Apple plans to unveil its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models on or around Oct. 27, alongside an OLED iPad mini and updated Macs, according to a report published Thursday.
Key Points:
- Apple is reportedly preparing a second October launch built around 14-inch and 16-inch touchscreen MacBook Pro models with OLED displays.
- An OLED iPad mini and M6 versions of the iMac and entry-level MacBook Pro are expected at the same event.
- The date is described as "on or around" Oct. 27, so the schedule could still shift.
MacBook Pro Launch Details
Journalist Mark Gurman reported that the launch will pair an online video presentation with an in-person component for the press, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plans. The date falls on a Tuesday. It would be the company's second product event of the month, following an Oct. 13 smart home presentation that Apple announced under the tagline "Welcome home."
The 14-inch and 16-inch laptops will reportedly carry OLED touchscreens and a Dynamic Island, the camera cutout Apple first used on the iPhone and has never put on a MacBook Pro. They are expected to be "significantly lighter" than current models and to run on M5 Pro and M5 Max chips rather than a newer generation.
The iPad mini would gain an OLED screen, a landscape front camera for video calls and a redesigned speaker system.
Apple is also expected to move the iMac, now on the M4, and the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro to the M6 chip that debuted in the Mac mini. Both machines should keep their current designs.
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Apple Touchscreen Reversal
Apple spent more than a decade resisting a touchscreen Mac. The company pointed customers who wanted touch input to the iPad instead.
A touchscreen MacBook is a product many thought would never happen, largely because co-founder Steve Jobs was not a fan of the idea. The reversal arrives in the 20th anniversary year of the first MacBook. The report said the event targets creative professionals in video production, photo editing and music production, and compared it to an October 2024 Mac launch that gave select press hands-on time in Los Angeles.
The "on or around" wording leaves room for the schedule to shift, though it is the most concrete time frame reported so far for a laptop rumored for years. The month is already crowded for Apple, with preorders for the iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, opening Oct. 16 and sales starting a week later.
Mark Gurman Timeline
Rumors of a touchscreen version of Apple's high-end laptop date back to 2023. Gurman earlier placed the release in late 2026 or early 2027, then said in mid-September that Apple was testing the machines with a macOS update due in late October. Some rumors had pointed to a "MacBook Ultra" name, but the latest report keeps the 14-inch and 16-inch notebooks within the MacBook Pro family.
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