Apple announced a new 14-inch MacBook Pro with its M6 chip on Oct. 27, starting at $1,999, along with a new iMac with M6 from $1,499. Pre-orders for both open on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and the first orders arrive on Friday, Nov. 6. If you plan to order either one, wait until Apple’s event on Wednesday afternoon is over.
Apple put these two out by press release, a day before its “Pro and Tell” event. Bloomberg and other outlets have reported that the event will bring Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook Pro. Apple has not confirmed that. But pre-orders and the event land on the same day, and nothing ships until Nov. 6, so waiting a few hours costs you nothing.
The short version
- The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 starts at $1,999, or $1,899 with education pricing, with 16GB of memory as standard.
- The iMac with M6 starts at $1,499 with a 10-core chip, or $1,699 with a 12-core chip.
- Both can be pre-ordered from Oct. 28 and arrive from Nov. 6 in the US and 34 other countries and regions.
- $1,999 is the same starting price Apple listed for the 14-inch MacBook Pro on Oct. 21, so the price did not go up.
- Apple’s event starts at 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 28, and reports point to a touchscreen MacBook Pro.
- The downside: Apple compares the new chip with last year’s M5. If you bought an M5 MacBook Pro, the gain is modest.
What the M6 MacBook Pro gets
According to Apple’s announcement, the M6 chip has a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, two more of each than before. Apple says that makes graphics up to 30% faster and AI tasks up to 25% faster than the M5 model.
- Memory: 16GB as standard, with an option for 32GB. That is the most you can get with the M6 chip.
- Battery: up to 24 hours, which Apple says is the longest of any Mac.
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
- Education price: $1,899.
Only the 14-inch model with the standard M6 chip changed today. Apple’s store still sells the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the higher-end models for heavier video and software work.
What the M6 iMac gets
The new iMac keeps its 24-inch, 4.5K screen and comes in seven colors: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver. Apple says the M6 makes AI tasks up to five times faster than the M4 iMac it replaces, and it adds Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
The downside: some features are only on the $1,699 model. Apple’s footnotes list 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, Thunderbolt 4 on all four USB-C ports and the anti-glare nano-texture screen option as available only on the 12-core model. If you want any of those, the real starting price is $1,699, not $1,499.
Skip if: you need a bigger screen. The iMac only comes in one size.
Should you upgrade?
| If you have | Do this |
|---|---|
| An Intel Mac or an M1 Mac | This is a big jump. Apple says the M6 MacBook Pro has up to 11 times faster graphics and 13 times faster AI than the M1 model. |
| An M2 or M3 Mac | Worth a look if your battery is fading or 8GB of memory is slowing you down. |
| An M4 or M5 Mac | Keep it. A 25% to 30% speed bump is not worth $2,000. |
| A MacBook Pro you bought in the last two weeks | Check your return window. Apple gives you 14 days from delivery, as our guide to buying before the event explains. |
Why wait until Wednesday afternoon
Apple’s “Pro and Tell” event starts at 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 28. Reports from Bloomberg, Macworld and others say Apple will show a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen OLED display, which would be its first Mac you can touch. Apple has not said what it will announce.
If a touchscreen model appears, you will want to compare it with the M6 model before you spend $2,000. If it does not, you have lost nothing, because the M6 models ship on Nov. 6 either way. And if you do order early, Apple’s 14-day return window still covers you.
What it costs over five years
Spread over five years, the $1,999 MacBook Pro works out to about $400 a year, or $380 with education pricing. The $1,499 iMac is about $300 a year, and the $1,699 model about $340.
16GB of memory is the sensible minimum for a computer you plan to keep that long, so the base models are fine for most people. Memory has become expensive this year, as we covered in our story on the memory chip shortage, and that is a good reason to buy the amount you need now, since you cannot add more to a Mac later. Our guide on how to choose a laptop that lasts five years walks through the rest.
If you are buying in Nigeria
Apple does not run an online store in Nigeria, so these Macs will reach Nigerian shops through resellers and importers, usually weeks later and at a higher price. When the iPhone 18 Pro went on sale, Nigerian retail prices ran 26% to 51% above the US price converted at the CBN rate, as our iPhone 18 price check found. Expect a similar markup here, and check the warranty before you pay.
What to watch: Apple’s event on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET. Check back for what it means for these two Macs.
