligence — incremental but important for users who depend on sustained CPU, GPU and on-device neural horsepower. For buyers who need more performance now, Apple’s move matters. For buyers waiting for a design rethink, Gurman’s reporting suggests the wait isn’t over.

Gurman’s report (published October 16, 2025) says the next major MacBook Pro revamp — internal codenames K114 and K116 — will introduce OLED displays, integrated touchscreen support and a thinner, lighter chassis. Those machines are expected to run on a next-generation “M6” family of chips and to replace the current notch with a “hole-punch” style webcam, along with reinforced hinges designed to tolerate finger taps without the display wobbling. All of which, taken together, reads like Apple borrowing the best parts of modern phone and Windows laptop design and adapting them for pro workflows.

Why Apple changing its mind matters

For more than a decade, Apple resisted adding touch to macOS laptops. The company’s famous arguments — touch is for tablets, and macOS is built around cursor/keyboard input — were pragmatic and product-level at the time. Apple experimented with the Touch Bar a few years back, and ultimately reversed course; Touch ID stuck around while full touchscreen support did not. If Gurman is right, the change now is pragmatic again: better displays (OLED), a push for more flexible input modalities, and the need to keep premium hardware feeling modern as Windows OEMs ship hybrid touch devices. But Apple will also have to reconcile macOS interaction conventions with a new input surface, which is not trivial for professional apps.

Gurman reports — and multiple display-industry trackers back up — that OLED panel availability for large laptop-size screens is improving but still constrained. Apple’s plan, per these supply signals, was to launch the new design earlier; production and supplier allocations have nudged the debut into 2026 (or later) as panel makers scale up Gen-8.6 fabs that produce the larger substrate sizes Apple prefers. Analysts and display firms note a sharp increase in OLED notebook panel shipments projected for 2026, which fits the story: Apple may be waiting for volume and yield to stabilize before committing at scale. In short, Apple wants OLED, but the supply chain needs to catch up.

What to expect — and what that will cost

If Apple ships OLED touch MacBook Pros, expect a handful of practical changes:

• Richer contrast and color — OLED’s true blacks and contrast will be a visible upgrade over mini-LED. That’s meaningful for photo, video and VFX work.
• Hole-punch webcam — the notch could go away in favor of a smaller cutout, borrowing a phone design trick and freeing up more usable pixels.
• Stronger hinges and a lighter chassis — Apple reportedly plans engineering updates so the display doesn’t wobble under touch. That’s a small but important detail: touch needs physical solidity.
• Price creep — Gurman warns the redesign will likely add “a few hundred dollars” to the top-end models; for a product already starting in the $1,599–$2,499 range, that’s material. Expect tiering: pro models first, cheaper Macs later.

There’s also talk — more tentative — about Face ID eventually replacing Touch ID on Macs, but Gurman says that is still years away. So biometric authentication for now will stay much as it is: Touch ID for near-term models, and Face ID as a longer-term play.

What this means for users and the market

For creators and pros, OLED + M6 + touch could be a genuine workflow boost: better color and contrast, on-device AI acceleration and the option (not the obligation) to interact by touch for sketching, quick edits or annotation. For Apple’s product strategy, it’s a delicate balancing act — add modern hardware features without cannibalizing iPads or confusing macOS’s interaction model.

Competitionally, Apple would be matching — and in some cases surpassing — Windows OEMs that already ship robust touch laptops and convertibles. That gives Apple a cleaner narrative: premium display tech + Apple silicon + a refined user experience. But the price bump and a staggered rollout (Pro first, cheaper lines later) will mean the change won’t be immediate or universal.

Timeline and the near term

Gurman’s timeline is useful for separating what’s coming soon from what’s coming later:

• Now / early 2026: expect iterative updates — M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros (same body) and refreshes across the Mac lineup.
• Late 2026 — early 2027: the big redesign with OLED, touch, M6 chips and the hole-punch camera — if OLED supply and yields cooperate. Apple’s own October 15, 2025, press release makes clear the company needed to keep shipping meaningful upgrades in the meantime.

The caveats — why this is still a rumor

Two important disclaimers: first, Gurman’s reporting is source-based and strongly corroborated across outlets, but until Apple publishes specs and a launch date, you should treat this as an industry-leading rumor rather than a product fact. Second, display supply is a moving target; OLED yields and supplier allocations can change Apple’s timing quickly. In plain terms: expect the direction outlined here, but not a hard release date until Apple says so.

Apple’s October M5 refresh is a performance play for the present; Gurman’s Bloomberg story sketches a bolder pivot for the near future. If OLED touch MacBook Pros ship as reported, they could be the most significant MacBook redesign in years — but they’ll probably cost more, and they’ll roll out to Pro-level machines first. For now, the safe bet is to watch supply-chain signals and Apple’s own announcements: the hardware direction looks set, but the timetable is still a work in progress.