Apple's 'Pro and tell' event set for Oct. 28 in Los Angeles
Apple will hold its 'Pro and tell' event on October 28 in Los Angeles. A touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro, an OLED iPad Mini and an M6 iMac lead the rumors.
Merhabyte Newsdesk · · 3 min read
Apple has set a date for its next launch event. The company's 'Pro and tell' event will take place on October 28 at 1 p.m. Eastern in Los Angeles. It arrives hot on the heels of the Welcome Home event and the iPhone Duo announcement, and the MacBook Pro appears to be its focus.
Nothing has been officially confirmed. Still, the impression that the long-rumored touchscreen MacBook Pro is finally about to be unveiled is strong. An OLED iPad Mini and the spread of the M6 chip, first seen in the Mac Mini in August, to other devices are also among the likely topics.
A touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro is expected
An OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro has been a constant in the rumor mill since early 2023. If the rumors hold, this model would be Apple's first touchscreen laptop and its first with an OLED display. It is also said to get a Dynamic Island similar to the one on iPhones. The MacBook Ultra name has been floating around for a while, but Apple is considered unlikely to rename its flagship laptop line.
No radical change to the macOS interface is expected. The touchscreen MacBook Pro is not said to be a hybrid blurring the line with the iPad. Instead, it may offer limited additions, such as a magnification effect when the screen is touched or new gesture controls in native apps. In other words, the touchscreen looks less like a rethink of the experience and more like a few small touches added to the existing setup.
On the chip side, the M5 family is expected to continue, with the M5 Pro and M5 Max in higher-end models. There is even talk that an M6 Pro or M6 Max may never arrive, and that Apple could prefer to refresh its top-tier processors next year with the M7.
M6 Macs and pricing worries
That does not mean there won't be an M6 MacBook Pro. The M6 debuted in August with the Mac Mini, and the base MacBook Pro looks likely to move from the M5 to the M6. A slight design change to that model is also rumored, along with a camera placed in a hole-punch cutout in the display. The bad news: because of the effects component shortages are having across Apple's lineup, these models are expected to come with a price increase.
An M6 update is also anticipated for the iMac. The all-in-one desktop, roughly two years after its last refresh, appears set to skip the M5 and go straight to the M6. No real changes are expected beyond that, apart from possible new color options, as with the M4 model.
An OLED iPad Mini may be on the way
Another long-running rumor that may materialize on Wednesday is an iPad Mini with an OLED display. Apart from the iPad Pro, the tablet family has so far stuck with LCD screens. The new iPad Mini could be the first step in a broader move to OLED across this product line. The display upgrade is said to add about $100 to the price.
No major design change is expected. The aging A17 processor, however, looks likely to be replaced by the A20 introduced with the iPhone 18.
In short, what comes out of the October 28 event has not been officially confirmed. A touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro, an M6 move for the base MacBook Pro and the iMac, and an OLED iPad Mini stand out for now as strong rumors, while the possibility of price increases is on the table for many of the products.
