Apple launches $1,999 M6 14-inch MacBook Pro with modest performance gains
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro equipped with Apple’s M6 chip offers slightly faster CPU, GPU and AI performance than the prior M5 model, while retaining the same design and ports.
Apple introduced a refreshed 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M6 system-on-chip, priced at $1,999. The M6 features a 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU and dual 16-core neural engines, delivering modest improvements over the previous M5 chip, which had 10 CPU and GPU cores. Apple’s benchmarks claim the M6 is 11.7 times faster at 3D rendering and 3.2 times faster in a Cyberpunk 2077 test compared with the M1-based model, while third-party testing shows a roughly 3-5 percent uplift in multi-threaded CPU scores and a 30 percent gain in GPU performance.
The laptop retains the MiniLED Liquid Retina display with a 120 Hz ProMotion refresh rate, a magnesium-alloy unibody, and a port lineup that includes three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, MagSafe charging, HDMI, a headphone jack and an SD card slot. Weighing 3.4 pounds, it is marginally heavier than the newer 14-inch PROLED model. Battery testing using a programming-workflow benchmark recorded a runtime of nine hours and 35 minutes, with a 50 percent charge remaining after six hours of mixed usage.
"The M6 MacBook Pro is yet another fast and reliable entry in Apple's lineup," the reviewer noted, adding that the unit equipped with 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD handled daily tasks without noticeable slowdowns.
The base configuration offers up to 32 GB of RAM at 170 GB/s, while higher-end M5 Pro and M5 Max models provide up to 64 GB of RAM at 307 GB/s. Pricing for the M5 Pro variant starts at $2,499, and the redesigned PROLED MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chip begins at $2,899.