Apple's “Pro and Tell” Event Is on 28 October. Here's What the Invite Might Be Telling Us

Apple has made it official. On Monday it sent out invitations to a launch called “Pro and Tell”, on Wednesday 28 October in Los Angeles, and Greg Joswiak, who runs Apple's marketing, couldn't resist a teaser on X, saying he can't wait to “pro and tell next week”. Last week I wrote about what Apple is expected to launch on 28 October, so this is the follow-up, with what's now confirmed, what's still rumour and the fun part, what the invite might be hinting at.

What Apple has confirmed

The date, the place and the name, and not a lot else, which is just how Apple likes it. The invitations went to journalists and creators for a day in Los Angeles starting at 10am Pacific time, which is 5pm here in the UK. That time is worth double-checking, because our clocks go back on Sunday 25 October but America's don't change until 1 November, so for that one week we're seven hours ahead rather than the usual eight.

It isn't a keynote you can sit down and watch, either. Like Apple's smart home launch in New York earlier this month, this one is expected to be a hands-on “experience”, where the invited press and creators get time with the new products. So rather than a livestream, expect Apple's announcements and the first hands-on videos to start appearing from around 5pm on the 28th.

What's expected, according to Mark Gurman

Everything in this section is rumour, mostly from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who has a very good track record but isn't Apple.

• A touchscreen MacBook Pro in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, with an OLED screen and a noticeably lighter body, keeping the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. It would be the first Mac you can actually touch.
• An entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip, the same chip that arrived in the Mac mini in August, in the current design.
• An M6 iMac, again with the chip updated and the design left as it is.
• A new iPad mini with an OLED screen, a front camera moved to the long edge for video calls, and new speakers.

Gurman expects the new products to be in shops from Friday 6 November. I went through all of this in more detail last week, along with what to do if you're about to buy, and that piece still stands.

Reading the invite

Now for the guesswork, so take this part with a pinch of salt. Apple loves hiding little hints in its invitations, so people always pore over them, and I'm no different.

The graphic first. It's the Apple logo in glowing silver light on a black background, but it isn't drawn cleanly. It's made of rippled, layered strokes, and to me it looks just like a finger being dragged across a display, which is exactly what you'd expect Apple to tease if the first touchscreen Mac is about to arrive. It would be a very Apple way of saying it without saying it.

Then there's the name. “Pro and Tell” is a play on show and tell, which suits a day where people get to pick the products up and try them for themselves. The most obvious reading is that the new touchscreen model keeps the MacBook Pro name, rather than the “MacBook Ultra” that some rumours had suggested.

But could “Tell” mean something more? Think tell as in telephone, and cellular coming to the Mac, so a MacBook Pro that gets online anywhere without hunting for Wi-Fi or tethering to your phone. Nobody has reported anything like that for this event, so it's purely a thought of mine, but it would certainly be something to tell people about. Who knows?

Should you wait?

If you're thinking about a MacBook Pro, an iMac or an iPad mini, yes, because it's only nine days away. Even if the new models are more than you want to spend, the current ones often come down in price or turn up refurbished once their replacements arrive. Nothing else in Apple's range is expected to change, so there's no need to hold off on anything else.

I'll update the buying guide as soon as Apple announces anything, and write up what actually launched. If you'd like help working out what's right for you, book a session and we'll talk it through.

Alex