Apple unveils 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip
Apple has unveiled an updated 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 processor. The laptop retains its previous chassis and Liquid Retina XDR display, but now features a 12-core CPU and GPU, faster unified memory, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.
Performance
The MacBook Pro is powered by Apple M6, unveiled in August and manufactured using a 2nm process. The processor has 12 compute cores: two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. By comparison, the M5 had a 10-core CPU.
The GPU also has 12 cores, up from 10 in the M5. Each core includes a Neural Accelerator to speed up machine-learning tasks. The GPU supports Dynamic Caching and third-generation hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
Apple says the MacBook Pro with M6 delivers up to 30% better graphics performance than the M5 model, while local AI tasks run up to 25% faster. In some scenarios, the dual 16-core Neural Engine is up to 1.9 times faster than the Neural Engine in the M5.
In Apple’s internal tests, the new laptop delivered the following performance gains over the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5:
| Task | MacBook Pro M6 vs. M5 |
|---|---|
| Processing LLM queries to first token | up to 1.3× faster |
| Ray-traced rendering in Blender | up to 1.3× faster |
| Image processing in Affinity | up to 1.2× faster |
| Compiling projects in Xcode | up to 1.3× faster |
The chip also includes hardware H.264, HEVC, and ProRes decoding and encoding engines, supports ProRes RAW, and offers hardware-accelerated AV1 decoding.
Memory and storage
The MacBook Pro with M6 comes with 16, 24, or 32GB of unified memory. The maximum bandwidth of 170GB/s is available only in configurations with 24 or 32GB. The base model with 16GB delivers 153GB/s.
Storage options include 1, 2, or 4TB SSDs. The base configuration therefore comes with 16GB of unified memory and a 1TB drive.
Display
The laptop retains its 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, with a resolution of 3024×1964 pixels and a pixel density of 254ppi. The panel displays more than a billion colors and supports the wide P3 color gamut, True Tone, and ProMotion with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
Peak brightness when playing HDR content reaches 1,600 nits, while sustained full-screen HDR brightness is 1,000 nits. For SDR, brightness reaches 1,000 nits when used outdoors. The contrast ratio is 1,000, 000:1. As before, nano-texture glass is available for an extra charge to reduce glare.
Connectivity and ports
One of the notable wireless upgrades is support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The laptop also uses Apple’s N1 wireless chip, which supports Thread.
The physical ports include three Thunderbolt 4 ports with speeds of up to 40Gbps, HDMI, MagSafe 3, an SDXC slot, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Unlike MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max, the M6 model does not have Thunderbolt 5.
Up to two external displays can be connected to the laptop at once. It supports two displays at up to 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 165Hz. With one monitor, resolutions and refresh rates of up to 8K at 60Hz, 5K at 120Hz, or 4K at 240Hz are supported.
For video calls, the laptop has a 12MP Center Stage camera that records 1080p video and supports Desk View. The audio system consists of six speakers and supports Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. It also has three studio-quality microphones.
Battery and dimensions
The battery has a capacity of 72.4Wh. Apple claims up to 24 hours of video streaming or up to 16 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi.
The box includes a 70W USB-C power adapter and a two-meter USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable. With a power adapter rated at 96W or higher, fast charging can reach 50% in about 30 minutes.
The chassis measures 31,26×22,12×1,55 cm and weighs 1.55kg. Color options are Space Black and Silver.
Software
The MacBook Pro comes with macOS 27 Golden Gate and supports Apple Intelligence. In supported languages, the system also offers Siri AI and on-device processing for a range of AI tasks, including working with language models.
It’s worth noting that the M6 is currently available only in the base 14-inch MacBook Pro. The more powerful 14- and 16-inch models continue to use M5 Pro and M5 Max.
Pricing and availability
Pre-orders for the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 open on October 28 in 35 countries and regions. Sales and deliveries begin on November 6.
| Market | Configuration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 16GB + 1TB | $1999 |
| Germany | 16GB + 1TB | €2299 |
| Ireland | 16GB + 1TB | €2349 |
By comparison, after the lineup was updated in March, the previous 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 and a 1TB SSD cost from $1699 in the US. This means the comparable base M6 configuration has gone up by $300, or about 18%.
