Apple plans spring 2027 launch for new iPad Pro, iPhone models
Apple's silicon skip moves the next MacBook Pro and iPad Pro launch window to spring 2027, anchored on the M7 chip rather than the M6 generation.
Glenn Harwood·updated July 05, 2026
The M5 → M6 → M7 progression
The prior internal plan called for a transitional 14-inch MacBook Pro (codename J804) with a base M6 on the current chassis. That unit has been deprioritized in favor of the next-generation build. M6 may still surface in select SKUs during H2 2026; the 14-inch MacBook Pro is currently the only product formally tied to the chip.
M6 is targeted as Apple's first M-series chip manufactured on a 2nm process, with projected memory bandwidth of roughly 200 GB/s—up from the M5's ~153 GB/s, an approximately 31% delta. The M7 pushes the metric to approximately 240 GB/s, a figure Apple benchmarks as a 56% increase over an M5 baseline. Apple has explicitly tied the bandwidth headroom to on-device LLM throughput. M6 Pro and M6 Max have been removed from the roadmap entirely, citing production efficiency.
K104 MacBook, vapor-chamber iPad Pro
The M7 platform debuts on a redesigned entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro (K104) in H1 2027. The form factor tracks the premium touchscreen MacBook Pro expected between late 2026 and early 2027—OLED panels, a notch-to-punch-hole camera migration, and a Dynamic Island-style interface path.
The iPad Pro refresh keeps 11-inch and 13-inch screen sizes and introduces a vapor chamber cooling system—previously limited to iPhone Pro models. Paired with the M7, the thermal envelope is framed for sustained AI inference workloads rather than burst benchmarks.
What to track before buying
Memory supply constraints and rising component costs are the cited slippage vectors. The spring 2027 window may drift later in the calendar year.
A separate report tallies six new Apple models in 2027, including an iPhone 20 Pro. Detail on that count is thin; treat the figure as a projection until Apple confirms.
Practical read: a mid-2026 MacBook Pro purchase is hard to defend against an M7-equipped H1 2027 unit on memory bandwidth alone. On the iPad side, defer only if sustained thermals for AI workloads are the deciding criterion. Watch for H2 2026 M6 SKU confirmations and any K104 spec sheet before committing.