Apple likely to transition its MacBook Pro models to OLED displays in 2026.
MacBook Pro models may also get an iPhone-like pill-shaped Dynamic Island.
Other devices, including the iPad Mini, iPad Air, and MacBook Air, may also transition to OLED displays.
Apple MacBooks are one of the most popular laptops known for their sleek design, reliability, and, of course, macOS. Until now, MacBook Pros have been using Mini LED displays. However, a new leak suggests they could be replaced with OLED panels, which means deeper blacks and more vibrant colors.
According to a report by 9To5Mac, citing research firm Omdia, Apple is expected to transition to OLED displays for its Pros between 2026 and 2027.
These MacBook Pro models will likely also remove the controversial notch in favor of an iPhone-like Dynamic Island. On iPhones, Dynamic Island is a small pill-shaped cutout at the top of the display that houses the front-facing camera and Face ID sensors. It can expand to show different notifications, ongoing activities, and more. We believe the same could be possible on MacBooks.
However, considering MacBooks don’t yet have Face ID and still rely on Touch ID for unlocking, the Dynamic Island might be purely cosmetic. Its major use case would then be displaying the status of ongoing tasks and other notifications.
The 2026 or 2027 MacBook Pro may adopt an OLED display with hybrid technology similar to the latest iPad Pro model. For example, the M4 iPad Pro uses a Tandem OLED design with two OLED panels stacked together, which allows for higher brightness levels.
The report further hints that Apple may also transition its other devices to OLED displays. The iPad Mini will probably switch to OLED in 2026, while the iPad Air will get the display tech in 2027. The MacBook Air may get it in 2028, but Apple may retain its traditional notch design to maintain the price difference.
But again, these are just leaks, and it’s too early to speculate about something that’s about two years away. So take this with a pinch of salt. However, it does give us a hint at the direction Apple could be heading. Based on the leaks so far, I’m excited about what’s to come.
Apple is working on the development of its next-generation M series processors. It could be based on ARM architecture. The company has ordered its new M5 chips from TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), the primary chip supplier for Apple.
Apple was planning to launch its new M5 chip with TSMC’s advanced 2nm process technology. However, Apple is going to stick with the same 3nm chipset as its predecessors citing high costs.
Why Apple Is Going Back to 3nm Chips
The main reason is that the cost of the 2nm fabrication process is very high. This will result in increased prices of MacBooks and iPads which may result in decreasing company overall sales. This decision reflects a strategic move to balance innovation with affordability. Apple products are already some of the most premium and expensive in the market. A further hike in prices may directly impact sales.
Although the new M5 will not built on 2nm technology, this does not necessarily mean that the M5 chip will not be an upgrade over the existing M4 chip in terms of performance.
Apple in partnership with TSMC will use advanced SoIC packaging with carbon fiber composite molding. This 3D chip-stacking technology improves thermal management and reduces electrical leakage compared to traditional 2D designs.
The chip may result in significant gains in performance while being more power efficient.
Apple is also planning to use the new M5 chip in its AI server infrastructure to bring more advanced Apple intelligence features to the table.
The MacBook Pro models could be the first models to get Apple’s M5 chip, while the M5 MacBook Air series is expected to launch in early 2026.
There is a chance that the M5 iPad Pro models will launch alongside the M5 MacBook Pro models.
Apple recently updated its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Mini with the latest M4 chip. The MacBook Air is the last major model awaiting an M4 refresh, and it’s expected to launch with the M4 chip in March 2025. So, should you wait for the M4 MacBook Air, or is the current M3 Air good enough? Let’s find out.
M4 vs. M3 Performance Comparison
For starters, the M4 chip offers a significant performance upgrade over the M3. It features up to a 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, along with up to a 10-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a 16-core Neural Engine, and 120GB/s memory bandwidth.
The M3 MacBook Air, on the other hand, has an 8-core CPU and offers either an 8-core or 10-core GPU depending on the configuration. While it also supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and a 16-core Neural Engine, its memory bandwidth is slightly lower at 100GB/s.
Historically, we’ve seen a similarity between the core configurations of the iMac and the MacBook Air. Based on this trend, if you check the current iMac, it’s possible that the upcoming M4 MacBook Air will come in similar configurations: 8-core CPU + 8-core GPU and 10-core CPU + 10-core GPU.
Why the M4 Chip Matters?
The M4 chip is a game-changer for the MacBook Air, bringing a significant boost in performance, features, and efficiency. This translates to a faster, more responsive, and more powerful machine for everyday tasks and demanding workloads.
At the heart of the M4’s improvements is its CPU. With two extra cores compared to the M3, the M4 delivers approximately 23% faster single-core performance and up to 25% faster multi-core performance. This means you’ll experience snappier app launches, smoother multitasking, and improved performance in demanding applications like video editing and 3D rendering.
The M4 also boasts a 20% faster memory bandwidth, which allows data to move more quickly between the CPU, GPU, and other components. This results in smoother multitasking, faster app loading, and improved performance in memory-intensive tasks.
Graphics performance gets a significant upgrade as well. In GPU benchmarks, the M4 shows a performance gain of about 21%, enabling smoother gameplay, faster video editing, and enhanced graphics rendering.
Finally, the M4’s Neural Engine is twice as powerful as the one in the M3. This accelerates machine learning tasks, leading to faster and more accurate performance in tasks involving voice recognition, image processing, and natural language processing. You’ll notice the difference when using Apple AI features.
M4 MacBook Air Expected to Support 3 External Displays
While the M3 chip supports a maximum of two external displays (one 6K with the built-in display, or two 5K with the lid closed), the M4 chip is expected to connect up to three displays. This expanded support opens up new possibilities for multitasking and productivity.
Here’s the expected display monitor support configuration for the MacBook Air M4:
Three Displays: Two 6K (Thunderbolt) + one 5K (Thunderbolt) or 4K (HDMI)
Two Displays: One 5K (Thunderbolt) + one 8K resolution at 60Hz (Thunderbolt) or 4K (HDMI/240Hz)
The support for up to three external displays and higher resolutions makes the M4 MacBook Air ideal for professionals and creatives who require a multi-monitor setup for tasks like video editing, coding, graphic design, or data analysis.
It Will Start with 16GB RAM
Apple has already upgraded the default RAM to 16GB across its MacBook Air lineup while retaining existing prices. The M4 MacBook Air will also offer 16GB RAM in its base configuration. This shift is likely driven by the increasing memory demands of Apple’s AI features, which power everything from Siri voice recognition to advanced writing tools.
While the base storage remains at 256GB, the jump to 16GB of RAM is a welcome change. However, users who require ample storage space may still need to consider upgrading to a higher-capacity option.
If you’re in the market for a new MacBook Air, you’ll now get 16GB of RAM as standard, ensuring smoother multitasking and better performance for years to come.
Apple typically launches its MacBook Air models during the March-April period, with the M2 Air being an exception, arriving later in July. A report by MacRumors states M4 MacBook Air display shipments are expected to start in October 2024.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman backs this up by further mentioning that the MacBook Air M4 is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2025, between January and March.
So Who Should Wait for MacBook Air M4?
With Black Friday deals offering steep discounts on the M3 MacBook Air, the decision of whether to wait for the M4 becomes even more tricky.
The M4 MacBook Air brings a modest spec bump in some areas, but significant improvements in others. You can expect about 20-25% better performance, a jump to 16GB of RAM in the base model, support for 3 external displays, and improved battery life. The M4 also boasts a significantly more powerful Neural Engine for enhanced AI capabilities.
Buy M4 MacBook Air
If you prioritize performance, need multiple external displays, or want the latest Apple silicon, waiting for the M4 is a good option. However, Black Friday deals make the M3 with 16GB RAM very tempting at prices as low as $899 (compared to the M4’s expected $1,099 starting price).
Buy M3 MacBook Air
If you need a reliable machine for everyday tasks like browsing, emailing, and working on documents, the discounted M3 is an excellent choice. But for demanding tasks like video editing, consider a MacBook Pro with the M4 chip or wait for the M4 Air. Ultimately, the decision depends on your needs and budget. Choose wisely!
Apple released the macOS 15.2 developer beta along with the iOS 18.2 developer beta yesterday. macOS 15.2 beta brings several new features to the forefront but one of them flies under the radar. You can now add a weather widget to the menu bar from settings.
The menu bar weather widget on MacBooks running macOS 15.2 or higher comes disabled by default. Here is how to enable the weather widget in Mac’s menu bar.
Add Weather Widget to Mac Menu Bar
Click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner.
Select System Settings.
Go to Control Center.
Scroll to the bottom to find Weather. Select Show in menu bar option from the drop-down menu.
The widget in the menu bar shows the current temperature with an icon indicating a sunny, cloudy, or rainy climate. Clicking on the weather widget icon shows more information along with an option to open the weather app on your Mac. You can see air quality, forecasts for the next few hours, weather for selected cities, and more.
Benchmarks of the newly unveiled Apple M4 Max chip have started making waves online. Based on leaked Geekbench scores, the M4 Max single-handedly outperforms the latest processors from Intel and AMD—all while using noticeably less power.
Notably, the Apple M4 Max, benchmarked on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, scores 4,060 points in the single-core test and 26,675 points in the multi-core test. In comparison, last year’s M3 Max scored 3,070 in single-core and 21,405 in multi-core tests, according to the Geekbench database.
This means the M4 Max offers about a 32% boost in single-core performance and roughly a 25% increase in multi-core performance over the M3 Max.
M4 Max’s Geekbench CPU and GPU Scores
Not only does Apple’s new chip outperforms its predecessor by a solid margin, but it also edges out Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285K and AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X processors. Here’s how the benchmarks compare:
Processor
Geekbench Single-Core
Geekbench Multi-Core
M4 Max
4,060
26,675
Ryzen 9 9950X
3,359
20,550
Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
3,449
23,024
M3 Max (16-core)
3,070
21,405
Based on benchmarks, the M4 Max outperforms the Ryzen 9 9950X by 20.8% in single-core and 29.8% in multi-core tests. It also scores 17.7% higher in single-core and 15.9% higher in multi-core than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K.
Even when AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X ‘Zen 5’ is overclocked to 6.0GHz, achieving a multi-core score of 26,047, the M4 Max still holds the single-core performance crown.
In terms of specifications, the M4 Max features a 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. Built with advanced 3nm technology, the Apple chip is also highly power-efficient—a key factor behind the new MacBooks’ claimed 24-hour battery life, the longest ever on a Mac.
In short, the M4 Max sets a new standard for those pushing their workflow limits, making it ideal for complex tasks like video editing, 3D animation, and graphic design. Apple has also doubled down on AI, with a Neural Engine twice as powerful as the previous generation and upgraded machine learning (ML) accelerators in the CPU.
Apple is on a roll. iPhone 16 series along with new AirPods and Apple Watches were released a few weeks ago. Then they silently refreshed the iPad Mini 7. iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2 were released in developer beta with the latter bringing a bunch of much anticipated AI (Apple Intelligence) features. And now, Greg Joswiak, Apple’s head of SVP, has confirmed on X (Twitter) that Apple will be launching new M4 MacBooks next week.
Mac your calendars! We have an exciting week of announcements ahead, starting on Monday morning.
Usually, Apple holds an event where it unveils the MacBooks sometime in October. But the month of October, or Techtober as it is fondly called, is all but over. It seems Apple will release M4 MacBooks, along with some other products and services going by the language, via press release. We will soon find out.
Meanwhile, the iOS 18.1 update is being readied for global rollout on 28th October.
Here is what we are expecting Apple to launch in the Mac event:
Entry level 14″ M4 MacBook Pro
Advanced level 14″ M4 Pro powered MacBook Pro
Advanced level 16″ M4 Pro Max powered MacBook Pro
Two Mac Minis with M4 and M4 Pro processors
An iMac running M4 or M4 Pro processor
Since Apple has been so focused on AI or Apple Intelligence, the new MacBooks will feature 16GB RAM. We will be all over the event so stay tuned and bookmark our site. Follow us for more such daily tech news that matters.
How much do you use your Mac daily? More important, how many times do you charge and discharge your MacBook? These are some of the things that will determine your MacBook battery’s health and battery cycle count. These two metrics are a good way to know whether you need to get your Mac’s battery replaced/serviced or not. Here’s how to check Mac’s battery health and cycle count quickly and what do the numbers tell?
Check Your Mac’s Battery Health
Most modern day machines use a lithium-ion battery that you can recharge. But with every charge, they degrade over time to a point where you need to replace them. There are plenty of good videos on YouTube that explain how lithium-ion batteries work so I won’t go there.
A few factors that contribute to the battery’s health are:
charging pattern
age of battery
temperature
MacBooks come with a feature called Optimized Battery Charging that was introduced with Big Sur. What it does is learn your usage and charging patterns or habits and then delay charging once your Mac is charged 80% sometimes. This is done to prolong the battery’s lifespan by reducing load and extra wear and tear caused by overcharging, overheating, etc. Most smartphones have this feature too but by different names.
There is a simple software trick to know the health of your MacBook’s battery.
Click on Apple icon in the top-left corner.
Select System Settings.
Select Battery from the left sidebar.
Click on the i icon next to Battery Health to see a pop-up.
Everything is good if your battery condition is Normal. That means your Mac’s battery is functioning as it should.
Now my Maximum Capacity shows 86%. That might worry you but it shouldn’t. As your MacBook gets older, the more you use, and the more you charge it, max capacity goes down. This is because Macs are designed to retain 80% of their original capacity even when you have completed 1000 charge cycle.
Wait, what is a charge cycle? One full charge cycle is when you charge your Mac to 100%, deplete battery to zero and then charge it back to 100%. If you charge Mac from 50% to 100% two times, that’s one charge cycle. That way, you can charge your Mac up to 1000 cycles and it will retain 80% of its max capacity till then.
My max capacity is good but the moment it goes below 80%, I will need a servicing or replacement. This brings us to the next point in check Mac’s battery health which is battery’s cycle count.
The cycle count of your MacBook’s battery is another key indicator of battery health. As discussed earlier, every time you charge your Mac fully, it counts as one cycle count. Also, Macs with M series silicon chips carry batteries designed to retain 80% battery capacity up to 1000 cycle count. A full charge means you charged the battery fully once – full charge cycle. An example can be – it will be considered as one full charge cycle if your recharge Mac’s battery from 75% to 100% four times (25% x 4 = 100%).
So how many cycle counts do you have left? Let’s find out.
Press and hold the Option button, click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner, and select System Information. You won’t find it if you are not pressing the Option key.
Click on Hardware menu to expand it in the left sidebar. Select Power.
You will find Cycle Count under Health Information.
So my battery cycle count is 332 which means it has been fully recharged and discharged that many times. I still have a good number of cycle counts left. Sadly, my M1 Air is now 3 years old and I may upgrade to M3 next year. The performance is beginning to take a hit but that’s a story for another time.
Every MacBook comes with a one-year battery warranty but then most of you won’t have to replace or repair your Mac’s battery within the first year anyway.
Just moved from Windows to your first Mac? While macOS is a stable and fluid operating system, your muscle memory built over years of using Windows might slow you down a little. Think work differently in macOS, and the larger Apple ecosystem. But no worries! With a few settings tweaks, you can make macOS UI and experience feel more like Windows. For example, you can take screenshots with the same shortcut that you have used for years or change the behavior of the mouse to ease your transition.
Let’s go through the essential settings you can adjust to make your macOS experience more familiar.
1. Enable Right-Click on Your Mac
In Windows, right-clicking is second nature. However, macOS doesn’t enable right-click by default, which can be annoying. To bring back this handy feature, head to System Settings > Trackpad (or Mouse, if you use one) > Secondary Click. From here, you can enable right-click and even decide whether to right-click with two fingers or the bottom-right corner of the trackpad.
2. Change Mouse Scroll Direction
If you’ve tried scrolling on a Mac with a mouse, you might have noticed the direction feels inverted compared to Windows. It’s called “natural scrolling” on macOS, but if you’re used to Windows, it’ll feel unnatural. You can easily change this by going to System Settings >Mouse > Scroll & Zoom and unchecking “Natural Scrolling.” Now it should scroll like you’re used to on Windows.
Windows users often double-click a window’s title bar to maximize it. On macOS, double-clicking the title bar will minimize the window by default. To change this behavior, head over to System Settings > Desktop & Dock, and in the “Double-click a window’s title bar” dropdown, select Fill. This way, double-clicking will now maximize the window, just like on Windows.
4. Change Window Snapping Keyboard Shortcuts
Windows’ snapping feature lets you quickly arrange windows side by side using keyboard shortcuts. With macOS Sequoia, we finally got the window-snapping feature, however, the keyboard shortcuts are different and complicated.
While Apple does not provide a direct way to change the keyboard shortcuts on Mac, there’s a small workaround. You just need to open System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > App Shortcuts and add the window snapping shortcuts manually to Command + arrow keys just on Windows, which is Ctrl + arrow keys. We have written a detailed article on this workaround that lets you change keyboard shortcuts on Mac.
5. Show File Path in Finder
On Windows, the file path is always visible at the top of the Explorer window, but in macOS Finder, it’s hidden. You can reveal the full file path by enabling the Path Bar. Open Finder, then go to View > Show Path Bar. This will display the full file path at the bottom of the Finder window, making navigation feel more familiar. Also, you can click on them to navigate to any of the previous file paths.
6. Always Show Scrollbars Like Windows
By default, macOS hides scrollbars until you start scrolling. Whereas in Windows, the scrollbar is always visible, so you can grab it and scroll down whenever you want. This is not possible on Mac by default as you have to first scroll down for the scrollbar to be visible and then have to grab the scrollbar to scroll.
If you prefer the Windows-style always-visible scrollbars, head to System Settings > Appearance, and under the “Show scroll bars” section, select Always. Now, you’ll see the scrollbar at all times, just like on Windows.
7. Adjust Screenshot Shortcuts
In Windows, we use Ctrl + Shift + S to take a screenshot using the Snipping tool. On macOS, the default shortcut is Command + Shift + 4 (for a partial screenshot) or Command + Shift + 3 (for the entire screen). If you want to simplify this process, you can change the shortcuts by going to System Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Screenshots. Customize it to Command + Shift + S.
What We Cannot Do?
By tweaking these simple settings, you can ease into macOS without having to relearn everything from scratch. However, there are few gestures or shortcuts that you cannot change like switching between apps with a three-finger left or right swipe. But a few other features like using Alt-tab or enabling middle click can be done using third-party apps. We have written a complete article on Mac Apps that makes your Mac more like Windows, you can check that out.
After many years of waiting, macOS has finally introduced native window snapping with macOS Sequoia. This means you no longer need to install apps like Rectangle or Magnet. However, the default shortcuts don’t work properly, often conflict with keyboard shortcuts of other installed apps, and there isn’t a straightforward way to change them. In this article, we’ll explore how you can set custom keyboard shortcuts for window snapping on your Mac running Sequoia or higher.
Native Window Snapping on Mac
There are 3 ways to snap windows on the Mac.
Drag the window to the corner to snap the window in its place
Hold Option key and drag the window to its position to snap into its place
Finally, you can use keyboard shortcuts to snap the window according to the shortcut.
The default keyboard shortcuts are:
Left: Control + Globe + ←
Right: Control + Globe + →
Top: Control + Globe + ↑
Bottom: Control + Globe + ↓
The issue is the same keyboard shortcut is used for different purposes on different apps. For example, Chrome uses the Left keyboard shortcut to scroll the webpage to the top. Right shortcut to scroll to the bottom. Top and bottom shortcuts to switch between tabs. So window snapping does not work properly when you are on such apps. Also, you can see that there’s no shortcut to fill the entire screen.
Set Custom Keyboard Shortcuts to Snap Windows on Mac
To change the keyboard shortcuts for snapping windows on Mac
Go to System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > App Shortcuts.
Click on All Applications and add a new shortcut by clicking the plus icon.
Here, manually type the position name. For example, to change the Left shortcut, type Left. Here are all the positions you can type and configure. These are case-sensitive or the required shortcut will not be assigned properly, so make sure to enter them exactly.
Left
Right
Top
Bottom
Fill
Top Left
Top Right
Bottom Left
Bottom Right
Once entered, assign a keyboard shortcut for the entered position and click on Done.
That’s it, the keyboard shortcut has been assigned for window snapping. You can change all the remaining positions similarly.
