That First Cellular MacBook Pro May Be Very Close...
Filipe Esposito
I'm not really sure what to make of the apparent internal code leak at Apple that has led to a slew of chip/product-related scoops in the past 24 hours at both MacRumors and Macworld – more on those below – but this one is especially interesting:
Following the release of its first in-house 5G modem with the iPhone 16e, rumors have suggested that Apple has been quietly preparing for a major leap forward in its MacBook lineup, one that could finally bring built-in cellular connectivity to its laptops. Internal Apple code seen by Macworld now reveals that the company has indeed been testing an unreleased MacBook Pro model with an M5 Pro chip and Apple’s first 5G modem.
Granted, assuming these leaks are legit – and there seem to be too many of them across at least two different publications with good track records on such things for them not to be? – it's entirely possible and likely even probable that Apple is simply testing the 5G chip inside of their MacBook Pro lineup. I mean, of course they are. If they're going to eventually release them, which they are, they need to start testing at some point and now that they have the in-house built modem...
But I also wouldn't dismiss the notion that they could come as early as next year either alongside the M5-powered MacBook Pros (which have been rumored to launch in early 2026 for some time now). Just as with the first MacBooks with Apple Silicon which used the old school MacBook Air chassis, there's a good um, case, to be made that Apple would want to roll out their first cellular modems into MacBook Pro form factors that are tried and tested. And if they're really going to fully redesign the MacBook Pro in 2027, as has also been rumored...
That said, early 2026 is awfully close. Is it possible that Apple does a special mid-cycle update to the MacBook Pro lineup to unveil the first cellular Mac? Or they could just announce it alongside the other "regular" MacBook Pros and launch it a bit later? Certainly, it would be a massive upgrade point for many users, myself included – especially if these M5-powered MacBook Pros otherwise will look the same as the M4s, which looked the same as the M3s, etc.
One more thing: On the leak topic, again, it's pretty wild that seemingly the following products were revealed via their chip sets:
- New HomePod mini (with S9, S10, or S11 chip from Apple Watch)
- New Apple TV (with A17 Pro chip)
- New Apple Studio Display (with an A19 Pro chip?)
- New iPad mini (also with A19 Pro chip)
- New low-cost iPad (with A18 chip)
- New Apple Vision Pro (with M5 chip)
- New Apple Watch (with S11 chip)
- New Mac Pro (with M4 Ultra chip)
Of those, a few things stand out:
- The new Vision Pro, because while it was wildly assumed to be getting a spec-update (but not a major redesign yet, beyond perhaps a new strap), that was thought to be an M4 chip, not the soon-to-be-released M5 (though Ming Chi-Kuo has been saying that for some time now). That would give it the top-of-the-line chip Apple makes, of course – and a substantial upgrade over the M2 chip found in the first version.
- The new Mac Pro with an M4 Ultra chip would give people – well, professionals – a reason to keep buying that machine versus the Mac Studio which has a "mere" M3 Ultra chip inside.
- The new Apple Studio Display getting an A19 Pro chip seems insane – to the point where it seems like it can't be right? that would be the top-of-the-line chip presumably about to be unveiled in the iPhone 17 Pro lineup. The last Studio Display featured an A13 'Bionic' chip, but that was about three years old at the time of the display's launch. What would giving a monitor a state-of-the-art chip mean? It would have a chip faster than the new Apple TV? Still, MacRumors sounds certain...