Apple is gearing up to release new iPad Pro models and a redesigned entry-level MacBook Pro in the first half of next year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who has a strong track record on Apple product leaks. The report paints a picture of a company quietly stacking up releases for what's shaping up to be one of its busiest hardware years in over a decade — and it's happening against a backdrop of rising prices that Apple itself has openly acknowledged.

Four New iPad Pros, Same Look, Faster Guts

Apple is currently testing four new iPad Pro models targeting a spring 2027 launch. Anyone expecting a major visual overhaul will be disappointed — the tablets are staying with the familiar 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, offered in both Wi-Fi and cellular variants, just like today's lineup. The real changes are happening under the hood: faster chips, and possibly a return to vapor-chamber cooling, a technology Apple has reportedly experimented with before to help the iPad sustain performance during longer, more demanding workloads without throttling.

That's consistent with Apple's last iPad Pro release, back in October 2025, which introduced the M5 chip. A roughly 18-month gap between major refreshes would track with Apple's usual cadence, though the chip inside this next version is where things get more interesting.

The Real Star: A Redesigned Entry-Level MacBook Pro

The more compelling update, according to the report, is happening on the Mac side. Apple has reportedly already finished work on a stopgap 14-inch MacBook Pro — internally known as J804 — that keeps the current design but bumps the chip to an M6, expected to land later this year. But the bigger deal is what comes after: a fully redesigned entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, codenamed K104, arriving in the first half of 2027.

This would be the first real design refresh for Apple's cheapest MacBook Pro in more than five years — the entry-level model has essentially kept the same enclosure since the M1 generation launched back in 2021. Reports suggest the new design will borrow visual cues from the touchscreen MacBook Pro Apple is reportedly preparing for its higher-end lineup, though the budget version will likely skip the touchscreen itself to keep costs in check. Expect thinner bezels and a shift away from the notch toward a smaller punch-hole camera, more in line with modern laptop design trends.

This is a notably different situation from the MacBook Neo Apple shipped back in March, a genuinely budget-focused laptop that borrowed the iPhone's A18 chip rather than a proper Mac processor. The 2027 model being described here is positioned as a full Mac-caliber machine, not a stripped-down alternative.

Apple Is Skipping Ahead to M7

Perhaps the most surprising detail in the report is the chip timeline. Apple is reportedly fast-tracking its M7 processor for a first-half-2027 debut — meaning the M6, which hasn't even shipped yet, could get barely a year in the spotlight before Apple moves on. The M7 is said to be built with on-device AI in mind, targeting a significant jump in memory bandwidth to keep pace with the growing demands of running AI models locally rather than in the cloud. That pressure isn't unique to Apple — chipmakers across the industry, from Qualcomm to Intel, are racing to build more capable on-device AI hardware as software increasingly assumes local processing power that simply didn't exist a few years ago.

Rising Prices Make the Timing Interesting

All of this is unfolding while Apple grapples with a genuinely brutal memory chip market. CEO Tim Cook has said memory costs have roughly quadrupled over the past year, driven largely by AI companies buying up global chip supply for data centers. Apple has already responded by raising prices across its current Mac and iPad lineup — the 11-inch iPad Pro's starting price jumped from $999 to $1,199, and the 13-inch model went from $1,299 to $1,499, both increases landing in June. Some MacBook Pro configurations have seen even steeper jumps.

That pricing pressure adds an interesting wrinkle to Apple's 2027 plans. A more affordable, redesigned MacBook Pro would be a welcome release at a moment when Apple's prices are trending upward almost across the board — assuming the memory shortage doesn't force further price hikes by the time it actually ships.

Bloomberg's report also notes the obvious caveat: none of this is set in stone. Ongoing memory and chip shortages could still delay Apple's timeline, and the company hasn't commented publicly on any of it. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.