[DigitalToday intern reporter Kyung-min Hong (홍경민)] Apple has launched 3 new Mac products this month, and a forecast says 4 additional Mac lineup products with M5 and M6 chips will be unveiled by the end of this year.

IT outlet 9to5Mac reported on March 17 that Apple is preparing Mac Studio, a high-performance desktop, along with upgraded iMac and Mac mini models and a MacBook Pro featuring an entirely new design. The update is seen as a strategy to meet rising computing requirements driven by rapid advances in AI technology and to spur demand for device upgrades.

The product drawing the most attention first is Mac Studio, which will feature M5 Max and a new M5 Ultra chip. Mac Studio was updated exactly 1 year ago and currently offers M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips, but a new model armed with next-generation chipsets is expected to be released within the next few months. No exterior design change is expected, but the M5 Ultra model, expected to deliver the most powerful performance ever, is likely to draw strong interest from professionals handling high-spec tasks.

The all-in-one desktop iMac is also due for an M5 chip update. The new iMac, set to arrive about 18 months after the M4 model was released, is said to bring performance improvements and refresh its color lineup. Expectations are also focusing on design changes as the model could adopt some color options from the entry-level MacBook Neo, which has recently received positive reviews in the market.

Apple's cheapest desktop lineup, Mac mini, is expected to be updated with two options: M5 and M5 Pro chipsets. Mac mini has recently gained popularity as a personal computer device for OpenClone and Perplexity, and an analysis says the market will respond positively even without a separate design change if chipset performance improves.

Finally, the product drawing the biggest expectations this year is MacBook Pro with an M6 chip. Even though models with M5 Pro and Max chips were recently released, the M6 model expected within the year is forecast to be a historic turning point for the MacBook series. Rumors say the M6 MacBook Pro will adopt a new industrial design that is thinner and lighter, and will feature the Mac series' first OLED touchscreen display. Speculation has also mentioned a Dynamic Island replacing the existing notch and the possible inclusion of Apple's in-house C2 cellular modem, which is expected to drive strong upgrade demand among existing Mac users.

The forecast for this additional lineup unveiling reflects Apple's strategic intent to secure new users with the entry-level MacBook Neo while strengthening loyalty among existing professional users through innovative high-spec models such as the M6 MacBook Pro.

As a result, Apple's move is seen as a two-track strategy aimed at both value and innovation. It seeks to attract broad upgrade demand with M5 models that bolster performance, while proving technological leadership with an M6 model that completely overhauls design and hardware. This multidimensional push is expected to be an important turning point that expands Apple's own territory and strengthens market dominance in a sluggish PC market.