The MacRumors Show

On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the high-end of Apple's increasingly tangled MacBook lineup, including the entry-level MacBook Pro, the redesigned high-end models, and the rumored “MacBook Ultra."
1:39 Why Apple Is Skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max
4:01 MacBook Ultra Timing and First-Generation Problems
6:00 How MacBook Pro and MacBook Ultra Could Coexist
9:59 Sponsor: Claude
11:20 Untangling Apple’s Upcoming MacBook Lineup
12:47 Which MacBook Models Are Worth Waiting For?
18:00 The MacBook Pro Redesign and Dynamic Island
23:10 Could MacBook Ultra Replace High-End MacBook Pros?
28:18 What Is a Touchscreen Mac Actually For?
30:08 Samsung’s New Foldable and Apple’s iPhone Ultra
33:03 MacBook Ultra Pricing, Features, and Dream Apple Devices
Apple's chip roadmap for the Mac is reportedly set to take an unusual turn over the next year. The company is said to be skipping the M6 Pro and M6 Max entirely, jumping from the M5 generation straight to the M7 for its high-end laptops. A standard M6 chip will still arrive this year in an entry-level ‌MacBook Pro‌, but there will apparently be no Pro or Max variant in that family.
As a result, Apple's first high-end OLED laptop will use the existing M5 Pro and M5 Max chips rather than newer silicon. First-generation buyers would therefore be paying a premium for a redesigned machine featuring the same processors already found in the current ‌MacBook Pro‌, with M7 Pro and M7 Max models expected to follow in the second half of 2027.
The launch window remains fluid. The device was long expected to arrive in late 2026, but memory chip constraints and Apple's recent price increases have pushed it toward early 2027. A second-generation model with M7 chips is already planned for late 2027, meaning the first Ultra could remain on sale for a relatively short window.
The overlapping releases make for a crowded and confusing roadmap. Across roughly a year, Apple is expected to ship a base M6 ‌MacBook Pro‌, a redesigned base M7 model in the first half of 2027, two M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Ultramodels, their eventual M7 Pro and M7 Max successors, and perhaps new high-end ‌MacBook Pro‌ models with the M7 Pro and M7 Max. Notably, the entry-level M7 model is set to get the new design first, ahead of the pricier high-end ‌MacBook Pro‌ models.
The headline changes are reserved for the top-tier "Ultra" model. It is expected to be the first Mac with an OLED display, using the same hybrid tandem ‌OLED‌ technology as the iPad Pro, along with the first touchscreen on a Mac, a Dynamic Island in place of the notch, and a thinner chassis. Both 14-inch and 16-inch sizes are expected. Built-in cellular connectivity for the first time on a Mac is also rumored.
Apple is reportedly positioning touch as “touch-friendly, not touch-first," letting users move between touch, trackpad, and keyboard rather than treating the Mac like an iPad. That marks a reversal for a company that long resisted the idea. Steve Jobs argued in 2010 that vertical touchscreens cause arm fatigue, and as recently as 2021 hardware chief John Ternus said the Mac was "totally optimized for indirect input."
Signs of the shift are already visible in macOS 27 Golden Gate, which adds direct touch control to Sidecar, so users can tap and interact with macOS elements using a finger on an ‌iPad‌. A reinforced hinge is also expected, so the display does not wobble when tapped.
Pricing is likely to be steep. Apple raised prices across the Mac lineup in June, and the current 14-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ now starts at $1,999, rising to $2,499 with the M5 Pro chip and $4,099 for an M5 Max. The 16-inch M5 Max reaches $4,399, and a fully specced configuration already exceeds $10,000. The high-end ‌OLED‌ model is expected to start higher still.
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On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the latest leaks and rumors surrounding the iPhone 18 Pro. 
01:30 Tata Electronics data leak discussion
02:49 iPhone 18 Pro's C2 modem: US.. vs. international
09:57 Color-matched rear glass insert
12:20 Variable aperture camera upgrade
17:31 Apple's camera marketing and demo criticism
20:59 iPhone 18 Pro price increase expectations
27:55 Apple TV price hike reaction
35:24 Micron, memory shortage, and supplier pricing
41:18 New HomePod and Apple TV timing 
43:56 iPhone 18 Pro's 5G satellite connectivity feature
49:11 SIM vs. eSIM and carrier headaches
Tata Electronics, one of Apple's manufacturing partners in India, was hit by a ransomware attackthat resulted in more than 200,000 internal files being posted online, including component lists, supplier data, and images of ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ test units. The material was obtained illegally, and MacRumors has not seen the stolen files directly.
Among the leak's more surprising details is that the C2 modem may be limited to international models, succeeding the C1 and C1X modems already used in the iPhone Air, iPhone 17e, and M5 iPad Pro. A bill of materials for the U.S. variant instead lists Qualcomm components, including the SDX80M and other parts associated with mmWave 5G, a feature Apple's C-series modems still lack. U.S. carriers have spent years building out mmWave networks, making it a harder feature to drop from the Pro lineup than it was from the ‌iPad Pro‌ or a rumored cellular MacBook.
The leak also lined up with existing rumors of a more uniform rear finish than the iPhone 17 Pro's two-tone design and camera lenses that protrude further from the plateau. Separately, a leaked SIM tray offered another look at the rumored Dark Cherry color option, expected to join Light Blue, Dark Gray, and Silver as this year's lineup, with no black model.
On the camera side, the rumored variable aperture main camera is this year's headline upgrade, though it's unclear how much of a real-world difference it will make compared to genuinely transformative jumps in past generations, like the 8x telephoto lens introduced on the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ or the and 48-megapixel sensor from the iPhone 14 Pro. 
Pricing looms over rumors about the device. Apple has now raised prices across much of its lineup, citing a global memory chip shortage driven largely by AI data center demand. The Apple TV and HomePod price hikes drew particular criticism, since both products are several years old with no accompanying hardware changes.
Estimates for the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ itself point to a starting price as high as $1,399, up from $1,099 for the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌, an increase weighed against a modest RAM and battery bump, a smaller Dynamic Island, and a more capable N2 chip. A rumored 5G-via-satellite feature will likely offer limited access to specific services like Siri or Maps rather than full Safari browsing.
Micron's chief business officer suggested that Apple's own aggressive supplier negotiating tactics may have contributed to the memory shortage now driving prices up industry-wide
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This week’s episode of The MacRumors Show focuses on Apple’s surprise price hikes, the potential impact on the iPhone 18 lineup, new Apple Watch Ultra 4 rumors, and camera-equipped AirPods coming in 2027.
00:51 Apple Price Hikes Overview
02:00 iPhone 18 Price Hike Expectations
03:58 RAM/Storage Cost Breakdown
09:36 Why Upgrading Yearly Isn’t Necessary
11:49 When Could Price Hikes Hit?
16:30 Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 Rumors
21:05 Apple Watch Health Features and Market Plateau
24:24 Should Apple Slow Down Annual Watch Releases?
33:18 iPhone 18 Pro: Colors and Durability
34:50 Foldable iPhone Launch Timing and Demand
38:11 AirPods With Cameras
Apple has raised prices across nearly its entire product lineup, including Macs, iPads, Apple TV, HomePod, and Vision Pro, citing soaring RAM and flash storage costs driven by AI infrastructure demand. Price increases ranged from $30 to as much as $1,300, while iPhones, AirPods, Studio Display, and accessories were left unchanged for now. Apple also brought back the 256GB Mac mini at a higher $799 price.
Those same component costs could lead to significant iPhone 18 Pro price increases this fall. Industry estimates suggest Apple may need to raise prices by around $270 to maintain margins, with the iPhone 18 Pro potentially starting around $1,399 and the Pro Max around $1,499, partly due to more expensive camera hardware.
The iPhone 18 Pro is expected to retain its aluminum design while introducing new colors, including a signature Dark Cherry finish, though reports suggest the finishes could be prone to chipping similar to last year’s models.
Apple is still expected to launch the iPhone 18 lineup alongside its first foldable iPhone, tentatively called the iPhone Ultra, in September. The foldable is rumored to feature a 7.8-inch inner display, 5.5-inch outer display, A20 chip, C2 modem, Touch ID, dual rear cameras, and a starting price around $2,000.
The episode also covers rumors that the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and Apple Watch Series 12 will debut this fall with faster processors and new watch faces in watchOS 27.
Finally, Apple has reportedly delayed its camera-equipped AirPods to 2027. Rather than taking photos or videos, the embedded cameras will feed visual information to Siri for object recognition, contextual assistance, reminders, and navigation. The delay is reportedly due to Apple’s ongoing AI development challenges.
00:51 Apple Price Hikes Overview
02:00 iPhone 18 Price Hike Expectations
03:58 RAM/Storage Cost Breakdown
09:36 Why Upgrading Yearly Isn’t Necessary
11:49 When Could Price Hikes Hit?
16:30 Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 Rumors
21:05 Apple Watch Health Features and Market Plateau
24:24 Should Apple Slow Down Annual Watch Releases?
33:18 iPhone 18 Pro: Colors and Durability
34:50 Foldable iPhone Launch Timing and Demand
38:11 AirPods With Cameras

On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we continue unpacking WWDC 2026 and take a closer look at iOS 27, macOS Golden Gate, and Apple's other new software updates coming this fall.
00:00 — Intro & beta check-in
00:42 — OS compatibility cuts: watchOS, iOS, macOS, tvOS, iPadOS
09:49 — Sponsor: Claude
11:08 — Liquid Glass refinements & redesigned icons
14:10 — Shortcuts with natural language
16:34 — Sidebar icons, extra-large widgets & foldable iPhone hints
18:43 — Siri's new design & dynamic island shape
20:20 — Siri AI in practice: autocorrect, clarifications, and daily use
25:57 — Third-party AI extensions & region availability
30:03 — Apple Intelligence across apps: Messages, Image Playground, Genmoji, Passwords, nutrition
39:35 — macOS Golden Gate & the keynote's new format
44:39 — iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS, tvOS, and HomeKit hints
iOS 27 supports the same iPhones as iOS 26, including the iPhone 11 and second-generation iPhone SE, giving the update the widest device compatibility of any iOS release to date.
macOS Golden Gate drops Intel Macs entirely, confirming the end of an era that Apple flagged a year earlier when it said macOS Tahoe would be the final release for pre-Apple silicon machines. Four models that ran Tahoe miss out: the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019), the 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ with four Thunderbolt 3 ports (2020), the 2020 iMac, and the 2019 Mac Pro. Golden Gate is also the last version with full Rosetta 2 support, meaning the translation layer that keeps Intel-built apps running on Apple silicon will disappear entirely after this release.
iPadOS 27 raises its hardware floor to the A14 Bionic or M1 chip, cutting the fifth-generation iPad mini, the eighth-generation iPad, the third-generation iPad Air, the first-generation 11-inch iPad Pro, and the third-generation 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌.
watchOS 27 makes the steepest cuts in Apple Watch history, dropping the Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, original Ultra, and second-generation SE in a single wave and effectively erasing three years of device support at once. The only models that remain compatible are the Series 9, Series 10, Series 11, Ultra 2, Ultra 3, and SE 3.
tvOS 27 drops two Apple TV models, the Apple TV HD from 2015 and the first-generation ‌Apple TV‌ 4K from 2017, leaving only the second- and third-generation ‌Apple TV‌ 4K boxes supported.
In ‌iOS 27‌, notifications now slide in from the left edge of the screen rather than dropping down from the top, and reaching Notification Centre requires swiping down from the top-left corner instead of the centre, freeing up that gesture for Siri. Other changes include colorful sidebar icons, real-time widget updates when an app is already open, extra-large Home Screen widgets, and web audio that no longer interrupts other system audio.
The centerpiece of the update is Siri AI, which replaces Spotlight with a "Search or Ask" interface accessed by swiping down from the center of the display. ‌Siri‌ is designed to tone-match a user's own writing style when composing messages. Apple's pill-shaped ‌Siri‌ indicator is seemingly a hardware workaround for current Dynamic Island constraints, and a smaller ‌Dynamic Island‌ on the iPhone 18 Pro could allow the indicator to become a true circle. On the Apple Watch, ‌Siri‌ AI requires pairing with an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence. In the European Union, ‌Siri‌ AI is available on macOS and visionOS at launch but not on the iPhone or ‌iPad‌.
‌Apple Intelligence‌ is also getting smarter Writing Tools and a composition assistant in Mail and Messages that adapts to how a user typically communicates with different contacts. Apple has overhauled Genmoji, adding a "Describe a change" interface for iterating on existing creations and the ability to start a new Genmoji from an existing emoji, a photo, or a person tagged in the user's photo library. Image Playground similarly adds support for multiple aspect ratios for wallpapers, Contact Posters, and social media images, alongside new photorealistic image generation.
Visual Intelligence, meanwhile, gets a new primary entry point called ‌Siri‌ Mode, though holding down Camera Control still works as an alternative. The feature is expanding to the ‌iPad‌ and Mac, and now supports importing multiple calendar events from a single photo of a flyer, as well as importing contacts directly from a photographed business card.
On the Mac, ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ extends toolbars and sidebars to the edges of the screen with a more consistent, tighter corner radius across windows. iPadOS 27 adds undo and redo for ‌Home Screen‌ edits, extra-large widgets in Today View, an optional persistent menu bar, and Visual Intelligence support for screenshots combined with Apple Pencil highlighting. Notes gains an Image Wand tool that generates photorealistic images from rough sketches, the ‌Siri‌ app gets a dedicated sidebar with full windowing support, and Shortcuts adds support for Magic Keyboard triggers.
watchOS 27 drops the Walkie-Talkie app entirely, with the feature missing from both the app list and Control Center in the first developer beta, while adding new Smart Stack suggestions, more accurate step tracking, and a consolidated Find My app. visionOS 27 lets users activate ‌Siri‌ simply by looking at its on-screen bubble rather than requiring a button press, and adds a redesigned Control Center along with new curved windows. tvOS 27 brings a redesigned Podcasts app, Hi-Res Lossless audio support in Apple Music, and on-device processing for HomeKit Secure Video.
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On this week’s special episode of The MacRumors Show, we break down everything Apple announced at WWDC 2026, including the all-new Siri AI, major Apple Intelligence upgrades, performance improvements across every platform, and Apple’s latest design refinements.

0:00 Introduction
1:31 Platform Improvements and Liquid Glass
7:08 Trust & Safety and Parental Controls
9:56 Sponsor: Shopify
11:21 Siri AI: Overview and Rebrand
15:00 Siri AI vs. Competitors and Live Demos
19:18 Visual Intelligence, Writing Tools, and Multi-Platform Siri
22:56 Google Gemini Partnership and Privacy
26:36 Apple Intelligence in Safari and Password Management
32:44 Apple Intelligence in Messages, Calendar, and Home
36:50 Image Playground and Photos
40:26 AirPods EQ, Apple Watch, Beta Access, and Final Thoughts
We discuss the new Siri experience powered by Apple’s rebuilt AI foundation, including natural conversations, personal context awareness, web access, a dedicated Siri app, Dynamic Island integration, and new AI-powered features across Messages, Mail, Photos, Safari, Shortcuts, Calendar, Home, and more. We also cover Apple’s partnership with Google technologies, privacy protections, waitlist access, and regional availability.
Plus, we dive into Liquid Glass refinements, faster app performance, expanded parental controls, CarPlay updates, Vision Pro enhancements, watchOS 27 features, and everything coming to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27 ahead of their public release this fall.
Tune in for our complete breakdown and analysis of Apple’s biggest software event of the year.
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