Apple’s M6 MacBook Pro adds cores and AI

The latest:

The 14-inch MacBook Pro built on Apple’s M6 chip arrives at Dh8,499, unchanged from the price Apple set for the M5 generation in June but well above that model’s original Dh6,899 launch figure. Apple has raised both CPU and GPU core counts to 12 from 10, while keeping the enclosure, ports and 24-hour battery rating identical to last year’s machine.

Details:

• The price: The 14-inch M6 MacBook Pro starts at Dh8,499. The M5 launched at Dh6,899 before Apple raised it to Dh8,499 in June, meaning the new generation holds the line rather than adding a further increase — a pattern the review reads as a sign of supply chain resilience.
• The silicon: Core counts rise to 12 for both CPU and GPU, from 10 on the M5. Apple halved the super cores to two, kept six efficiency cores and added four performance cores aimed at power efficiency and background activity, running on the latest macOS release, Golden Gate.
• The AI claim: According to Apple, large language models run up to 13 times faster on the M6 than on the M5. The company also says gaming, coding and 3D rendering performance improved across the board, without publishing the configurations or workloads behind the comparison.
• The design: Nothing changed externally from the M5. The left side keeps MagSafe, a 3.5mm headphone jack and two Thunderbolt 4 ports; the right carries an SDXC slot, HDMI and a third Thunderbolt 4 port, all rated at 40 gigabits per second.
• The weight: The 14-inch model stays at 1.55kg, heavier than the 15-inch M5 MacBook Air at 1.51kg, a difference the review says buyers switching from an Air will feel. The 16-inch M6 weighs 2.15kg.
• Battery in testing: Apple again rates the machine at up to 24 hours. Over a nine-hour working day of documents, video, web browsing and some gaming from a full charge, the review recorded the battery just under halfway, a pace implying more than 17 hours.
• Configurations: Buyers can specify up to 32GB of memory and up to 4TB of storage, plus an optional nano-texture display that cuts glare. The same chassis is also sold with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, positioned by Apple for heavy professional workloads at higher prices.
• Creator Studio: Apple introduced AI tools across Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, Pixelmator Pro, Logic Pro and MainStage, including image generation inside Final Cut and Motion projects and a Content Hub offering Apple stock video.
• Productivity apps: Pages, Numbers, Keynote and Freeform gain an Intelligent Assistant that drafts and formats text, suggests chart types, builds formulas and generates slide animations. The updates arrive later this month at Dh49.99 monthly or Dh499 annually.

Background:

Apple closed its 2026 product cycle with a new iMac and a refreshed MacBook line that includes its first touchscreen laptop. The 14-inch M6 MacBook Pro is the mainstream model in that release, sitting below the M5 Pro and M5 Max configurations.

Between the lines:

The review’s verdict turns on a gap between what changed and what buyers pay: core count, AI throughput and the software suite all moved, while the enclosure, port layout, weight and battery rating did not. Holding at Dh8,499 after June’s increase makes the higher price the baseline rather than a one-off. The reviewer argues the chassis is overdue for a visible generational marker and calls the 1.55kg weight a liability.

What’s next

The Creator Studio AI tools go live later this month at Dh49.99 monthly or Dh499 yearly, the first test of whether Apple can convert Mac buyers into recurring software subscribers. Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook remains unreleased.