A new episode of Desmontando la Manzana, my Apple podcast (in Spanish). It didn’t come out last Monday, and that was on purpose: Apple had launches on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and it made no sense to record halfway through. So I waited until everything was on the table. And what a week: an iPad mini with OLED, a new iMac, a MacBook Pro with M6, and something we’d been asking for for years and Apple swore it would never do: the first Mac with a touchscreen.
The main event: the MacBook Pro goes touchscreen
On Wednesday, October 28, under the tagline Pro and Tell, Apple unveiled the new MacBook Pro with the PROLED XDR display. It’s a tandem OLED, with two light-emitting layers, 120Hz, and up to 2,000 nits of brightness. The touch sensor is built into the panel itself, not layered on top, and it comes with Dynamic Island. The illuminated Apple logo on the back is also back, something we hadn’t seen since 2016.
Less changes on the inside: it has the same M5 Pro and M5 Max as the March MacBook Pro, up to 128GB of memory, six speakers, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6. You’re paying for the display and the design, not the chip. In the US it starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch and $3,399 for the 16-inch. It hits stores on November 6.
My take: it’s the most exciting Mac in years, but it’s a first-generation product. The question isn’t whether the touchscreen works, but whether macOS is designed for fingers. I’d wait to see how it holds up day to day before spending close to $3,000.
14-inch MacBook Pro with M6: the sensible one
On Tuesday, almost quietly, Apple refreshed the entry-level MacBook Pro. Same design and same display, but with the new M6 chip: 12 CPU cores, 12 GPU cores, graphics up to 30% faster than M5, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6. It starts at $1,999 with 16GB and 1TB. There’s a $900 gap between this one and the touchscreen model, and for most people who work, study, or do some video editing, this is the sensible MacBook Pro.
iMac with M6: same on the outside, a double leap inside
The iMac with M6 keeps the 24-inch size, the 4.5K display, and the seven colors. Inside, the leap is double, because it comes from M4: according to Apple, up to 40% more CPU performance, twice the graphics, an SSD twice as fast, and up to five times the AI performance. It debuts the N1 chip, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and an optional 2.5 Gb Ethernet.
In the US it starts at $1,499, the same price it already had after the summer increase. The good news is that it isn’t going up. The bad news is that it still costs more than when the M4 model launched.
iPad mini with OLED: a Pro in miniature
On Monday, the week kicked off with the iPad mini with an OLED display, and it’s probably the biggest update in its history: an 8.5-inch display, the A20 Pro chip, 5.4mm thin, IP67 water resistance for the first time on an iPad, a display that also works as a speaker, and a landscape front camera.
Watch the fine print: the 128GB and 256GB models have the A20 Pro with a 5-core CPU, and the 6-core version only comes in the 512GB model. It starts at $699 for the Wi-Fi model. For me it’s the most interesting product of the week, but it’s no longer the small, affordable iPad: it’s now an iPad Pro in miniature, with a price to match.
Command-Z: the price ladder and the iPhone Duo cracks
This week there are two Command-Zs. The first one was a no-brainer: the price escalation. An iPad mini that’s much more expensive than two years ago. A touchscreen MacBook Pro that starts at $2,899. An iPad mini sold as “A20 Pro” that takes away a core unless you pay for the 512GB model. And the most galling part: it gets an OLED display, costs $699… and stays at 60Hz, without ProMotion, when this same week’s MacBook Pro and any iPhone Pro have it. Apple has come out to explain why it stays at 60Hz, but a “mini” product that’s no longer mini in price… undo that. Command-Z.
The second Command-Z goes to the iPhone Duo cracks. It went on sale on October 23, and within a few days reports started coming in of inner displays cracking along the hinge, in some cases after just a few hours of use. Apple has acknowledged the problem, says it affects a small number of units, and asks those affected to contact AppleCare for a replacement. We covered it in more detail in the iPhone Duo wait and the cracks. On a phone that costs $2,000, that shouldn’t happen: Command-Z.
What do you think?
If you ask me what I’d buy: the iPad mini. For my work, it’s the only thing from everything announced that would really add value. Did you want a touchscreen Mac, or does it seem like an expensive whim? Tell me in the comments or on X, Instagram, and Threads, where you’ll find me as @minchuaviles.
Because there are many apples, but few of us who know how to appreciate them.
🎧 Listen to Desmontando la Manzana (in Spanish) on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Sources: Apple Newsroom, Apple US, 9to5Mac, MacRumors.