Are new M5 MacBook Pro 2026 models coming soon?

New M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros are about to launch. Don’t lean too heavily on upgrade order shipment delays or Apple’s new Creator Studio launch to predict a release date, though.

It is certainly expected that there will be an M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro launch early in 2026 — and perhaps one with an OLED screen later in the year. Now it appears that at least some users looking to buy MacBook Pro models are finding shipping dates slipping.

According to MacRumors, the delay can be up to two months. As always, shipping times for the base or most common configurations are sooner than ones with any extra storage or RAM.

In this case the delay appears to be extended specifically for most M4 Max models.

As you’d expect, order delays are something we keep an eye on. Models previously available for quick shipping, then overnight shifting to not shipping until a few weeks down the road is a very good sign.

While looking into it on Monday, after seeing Joe Rossignol’s excellent work, we found that that base models of both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro are available within one or two days. The 14-inch model with M5 is the same, as you’d expect.

While the delays are inconsistent, it now looks as if every M4 Max model is affected. For instance, 14-inch MacBook Pro with the 40-core version of the M4 Max processor, and 128GB RAM, is shipping in about seven weeks time. It’s the same March 10 earliest delivery regardless of how much SSD storage is chosen.

These delays has been consistent for a few weeks, though, with it advancing week-over-week. It’s been seven weeks out for the last four weeks.

At the same time, a 16-inch MacBook Pro with this configuration is also delayed — but only by three to four weeks. This too has had marching ship dates as time passes.

As a general rule, delays in shipping a model happen overnight, and point to a specific day of release of a new model. This is not the case for the existing delays.

Signs of a new model

It’s the worst kept secret — a new MacBook Pro is coming. So, it could be true that Apple is running down its stocks ahead of an imminent refresh.

Rumor or possibly hope has suggested that Apple may release the new M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models on January 28, 2026. That’s because this is the date that Apple has already announced will see the launch of the Apple Creator Studio bundle.

You might possibly expect Apple to push orders out far enough to dissuade people from buying the old model. Or you could figure that Apple might even prefer it if people do buy that previous edition.

So it’s not as if Apple ever delays orders to exactly the same date that it is going to launch the new version.

But then it is the case that even Apple is affected by shortages and ridiculous pricing of components.

For instance, storage and especially RAM started to get much more costly in late 2025, because of demand for servers and AI projects. While Apple has long-term deals with suppliers, that doesn’t help when there are shortages. Apple gets ahead by building base configurations in advance although it prefers to keep stocks as low as possible with “just in time” manufacturing.

Build-to-order models with increased RAM and so on are, for the most part, literally built to order. They are especially susceptible to component delays.

So the fact that this is happen to M4 Max models and not M4 Pro ones doesn’t make it feel as if it’s really building to the new launch.

Either way, though, now would seem to be a poor time to order a MacBook Pro with Pro or Max processor.