Apple's "Pro and Tell" Week: An OLED iPad Mini First, Then M6 Macs
An 8.5-Inch OLED Screen Headlines the Mini's Biggest Refresh
Apple opened its busy week on October 26 with a redesigned iPad mini that the company calls the tablet's "biggest update ever." The 8.3-inch LCD is gone, replaced by a larger 8.5-inch OLED panel fitted into essentially the same footprint, with bezels 24% thinner, peak brightness of 1,200 nits, and a minimum of 1 nit. Buyers can also choose a nano-texture matte glass option. The body is just 5.4 mm thin and, for the first time on an iPad mini, carries an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance.
A20 Pro Inside, With AI Up to 4.5 Times Faster
Powering the new mini is the A20 Pro chip, built on a 2-nanometer process. Apple says it delivers up to 60% faster multithreaded CPU performance, 2.7 times faster graphics, and 4.5 times faster AI processing than the previous generation. There is a storage-linked twist: the 128GB and 256GB models ship with a 5-core CPU and a single 16-core Neural Engine, while the 512GB model gets a 6-core CPU and a dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple also swapped in its own N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, moved cellular models to its C2 modem, shifted the front camera to the landscape edge, and replaced speaker holes with an Acoustic Display audio system that radiates sound through the screen.
A $699 Starting Price Raises the Cost of Entry
M6 Lands on the Mac, Speeding Up Graphics and AI
24-Hour Battery Life Sets a Mac Record
Hardware First, With the Touchscreen Mac Still to Come
Apple's "Pro and Tell" gathering takes place October 28 at 10 a.m. PT in Los Angeles, staged as an in-person press and creator experience rather than a traditional keynote, with the public served by morning press releases. Marketing chief Greg Joswiak had teased an "exciting week" on X, and with the iPad mini out Monday and two M6 Macs out Tuesday, expectations point to Wednesday's star being the long-rumored first touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro, reportedly carrying M5 Pro or M5 Max chips and a Dynamic Island in place of the notch. The week's logic is release now, tease later: confirmed products drive sales while the rumored touchscreen Mac drives conversation.
