Apple adds faster M6 chip and Wi-Fi 7 to 14-inch MacBook Pro
Developing story first seen 1 hour ago
Apple has refreshed the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with its M6 chip, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The update brings faster performance and newer wireless connectivity while keeping the starting price unchanged.
The M6 is Apple’s first 2nm chip, with a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU; Apple says it offers up to 1.2 times faster multithreaded performance than the M5. The laptop retains its display, camera and ports, and starts at $1,999 with 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage. Pre-orders open on 28 October, with shipping expected from 6 November.
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In short
- Entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro gains the M6 chip.
- Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 are added.
- Prices start at $1,999; pre-orders open 28 October.
How this story developed
- 31 minutes ago Apple’s latest details confirm the laptop retains its display, camera and ports, with pre-orders opening on 28 October and shipping expected from 6 November.
- 39 minutes ago Apple refreshed the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with its first 2nm M6 chip, adding Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 while keeping the $1,999 starting price.
Full account
Apple has refreshed its entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 processor, adding a new chip and updated wireless connectivity while retaining much of the previous model’s design and equipment. The company announced the laptop in a press release. It starts at $1,999, the same starting price as last year’s M5 version, and will be available to pre-order from 28 October, with sales beginning on 6 November.
Apple says the M6 is its first chip made using a 2-nanometre process. It has a 12-core CPU, up from 10 cores in the M5, and a 12-core GPU with a Neural Accelerator in each core. The chip also includes a dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple claims up to 1.2 times faster multi-core performance and 30 per cent faster graphics than the M5, alongside improvements to AI tasks. These are company comparisons, rather than independently verified results.
The laptop adds Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 through Apple’s N1 wireless chip. Other headline features carry over: a Liquid Retina XDR display, an optional nano-texture finish, a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera and ports including HDMI, MagSafe 3, three Thunderbolt 4 connections, an SDXC card reader and a headphone jack. Apple says battery life can reach 24 hours; the second report also notes faster charging with a suitable power adapter.
The base configuration has 16GB of unified memory and 1TB of storage. Memory can be increased to 24GB or 32GB for $200 or $400 respectively; storage upgrades cost $500 for 2TB or $1,500 for 4TB. The second report gives the nano-texture option a $150 price and says the space-black finish is designed to make fingerprints less visible. It also points out that the 16-inch MacBook Pro has not received the M6 update and remains on M5 Pro or M5 Max configurations.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The first report describes the update as a modest refresh that largely retains the prior model’s design, and notes that 4TB storage now costs more than it did on the previous entry-level model. The second focuses more on claimed performance in specific workloads, including AI, language models and Blender, and highlights the 16-inch model’s older chips as a drawback.
The reports use different performance details: the first gives Apple’s claim of up to 1.2 times faster multi-core performance, while the second emphasises claims of 25 per cent faster AI workloads and a 1.9-times faster Neural Engine, as well as other workload-specific figures. These figures describe different measures and are not directly interchangeable.
Explained simply
The MacBook Pro is Apple’s laptop range aimed at people who need a computer for demanding work, such as video editing, software development and design. The 14-inch model is the smaller of its two standard laptop sizes, and Apple sells versions with different chips and storage options.
Apple designs the M-series chips used in its Macs, while its claims about performance compare one generation with another. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are wireless standards used to connect to the internet and nearby devices; newer versions can support faster or more capable connections when other equipment is compatible. These changes matter to buyers weighing computing speed and connectivity against the cost of upgrading.
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Originally published by The Verge as “Apple updates the MacBook Pro with M6 chips”.