Apple Plans New iPad Pro and Redesigned MacBook Pro for Spring 2027 With Faster M7 Chip That Skips M6 Pro

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple is preparing a significant hardware refresh for the first half of 2027, with four new iPad Pro models and a redesigned entry-level MacBook Pro both targeting a spring release window, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, whose report also revealed an unusual and aggressive chip strategy that would see Apple skip high-end M6 variants entirely in favor of fast-tracking a new M7 processor generation built specifically around on-device artificial intelligence performance.

The disclosures add concrete shape to a 2027 product pipeline that was previously understood only in rough outline, confirming that Apple's Pro tablet line and its most popular professional laptop will both receive meaningful updates within the same release window, even as ongoing memory shortages continue to complicate the company's manufacturing costs and pricing strategy.

On the iPad side, Apple is testing four new iPad Pro models ahead of a planned spring 2027 launch, maintaining the existing 11-inch and 13-inch display sizes and offering both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity variants within each size. No external design changes are expected, with the update focused squarely on internal improvements. Gurman reported that Apple has been experimenting with vapor chamber cooling for the iPad Pro, a thermal management technology that could help the tablet sustain higher performance levels during extended demanding workloads without throttling, similar to what Apple already incorporated into the iPhone 17 Pro. The current iPad Pro lineup uses the M5 chip introduced in October 2025, making the spring 2027 models the first update to the professional tablet in approximately 18 months.

The chip powering those new iPad Pros remains technically unconfirmed in Gurman's report, which indicated the tablets could receive either an M6 or M7 processor depending on which silicon is ready in time. That ambiguity reflects the unusual timing of Apple's chip roadmap as it currently stands.

Apple plans to introduce the M6 chip later this year in an updated 14-inch MacBook Pro, a transitional model internally codenamed J804 that carries the current MacBook Pro chassis with a chip upgrade but no design changes. That model represents the straightforward generational refresh Apple's product line would normally deliver. What is unusual is what comes next.

Apple is reportedly skipping the M6 Pro and M6 Max chip variants entirely, bypassing the high-end variants of the M6 generation that would normally follow the base M6 by six to twelve months. Instead, the company is channeling engineering resources directly toward the M7, targeting a base M7 chip debut in the first half of 2027, a compressed timeline that would give the M6 an unusually short window as the company's leading silicon before being succeeded by the next generation.

The rationale cited across reporting is AI performance. The M7 is being built on Apple's 2-nanometer manufacturing process with specific optimizations for on-device AI workloads and is targeting memory bandwidth of approximately 240 gigabytes per second, significantly ahead of the M6's comparable figure, giving it the throughput needed to run increasingly capable machine learning models locally without depending on cloud servers. Both the M6 and the M7 use 2-nanometer process technology, meaning the generational distinction lies not in the manufacturing node but in the AI-specific architecture choices Apple has made within the M7 design.

The redesigned entry-level MacBook Pro, codenamed K104, is the more visually significant of the two announcements. This model will adopt a new external design that mirrors the visual language Apple is preparing for its flagship touchscreen MacBook Pro models, expected to arrive in late 2026 or early 2027. The most notable section of Bloomberg's report is that the lower-end MacBook Pro will adopt a new design language, first seen in the OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro expected before the end of 2026 or early 2027. The K104 will not include a touchscreen itself, differentiating it from the premium models while still sharing the slimmer bezels, revised port layout and punch-hole camera replacing the current notch that define the new design language. The M7 chip will power this redesigned entry model, potentially making it the first Mac to ship with next-generation silicon if the M7 timeline holds as reported.

M7 Pro and M7 Max variants are expected later in 2027, with an M7 Ultra not anticipated until 2028, meaning buyers who require the highest levels of computational performance for video production, scientific computing or advanced machine learning development will face an extended wait between the base M7's spring 2027 debut and the arrival of its more powerful derivatives.

The spring 2027 window is shaping up as one of Apple's most product-dense launch periods in years. Beyond the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro updates, reporting suggests the same window is expected to include the iPhone 18, iPhone 18e and a second-generation iPhone Air, creating a simultaneous release cluster across Apple's most commercially important product categories.

A significant caveat accompanies all of this planning, however. The global memory shortage that has already forced Apple to raise prices substantially on its existing Mac lineup, with the entry MacBook Pro with one terabyte of storage jumping from $1,699 to $1,999 following a June price increase, continues to represent a genuine supply-side risk to any forward-looking product schedule. Apple's scale gives it priority access to TSMC's advanced manufacturing capacity and to memory suppliers in ways unavailable to smaller competitors, but no company is immune to yield problems, packaging bottlenecks or demand-driven allocation challenges when the entire semiconductor industry is simultaneously competing for the same components. Gurman's report explicitly flagged that ongoing memory and chip shortages could still disrupt the 2027 launch timeline, a caveat that applies equally to the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro plans regardless of how confident Apple's internal engineering teams are in their current roadmaps.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment on the reported product plans.