We need to talk about Apple's new MacBook wallpapers

MacBook Pro M5 + iPad Pro M5.

UPDATE: Apple has just announced a new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, both powered by M5 chips. And guess what? They both feature the same stock wallpapers as their predecessors. Shocking. Positively shocking.

Call me a loser, but one of my favourite things about any new Apple launch is new stock wallpapers. When Apple drops a new product, it usually takes the opportunity to gift us with some fresh abstract geometric shapes and gradients. Some lovely new blobs.

(Image credit: Apple)

But the announcement of the M4 iPad Air has continued a shocking, nay, appalling trend from Apple. Once again, the company released a brand new product with the exact same stock wallpaper as its predecessor. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

OK what?Apple didn’t just recycle the wallpaper for the iPad Air M4, they even recycled the same render 😭 pic.twitter.com/mR3YOSMDnSMarch 2, 2026

I've seen those squiggles before. I know those blobs. They're exactly the same as the ones that shipped with the M3 iPad Air last March! It was bad enough that Apple saw fit to release the M4 iPad Air in the exact same hues as its predecessor, but in failing to provide some new vaguely soothing globules to capture my attention for a few moments it has committed an act of sin.

Apple committed the same crime with both the M5 MacBook Pro and the M4 MacBook Pro. Both shipped with exactly the same black curved lines as the main wallpaper. Unforgivable doesn't cover it.

The MacBook Pro has used the same wallpaper for three generations (Image credit: Apple)

I am, of course, being somewhat facetious. The stock wallpaper doesn't really matter – you're just going to change it, anyway. But from a marketing perspective, it just seems such an odd and vaguely lazy move.

Apple has been accused of dropping increasingly incremental updates for years now, with some arguing that its sense of innovation is fading. Fresh wallpapers seem like such a simple yet effective differentiator between models, and quick and easy way of making the new ones look a little more exciting. You're going to be looking at those stock wallpapers in all of the renders when browsing online, and ultimately deciding whether to make a purchase. If it looks identical to last year's, will you be as tempted?