Apple has substantial plans for new Macs in 2025, at least if the rumor peddlers aren’t barking up the wrong trees entirely – and these are the same leakers who correctly called this year’s launches.
We’re likely to see a trio of new Macs powered by the M4 chip, and later in 2025, Apple devices powered by a new M5 processor could also turn up – as well as fresh twists on the Vision Pro headset, possibly.
Here’s what we reckon will be the key launches for Apple on the Mac front in 2025, not forgetting the software side of the equation – and, of course, AI.
MacBook Air M4 set for an early 2025 arrival
The first major move Apple is predicted to make in 2025 is to refresh the MacBook Air, and of course that means gracing the thin-and-light laptop with the M4 chip.
If the rumors are right, the MacBook Air M4 is set to turn up early in 2025, most likely in Q1 (so March at the latest), and the laptops are supposedly already in production ahead of this purported launch.
As with the MacBook Pro M4 models that were released late in 2024, the MacBook Air with M4 is expected to keep much the same design as the existing 13-inch and 15-inch models. Refreshes of both of those notebooks are expected to be released, and Apple itself has even leaked references to these devices in its macOS 15.2 update (underlining their proximity).
That explains why there hasn’t been much in the way of leaks about major twists in design or hardware changes with the next-gen MacBook Airs – because there aren’t any, or it certainly seems that way.
If these devices are as close to launch as Q1 2025, we’d surely have heard about big changes by now, so in short, don’t get your hopes up for anything too exciting beyond that M4 upgrade.
Mac Studio M4 expected for Q2 debut
Apple isn’t stopping with the MacBook Air when it comes to equipping more Macs with the M4 SoC, and the Mac Studio is expected to be next in line. Of course, it must be said that an upgrade to newer M-series silicon is very much overdue for the compact workstation, which is still using M2 chips.
Apparently, Apple was originally planning to debut the Mac Studio early in 2025, close to the MacBook Air M4, but according to the latest from the grapevine, the heavyweight mini PC has slipped to later in the year – most likely it’ll arrive in Q2, or so renown Apple leaker Mark Gurman contends.
We haven’t witnessed much spillage on potential hardware or design tweaks, so again, it may well be a case of the M4 upgrade being the main point of interest with the next Mac Studio.
Mac Pro completes the M4 trio
Apple’s third Mac to get the M4 treatment in 2025 will theoretically be the Mac Pro, although this behemoth computer will be the last to pitch up next year. According to Mark Gurman, this Mac won’t be unleashed until later in 2025, after the Mac Studio (so perhaps Q3, or maybe a bit later even).
Just like the Studio, this is a refresh that’s been long awaited, albeit in a niche category (both the Mac Studio and Mac Pro don’t account for a lot of Mac sales, as you might guess, given their price tags and target market). The Mac Pro is also still on Apple’s M2 silicon.
Gossip on the spec and other fine details is seriously thin on the ground, but we might see the M4 Ultra chip supercharge the Mac Pro 2025, Gurman believes. Incidentally, rumors that were swirling of some kind of M4 Extreme chip have been firmly dismissed, but clearly we can expect any new Mac Pro to be seriously powerful, whatever chip it runs with eventually.
M5 takes the baton, likely pepping up iPad Pro and MacBook Pro models
With Apple done slotting in M4 upgrades for its Mac range, the company will be able to turn its attention to the next chip in line. There are rumors that the M5 will grace the iPad Pro later in 2025, and it’s a pretty good bet that Apple will also launch a fresh generation of MacBook Pro models as 2025 comes to a close.
As Mark Gurman has already theorized, the likelihood is that the MacBook Pro 2025 will again be a more minor overhaul, mostly based around the M5 SoC. (Although we have been treated to some hints that these next-gen laptops could get a bit trimmer).
The major revamp with the MacBook Pro, however, is expected to be the 2026 model, which could finally make the leap to an OLED display – that definitely isn’t expected to happen as soon as 2025.
macOS 16 debuts with more AI – but temper expectations
As with every year, Apple will roll out a new version of macOS to advance on the software front as well as with its hardware.
It’s still too early to tell what might be in macOS 16 – we don’t even have a rumored name for the successor to macOS 15 Sequioa – but Apple is already working on the desktop operating system, for sure. In fact, industry analysts believe that Apple began developing macOS 16 back in June 2024.
We can safely guess that Apple is going to push AI in macOS 16 (and iOS 19 for that matter), ushering in new Apple Intelligence features on Laptop and desktop PCs.
However, the chatter from the rumor mill seems to suggest that the bigger moves with AI – including a fully revamped Siri, built as a large language model (LLM) and capable of human-style conversations – may not happen until 2026.
Add plenty of seasoning, as ever, but 2025 could be more about AI refinement, with the real work coming the following year.
Apple will likely release macOS 16 around September or October 2025.
Vision Pro 2 – and a more affordable model, too
Apple’s Vision Pro turned up early this year, and it impressed us in many ways – but not the computing public.
Obviously the seriously weighty price tag made the mixed-reality headset a very niche proposition, and sales figures reflected that, meaning Apple reportedly scaled back its production plans for the hardware.
It’s possible that Apple might tackle the affordability issue with a cheaper Vision Pro rumored to be coming next year. Mind you, cheaper is a relative term, as speculation suggests that the price bracket Apple is mulling for this lower-tier headset might pitch it at around a couple of grand – still very much in premium territory.
We may also see a second-gen version of the full-fat Vision Pro pepped up with the M5 chip that could arrive later in 2025, though it may not see much in the way of change otherwise.
Apple would likely be aiming to keep production costs down, not adding new stuff beyond the M5 upgrade, in theory, to keep more of a lid on pricing.
Concluding thoughts
Apple has suffered from slumping Mac sales in 2024, so that’s obviously something that Tim Cook’s company will want to turn around next year.
The clutch of M4 Macs launched at the end of October this year (MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini) could already be helping to turn the tide, and the MacBook Air M4 debuting early in 2025 (as rumored) would be Apple attempting to drive further momentum with that popular consumer-targeted notebook.
Similarly, hitting home with new M5 Macs at the close of 2025 would also be part of the drive to keep the upgrade wheels turning, and folks buying new Macs.
That said, economic headwinds next year may do their best to interfere with Apple’s plans (at least in the US, as President-elect Trump’s tariffs are going to have an impact, should they materialize—and not just for Apple).
With apparent plans to try and push the Vision Pro to be a better-performing product at retail, too, it’s clear that a lot of 2025 will be about trying to drum up sales for Apple. This is always the case, of course – but more so here, in trying to turn a distinctly negative situation into a positive with a raft of launches.
And there’s no doubt AI will remain high on the agenda this year, although the big moves with Apple Intelligence and Siri are likely to be kept back until 2026 – as are the major laptop refreshes like the OLED (and probably super-svelte) MacBook Pro.
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