Your next MacBook Pro may get a major battery boost — here’s why

By Alex Blake Published October 6, 2023

Ever since they changed from Intel processors to Apple silicon chips, Apple’s MacBooks have boasted phenomenal battery life. Now, it looks like the new 16-inch and 14-inch MacBook Pro laptops due out this year could take their battery power even further.

That’s if a new report from DigiTimes (via MacRumors) is to be believed. The outlet has claimed that the new MacBooks — which it says will launch later this year — will feature improved displays that are even more power-efficient than the company’s existing ones.

The MacBook Pro on a wooden table. — Digital Trends

Specifically, DigiTimes cites industry sources who believe that the upcoming laptops will come with “mini-LED backlighting that can increase the display brightness by 10% compared to the first-generation specifications.”

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Interestingly, DigiTimes notes that “The brightness enhancement is not meant to improve picture quality, but rather to save power and improve battery life.” If the mini-LEDs inside the display are brighter by default, the laptop will need to supply less power to them to get the same brightness as in the existing MacBook Pro models. That could potentially see battery life soar to even greater heights.

Launch date uncertainty

A MacBook Pro running macOS Sonoma at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2023. — Apple

There’s a little uncertainty concerning one detail in the report, though. DigiTimes claims the updated MacBook Pro models will be released in the fourth quarter of 2023, which falls between October 1 and December 31. However, that doesn’t really jibe with the launch date other experts have predicted.

For instance, journalist Mark Gurman has claimed that Apple’s high-end MacBook Pros — that is, the 14-inch and 16-inch versions — probably won’t be updated until the middle of 2024, while analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also pegged next year as the launch date. The current models were only refreshed in January 2023, so it would be highly unusual for Apple to upgrade the same laptops twice in a single year (especially considering how expensive these ones are).

Just this week, though, it was reported that Apple will soon update its Mac trade-in program to accept more products, which could be a sign that a new Mac is about to launch. Yet as we said at the time, it’s not even certain if this new Mac will be a laptop, never mind one of Apple’s high-end MacBook Pros.

Ultimately, we’ll have to wait to see if DigiTimes is right regarding both the release date and the display brightness. If it’s correct about the new screens, though, we could see Apple’s MacBooks make one of their best features even better.

Computing Writer

Alex Blake has been working with Digital Trends since 2019, where he spends most of his time writing about Mac computers…

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Computing

iPad is the best secondary screen I’ve used with a MacBook

You can extend your MacBook's screen by using an iPad as a secondary monitor.

I spend an unhealthy amount of time lurking in communities where people share aesthetic desktop setups. One of my friends recently set the group chat on fire with a triple monitor setup that had two vertical screens and an ultrawide curved panel at the center. An impulse swipe later, I achieved a similar makeover for my desk at home.

Here’s the problem, though. My $600 workstation overhaul did bring me visual joy, but not much utility. For reporting assignments, I spend the majority of the year away from home, working from deserted cafes or unnaturally uncomfortable bunk beds. I do miss the convenience of large secondary screens. Interestingly, that yearning is addressed by a rather unconventional device —the humble iPad.

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The long overdue MacBook Pro design refresh might land in 2026

MacBook Pro

Apple likes to stick around with each product design refresh for at least a few generations. Take for example the M4 MacBook Pro, which is still carrying the same design language that was first introduced atop the M1 series models back in 2021.
Things could finally change next year. “In terms of major new Mac designs, I don’t expect the MacBook Pro to get an overhaul until around 2026 — when the M6 model is due to come out,” says a Bloomberg report.
Apple is currently working on refreshed MacBook Air and Pro models with M5-series processors. They might, however, stick with the same aesthetic formula as their respective M4-series counterparts. It’s not bad, but not without its flaws either.

“It’s no joke to lug around. Some will appreciate the extra screen real estate, no doubt, but there’s definitely a trade-off in mobility,” said Digital Trends’ review of the current-gen MacBook Pro.
“The one eyesore in the whole experience to me is still the notch in the display. I find it quite ugly and intrusive, and the way it cuts into the menu bar can be clumsy, especially on the 14-inch model,” the review adds.

Computing

Mac users are being targeted by a vicious new phishing scam. Here’s how to stay safe

A hacker typing on an Apple MacBook laptop, which shows code on its screen.

There’s a well-known myth that Macs are somehow invulnerable to viruses, phishing attempts, hackers and the like. You might have heard it before, or maybe you even believe it yourself. Unfortunately, it’s far from true. Because while Windows users face more threats than their Mac counterparts, that doesn’t mean that Mac users should get complacent.

That point has just been perfectly illustrated by a new phishing scam that is specifically targeting Macs. It’s so advanced, in fact, that LayerX Security, the firm that has been tracking the attack, has said that similar campaigns “have rarely reached this level of sophistication.”