Apple Puts First 2nm M6 Chip Into $1,999 MacBook Pro

Apple's M6 processor, the company's first 2nm chip, is now shipping in the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,999 with 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage. Preorders opened October 28. Shipping begins November 6.

Apple announced the refresh through a press release this morning. The update follows the M6 debut in August inside the new Mac Mini. The company upgraded the entry-level MacBook Pro to the M5 chip one year ago.

What does the M6 change?

The M6 is Apple's first chip built on a 2nm process. It moves from the 10-core CPU of the M5 to a 12-core CPU. Apple claims up to 1.2x faster multithreaded performance compared with its predecessor.

The chip carries a Dual 16-core Neural Engine for heavy on-device AI workloads. The GPU moves to 12 cores, and each GPU core includes a Neural Accelerator. Apple also says the M6 is more power efficient than the M5.

What stays the same?

The industrial design is unchanged from the M4-era machine. The port layout, webcam, and speakers carry over from prior generations, echoing last year's minimal M5 update.

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro features:

• Three Thunder 4 USB-C ports, all supporting charging and DisplayPort
• MagSafe 3 charging port
• Full-size HDMI
• SDXC memory card slot for photographers
• 12MP Center Stage camera
• Liquid Retina XDR display with a nano-texture option

The one connectivity change is wireless. The laptop now supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 through the Apple N1 networking chip. That chip previously appeared only on MacBook Pro configurations with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.

How much does it cost?

The base configuration costs $1,999 with 16GB of memory, matching last year's M5 model at launch. Memory upgrades raise the price in two steps. A 24GB configuration costs $2,199. The 32GB configuration costs $2,399.

Storage is the sharper price change. Included storage starts at 1TB. Upgrading to 2TB now costs an extra $500. The 4TB option costs an extra $1,500. Last year, the 4TB upgrade cost $1,200, so the same capacity now carries a $300 premium. Apple attributes the higher storage prices to the current memory shortage.

The increase lands amid a broader squeeze on memory supply across the industry, and it shows component costs reaching consumer price sheets rather than specs alone.

Where does this fit Apple's roadmap?

The entry-level MacBook Pro has settled into an annual cadence: M4, then M5, now M6. Each generation has delivered a processor bump plus incremental changes while holding the $1,999 entry price steady, and the M6 cycle breaks that pattern only on storage pricing.

The N1 chip's arrival on the base model also narrows the gap between entry-level and Pro configurations, which previously differed on wireless connectivity as well as silicon.

Apple has not announced M6 Pro or M6 Max versions. If the company follows its usual sequence, higher-tier MacBook Pro chips would arrive in a later wave, and storage pricing there will show whether the memory shortage pushes premium configurations higher still.