No redesign expected for 2025 M5 MacBook Pro

AppleInsider · March 30, 2025 3:06PM

A new MacBook Pro sporting an M5 chip is expected to arrive in the fall of 2025, but a case redesign will have to wait.

An M5-powered MacBook Pro should arrive in the fall of 2025.

As has been the case for the past two years, the MacBook Pro will get another chip upgrade later this year, but will likely look the same overall as the M3 and M4 versions. A case revision is now expected to happen in late 2026, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

Apple is now anticipated to delay the release of an M5-based iPad Pro to around the same time frame. With the M4, the iPad model received the chip six months before it arrived on any Mac models.

Apple's C1 modem -- or an updated version with cellular capability -- could arrive in 2026.

Speculation continues that a future MacBook Pro could gain the capability to use a cellular modem as well as supporting Wi-Fi connections. The company now appears to be updating the MacBook Pro on a yearly basis, as well as releasing new models in the second halfof the year now.

Apple's introduction of its own C1 modem chip in the iPhone 16e could hint at future expansion of capabilities for its portable Mac line.

Big changes ahead

Previous reports

have speculated that Apple will eventually integrate the C1 cellular modem or its successor directly into the company's system-on-chip (SoC) processors. The C1 is currently only used for the iPhone 16e.

Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, said that Apple would "keep improving [the C1 modem] technology each generation, so that it becomes a platform for us that will be used to truly differentiate this technology for our products."

Although the current C1 modem lacks mmWave support, it has already incorporated custom GPS and satellite connectivity. Those abilities have already proven incredibly helpful if users find that they cannot connect to tradtional mobile data networks for whatever reason.

In addition to the long-anticipated addition of a cellular-capable modem, the 2026 MacBook Pro's anticipated redesign could see the arrival of a new and thinner OLED-based display. The current models use a high-quality mini-LED display.

The arrival of a new look, alongside additional features and technology, looks likely to come to the MacBook Pro in late 2026. The model will be celebrating its 20th anniversary that year, having debuted in 2006.

Read on AppleInsider

xed · March 30, 2025 3:52PM

It's common that one does not upgrade their Mac until there's a good reason to do so, but for me that doesn't mean processing power as even my M1 is more than sufficient and it certainly doesn't mean a cellular chip since I don't want the added cost of another mobile data charge and tethering to an iPhone couldn't be easier. What I do want more than anything is a better display. I'd even pay a premium for that.

lukei · March 30, 2025 5:34PM

Tethering to an iPhone from a Mac via Bluetooth is unreliable. I often have to resort to a cable to make it work.

Mobile Data via Cellular is just about the only thing that would make me upgrade my M3 MacBook Pro. Would also go nano texture screen at same time.

xed · March 30, 2025 6:18PM

lukei said:

Tethering to an iPhone from a Mac via Bluetooth is unreliable. I often have to resort to a cable to make it work.

Mobile Data via Cellular is just about the only thing that would make me upgrade my M3 MacBook Pro. Would also go nano texture screen at same time.

AFAIK Apple only offers native WiFi and wired tethering. I can't imagine why you would try to attempt to get BT to work for internet data since it's so slow. As for WiFi tethering I've never had an issue.

edited March 30

chasm · March 30, 2025 6:27PM

lukei said:

Tethering to an iPhone from a Mac via Bluetooth is unreliable. I often have to resort to a cable to make it work.

To quote the internet, "yer doin it rong."

Open Settings. Fifth item under your name is "Personal Hotspot." Turn it on.

Now check your Mac's available Wi-Fi networks. Your iPhone will be seen as one of them. Join it.

Done. When the hotspot is no longer needed, turn it off.

lukei · March 30, 2025 7:12PM

chasm said:

lukei said:

Tethering to an iPhone from a Mac via Bluetooth is unreliable. I often have to resort to a cable to make it work.

To quote the internet, "yer doin it rong."

Open Settings. Fifth item under your name is "Personal Hotspot." Turn it on.

Now check your Mac's available Wi-Fi networks. Your iPhone will be seen as one of them. Join it.

Done. When the hotspot is no longer needed, turn it off.

Works 50% of the time

chasm · March 30, 2025 8:22PM

lukei said:

chasm said:

lukei said:

Tethering to an iPhone from a Mac via Bluetooth is unreliable. I often have to resort to a cable to make it work.

To quote the internet, "yer doin it rong."

Open Settings. Fifth item under your name is "Personal Hotspot." Turn it on.

Now check your Mac's available Wi-Fi networks. Your iPhone will be seen as one of them. Join it.

Done. When the hotspot is no longer needed, turn it off.

Works 50% of the time

Works 100 percent of the time for me. You don't by chance encase your devices in tin foil, do you?

(more seriously, if your cell signal is very weak, there's a good chance it won't work as well as it does for city-dweller me)

appleinsideruser · March 30, 2025 8:31PM

chasm said:

lukei said:

Tethering to an iPhone from a Mac via Bluetooth is unreliable. I often have to resort to a cable to make it work.

To quote the internet, "yer doin it rong."

Open Settings. Fifth item under your name is "Personal Hotspot." Turn it on.

Now check your Mac's available Wi-Fi networks. Your iPhone will be seen as one of them. Join it.

Done. When the hotspot is no longer needed, turn it off.

Better yet, Instant Hotspot means you don’t need to visit Settings and don’t need to waste power broadcasting your SSID to every Tom, Dick and Harry.

xed · March 30, 2025 9:25PM

appleinsideruser said:

chasm said:

lukei said:

Tethering to an iPhone from a Mac via Bluetooth is unreliable. I often have to resort to a cable to make it work.

To quote the internet, "yer doin it rong."

Open Settings. Fifth item under your name is "Personal Hotspot." Turn it on.

Now check your Mac's available Wi-Fi networks. Your iPhone will be seen as one of them. Join it.

Done. When the hotspot is no longer needed, turn it off.

Better yet, Instant Hotspot means you don’t need to visit Settings and don’t need to waste power broadcasting your SSID to every Tom, Dick and Harry.

Yep. That's how mine is set up. If normal WiFi isn't connected it will pull from either my phone or my significant other via Family Sharing.

This has been working nearly 100% time for me since Apple included it. As someone that has been using Cellular with PowerBooks for 3 decades I love where there things have gone. I remember using an old Cingular modem with a fold out USB-A plug. It was a bit bulky and clunky on the side of the my PB so I bought a short USB-A extender cable so I could adhere the modem to my display lid using Velcro. Possibly a little better reception that way but overall just out of the way. Back then I was practically begging for Apple to release a Mac notebook with built-in cellular like the (below) prototype had, but that was nearly a decade before the iPhone would launch.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/11/08/14/purported_macbook_pro_prototype_built_in_3g_appears_on_ebay

edited March 30

fred257 · March 30, 2025 11:11PM

Touch MacBook or I stay with M1. Chromebook’s are touch based and cost nothing compared to a Mac

wood1208 · March 31, 2025 12:15AM

I am sure MBP with M5 will have better performance than current M4 but adding Apple designed WiFi 7 and BT chip will be interesting. I am sure Apple could add its cellular chip support to some models. More interesting upgrade will be the next version of MacBook Air which will have the similar internals as M5 MacBook Pro.

lukei · March 31, 2025 6:42AM

chasm said:

lukei said:

chasm said:

lukei said:

Tethering to an iPhone from a Mac via Bluetooth is unreliable. I often have to resort to a cable to make it work.

To quote the internet, "yer doin it rong."

Open Settings. Fifth item under your name is "Personal Hotspot." Turn it on.

Now check your Mac's available Wi-Fi networks. Your iPhone will be seen as one of them. Join it.

Done. When the hotspot is no longer needed, turn it off.

Works 50% of the time

Works 100 percent of the time for me. You don't by chance encase your devices in tin foil, do you?

(more seriously, if your cell signal is very weak, there's a good chance it won't work as well as it does for city-dweller me)

If it doesn’t work, connecting via a cable immediately works so it isn’t a signal issue.

My iPad Connects every time to my iPhone for tethering.

charlesn · April 1, 2025 3:20PM

We might see some subtle tweaks to the case design over time, but I doubt there will be an actual "case redesign" for a long time except, perhaps, for tech advances that allow for the case to be thinner--although the butterfly keyboard is a cautionary tale of such a tech advance gone wrong. Apple's design language has been distilled into rounded rectangles across the whole product line--which was Steve's favorite shape, by the way, preferably in golden ratio proportions--and I don't think that will change anytime soon. Some may find that boring, but I like the minimalist, form follows function aesthetic and the lack of sharp edges and I also enjoy that over the long lifespan of an Apple product it never looks "old," never looks all that much different from the latest version. Even the upcoming iPhone 17 will very much reflect the design aesthetic introduced in the iPhone 4.

edited April 1

appleinsideruser · April 1, 2025 3:26PM

charlesn said:

We might see some subtle tweaks to the case design over time, but I doubt there will be an actual "case redesign" for a long time except, perhaps, for tech advances that allow for the case to be thinner--although the butterfly keyboard is a cautionary tale of such a tech advance gone wrong. Apple's design language has been distilled into rounded rectangles across the whole product line--which was Steve's favorite shape, by the way, preferably in golden ratio proportions--and I don't think that will change anytime soon. Some may find that boring, but I like the minimalist, form follows function aesthetic and the lack of sharp edges and I also enjoy that over the long lifespan of an Apple product it never looks "old," never looks all that much different from the latest version. Even the upcoming iPhone 17 will very much reflect the design aesthetic introduced in the iPhone 4.

Golden Ratio iPads? It seems not: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/are-ipads-golden-ratio-_2C6gnzNR1.Hd4rHUiBr_g
Nevertheless, I think I'll get the M5 iPad when it's released.

No redesign expected for 2025 M5 MacBook Pro

Big changes ahead

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