Apple could launch a new M5 version of the MacBook Pro as early as next week, based on suspiciously delayed delivery estimates of some current models.
Posting on Twitter/X yesterday, the Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman noted that custom configurations of the baseline 14-inch MacBook Pro “are constrained till the end of October.” This means that if you order today, your MacBook may not be delivered for several weeks, with some models on the U.S. store estimated to arrive as late as October 28.
And it’s not just affecting the U.S., as I discovered when checking my local storefront. At time of writing, the 14-inch M4 Pro with 512GB of storage is available on Apple’s U.K. store for delivery tomorrow, but changing virtually any element of the configuration–adding a nano-texture display, upgrading to 24GB or 32GB of RAM, increasing the storage, or even bundling a higher-wattage power adapter–changes the delivery estimate to 23-28 October.
Generally speaking, such widespread stock shortages would be a strong indicator that Apple has wrapped up production of a line in preparation for replacing it. And in this case, there’s plenty more evidence to support an imminent M5 MacBook Pro launch.
At the end of September, the FCC published documents for several unreleased Apple devices and one of these appeared to be an M5 MacBook Pro. Gurman himself, meanwhile, has recently claimed that the M5 laptop is “nearing mass production.”
In response to Gurman’s tweet, Vadim Yuryev, host of the Max Tech YouTube channel, responded with a surprisingly confident prediction. “3 days of M5 chip product launches next week starting on Monday or Tuesday,” he wrote. “M5 MacBook Pro 14-inch model ONLY, M5 iPad Pro, M5 Vision Pro.” That’s Monday/Tuesday the 13th/14th October.
Yuryev didn’t cite any sources, so it might be best to take this rumor with a pinch of salt, but the timing certainly lines up. And the weight of evidence that a new MacBook Pro is coming at some point soon is becoming overwhelming. For all the latest news and rumors, check out our regularly updated M5 MacBook Pro superguide.
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
David has been writing about technology for well over two decades, and got on board the Apple hype train when covering the original iPhone launch in 2007. He is an enthusiastic Apple Watch evangelist and feels that the HomePod is misunderstood.