Apple Unveils 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M6 Chip: Here's Everything That's New

Apple has given its 14-inch MacBook Pro a fresh performance upgrade, and this time, the biggest changes are happening under the hood. The company has introduced the new MacBook Pro powered by its M6 chipset, bringing improvements in CPU and GPU performance, faster on-device AI processing, and upgraded wireless connectivity.

The new laptop starts at ₹2,39,900 in India, which is quite a jump from the ₹1,69,900 launch price of last year's M5-powered model. However, Apple has also doubled the starting storage to 1TB, while retaining several features that made the previous MacBook Pro a compelling option for creators and professionals.

So what has changed, and does the new M6 chip offer enough improvements to justify the upgrade? Let's take a closer look.

Apple MacBook Pro M6: What's New?

The headline upgrade is Apple's M6 chipset, which is built using a 2nm manufacturing process. It features a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, giving it two additional CPU and GPU cores compared to the M5.

According to Apple, the new GPU delivers up to 30% faster graphics performance and a 25% improvement in certain AI workloads compared to its predecessor. There's also a new Dual 16-core Neural Engine, which Apple claims is up to 1.9 times faster than the one in the M5.

Now, these improvements might not sound particularly exciting if you primarily use your laptop for browsing, emails, and everyday productivity. However, people who regularly edit high-resolution videos, work with large Photoshop files, render 3D projects, or run AI models locally could find the additional performance useful.

Apple is also highlighting improvements in specific creative applications. For instance, it claims the new MacBook Pro delivers up to 30% faster ray-tracing performance in Blender and approximately 25% faster project compilation in Xcode compared to the M5 model. Of course, these are Apple's own performance figures, so we'll have to wait for independent testing to see how significant the improvements are in everyday use.

The laptop comes with 16GB of unified memory as standard, configurable up to 32GB, alongside memory bandwidth of up to 170GB/s.

Familiar Design, Better Connectivity, and 24-Hour Battery Life

While the M6 brings some meaningful performance improvements, Apple hasn't made any dramatic changes to the MacBook Pro's overall design.

The laptop continues to feature a 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with up to 1,600 nits of peak HDR brightness. There's also an optional nano-texture finish for users who frequently work in brightly lit environments and want to minimise reflections.

For video calls, Apple has retained the 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View support. You also get a six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio and a studio-quality three-microphone array.

Connectivity is one area where things have improved. The M6 MacBook Pro now supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, bringing faster wireless connectivity when paired with compatible devices and networks.

As for physical connectivity, you still get three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, a headphone jack, and MagSafe 3 charging. The laptop also supports up to two external displays.

Battery life remains impressive on paper, although it hasn't increased over the previous generation. Apple promises up to 24 hours of usage on a single charge. With a compatible 96W USB-C power adapter, the battery can also reach 50% in approximately 30 minutes.

On the software side, the MacBook Pro ships with macOS 27 Golden Gate, bringing enhanced Apple Intelligence features and a more capable Siri. The assistant can use personal context from supported apps to find information, help with writing, and perform tasks across applications. Safari also gets smarter tab organisation and website-change notifications.

Apple MacBook Pro M6 Price and Availability in India

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 starts at ₹2,39,900 in India, while eligible students and educators can purchase it for ₹2,27,900.

Pre-orders begin on October 28 at 10:40 PM IST through Apple's official website and the Apple Store app. The laptop will go on sale starting November 6 through Apple Stores and authorised retailers.

Buyers can choose between Space Black and Silver colour options, with additional memory and storage configurations available.

The bigger question, however, is whether existing MacBook Pro owners should consider upgrading. If you're still using an Intel-powered Mac or an older M1 model, the M6 promises a substantial improvement in performance, efficiency, and connectivity. But if you have anything with the M4 and above, this upgrade might not be a big leap for you.