- Apple's incoming laptop with OLED touchscreen is set to be called the MacBook Ultra, according to a source who spoke to Macworld
- Packing M6 silicon, it's 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 bit more about the rumored MacBook Ultra, a possible new model that Apple could have planned for its laptop range – and this Ultra branding could extend further than laptops, too.
Macworld claims it has a source who reckons that the rumored MacBook with an OLED touchscreen won't be a MacBook Pro (as was believed until recently), but that instead Apple will introduce a new category: the MacBook Ultra.
You won't like the reason for this potential name change, mind, which is essentially that the MacBook OLED will be seriously pricey, hence the need to recategorize it as a new even higher-end offering, placed above the MacBook Pro.
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As Macworld states: "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, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg (via MacRumors) also said the new top-end Apple laptop with OLED could be called the MacBook Ultra.
As well as the touchscreen and OLED upgrades, the belief is that this MacBook Ultra will run with M6 Pro and Max chips, and it'll be thinner than the MacBook Pro (which would fit the idea of it being ultra-premium, as it were). The touchscreen in particular would change the MacBook experience considerably, of course, or presumably that's the idea.
The expected launch window for this new MacBook is the first half of 2027, we're told, though Apple has apparently pushed that back from late in 2026 due to the RAM crisis. All of this is rumored, of course, so grab some handfuls of salt.
Analysis: Ultra branding feels like a distinct possibility
It makes sense for Apple to try to clearly differentiate a model that goes above and beyond where the MacBook Pro currently stands by adding an OLED touchscreen. After all, that's going to be a costly upgrade, and the suggestion of a new MacBook Ultra name hints that it might be very pricey indeed. Of course, people won't just be paying for the hardware, but the cachet of owning an 'Ultra' device from Apple.
The branding also fits with Apple's existing scheme of things in terms of 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 appearing, then, particularly as we've heard a few bits of chatter from the grapevine about such a laptop in recent times. It seems the idea might be to keep the MacBook Pro M5 models in place, with the MacBook Ultra M6 coming in on top, featuring something in the order of a 20% price hike, Gurman has speculated in the past.
As mentioned at the outset, there could be a fair few more products carrying the Ultra name besides this MacBook.
Macworld also believes that Apple is planning an iPhone Ultra, a foldable device that's been rumored elsewhere, and further theorizes about an iPad Ultra, Mac Studio Ultra, and maybe even an AirPods Ultra (with built-in cameras) that could be on the cards for the future. This might well be the case if Apple really wants to push the Ultra branding and give it a presence across a whole swathe of (more expensive) hardware.
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