Apple has had a busy fall, with the launch of the iPhone Duo, HomeView smart hub, and the M5 Ultra Mac Studio. But there’s one more event this week, and it might be the biggest of all. And you can follow every rumor and announcement with us right here.
As you can guess by the thinly veiled pun, this week’s marquee announcement is a new MacBook Pro, but not just any MacBook Pro:
Touchscreen MacBook Pro: After years of denials, Apple appears to be on the verge of releasing its first-ever touchscreen MacBook. Rumors say it will have a new design with a lighter chassis, Dynamic Island, and an OLED display. And a very high price tag.
M6 iMac: Apple announced the M6 chip in the Mac mini last month and now it’ll reportedly make its way into the iMac. There could be new colors too.
M6 MacBook Pro: The entry-level MacBook Pro gets its annual chip-and-ship upgrade.
iPad mini: Somewhat out of place for this launch, the iPad mini is expected to get a big upgrade with a new chip, OLED display, and refreshed design.
Over the past several years, Apple has put renewed emphasis on device thinness, with the M4 iPad Pro, iPhone Air, and iPhone Duo all competing for the crown of thinnest device. The iPad mini shaved off a considerable amount of thickness, going from 6.3mm to 5.4mm, but it’s still not quite as thin as other devices in Apple’s lineup:
Apple
Apple is including a $9 Polishing Cloth with the iPad mini, but only if you spring for the nano display option, which costs $100 adn is only available on the 256GB and 512GB models. Still that’s a nice perk that iPhone Duo buyers sadly don’t get.
Following the launch of the iPad mini this morning, Apple exec Greg Joswiak has teased a week of “exciting” announcements. That probably means we’re getting the M6 iMac and M6 MacBook Pro tomorrow and the touchscreen MacBook Pro on Wednesday. So stay tuned all week!
While the iPad mini has all the makings of a pro device, with an OLED display, A20 Pro processor, and refined color palette, but it’s still missing one major feature of Apple’s other Pro devices: 120Hz ProMotion. There were scattered reports that Apple would be bringing the high-end screen tech to the mini along with its OLED upgrade, but alas, it didn’t make the cut. Looks like we’ll have to wait another 2-3 years.
iPad owners (with the exception of iPad Pro owners, who are a whole different breed) tend not to worry too much about tech specs. For the majority of Apple’s customers the iPad is a convenient way to read their emails and browse the internet on the couch, and you don’t need the very latest chip to accomplish that. So it might seem odd, even gratuitous, that the new iPad mini has a processor (the A20 Pro) that’s three generations newer than the A17 Pro in the last model.
But the key concept here is future-proofing. Because iPad owners have relatively low hardware requirements, they tend not to upgrade their devices very often. The iPad mini absolutely does not need to be this fast right now. But it will in five years, when the people who buy it this month will very likely still be using it.
I mean, there’s also AI. That’s how Apple is officially marketing the A20 Pro. But I would argue that cutting-edge AI performance is a pretty low priority for most of the mini’s prospective customers.
Since its 2021 redesign, the iPad mini has been available in multiple colors, including blue, purple, and pink. With the launch of the 8th-gen model, there are now just two: Midnight (black) and Starlight (gold). For a device that usually goes caseless, those are disapppointing options. And from what we see on the website, Midnight looks a lot closer to space gray than dark blue, but we’ll need to see it in person.
Apple
Apple has hidden a pretty nice upgrade in the tech specs. The 128GB and 256GB version of the iPad mini have a cut-down A20 Pro processor with a 5-core CPU and a single 16-core Neural Engine. But if you opt for the 512GB model you get the full version of the chip, with a 6-core CPU and a dual 16-core Neural Engine. I don’t know if you need that much power in an iPad mini or want to spend $999 on a 8.5-inch tablet, but at least you’re getting a little more for your money.
| iPad mini (A17 Pro) | iPad mini (A18 Pro) | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display | 8.5-inch Super Retina display |
| Processor | A17 Pro (8GB RAM) | A20 Pro (12GB RAM) |
| Storage | 128/256/512GB | 128/256/512GB |
| Front camera | 12MP Center Stage camera | 12MP Landscape Center Stage camera |
| Rear camera | 12MP Wide camera | 12MP Wide camera |
| Biometrics | Touch ID in top button | Touch ID in top button |
| Audio | Landscape stereo speakers | Acoustic Display |
| Colors | Space Gray, Blue, Purple, Starlight | Midnight, Starlight |
| Dimensions | H: 7.69 inches (195.4 mm) W: 5.3 inches (134.8 mm) D: 0.25 inch (6.3 mm) | H: 7.69 inches (195.3 mm) W: 5.22 inches (132.6 mm) D: 0.21 inch (5.4 mm) |
| Weight | 0.65 pound (293 grams) | 0.56 pound (255 grams) |
| Price | $599 | $699 |
Apple has announced the new iPad mini with a slew of upgrades: An OLED display, thinner and lighter design, A20 Pro processor, and water and dust resistance. That’s a bunch of firsts for a non-Pro iPad and a massive upgrade. The screen is now 8.5 inches (up from 8.3 inches) and the camera is now on the landscape edge. It also got a price hike, but not as bad as feared: $699.
Since Apple has only announced one day of announcements, one of three things could happen today: An iPad mini announcement at 9 am ET, 1 pm ET, or nothing at all. Mark Gurman thinks the mini could arrive today, though he frames it as a guess rather than his usual information from sources. So stick around, because something might be coming soon.
All signs point to a new iPad mini arriving today. (Bear in mind, of course, that signs can be wrong.) Which raises an important question: Who cares?
When it was first unveiled in 2012 the mini seemed like the tablet of the future. Attractive, portable, and capable, it had all the ingredients for success. But since then it’s been squeezed by developments at either end of the range.
iPads have gained bigger screens and more powerful specs at the upper end, and are now suitable for work and entertainment in a way that the diminutive mini can’t match. On the other hand, why buy an iPad mini as well as a phone when you can get a big-screen iPhone such as the 18 Pro Max or Duo and have a capable device that can fulfil both functions? The Duo’s inner screen is 7.6 inches, very nearly as big as that of the original mini and not far behind its current 8.3 inches. And the Duo fits that screen into a far more pocketable chassis.
The iPad mini doesn’t even have affordability to recommend it these days, starting at a scarcely budget-friendly $599. The cheap option is the standard iPad at $449, and that comes with a bigger display.
Today’s challenge will be to make the iPad mini relevant again. An OLED screen is a nice idea, but is it enough to shift perceptions of a product that faces superior alternatives in every direction? What about an IP rating and a 2nm processor? My colleague Mahmoud Itani thinks the iPad mini is ready to become the best tablet for everyone, but it won’t be easy.
Foundry
The iPhone Duo and the HomeView home hub are both very cool and desirable products, but neither of them make a whole lot of sense. At least in the cold, logical, ‘essential tool for everyday life’ type of way. They’re products that everyone wants and nobody needs.
This week could see Apple add a third entry to that list. Does a touchscreen MacBook make sense? Not really, as we discuss in this week’s Apple Breakfast column, but that doesn’t mean it will fail.
When Apple released the iPad in 2010, Steve Jobs described why adding a touchscreen to one of Apple’s existing laptops wasn’t the right move:
“We’ve done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn’t work. Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical. It gives a great demo, but after a short period of time you start to fatigue, and after an extended period of time your arm wants to fall off; it doesn’t work. It’s ergonomically terrible. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal, hence touchpads for a notebook. That’s why we’ve perfected our multi-touch trackpads over the years.”
How will Apple sell its new touchscreen Mac to the public? According to Mark Gurman, it will be billed as an “optional” feature rather than a primary one, not unlike the Touch Bar. And, well, we all know how that went.
With several new Macs and one new iPad reportedly on the way, we could be in store for several days of announcements. Maybe the iPad mini on Monday, the M6 iMac and MacBook Pro on Tuesday, and the touchscreen MacBook on Wednesday? We’ll find out soon.
While Apple has sent out invitations gathering influencers and members of the media to an “experience” in LA Wednesday at 1pm ET, there once again won’t be a keynote to announce the new products. So get ready for press releases and website updates.
Hi everyone, we’re starting this on Sunday because we don’t know what to expect this week. We know there won’t be a keynote, but we don’t know if Apple will spread out its launches throughout the week as it has done in the past. So come back each day to check out what you missed!
