Apple’s “Pro and Tell” October 28 event: Everything we expect from touchscreen MacBooks to a new iMac

Apple September 2026 event: iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Duo, and more

This story is part of our complete Apple event coverage

Updated less than 6 days ago

Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind. 

The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year). 

That’s the first thing you should know about Apple’s October 28 event, or rather, a showcase. Naturally, the company will share all the details via press releases, so keep an eye on the official newsroom page. As for what could be in store for us, I’ve reviewed all the rumors and reports currently circulating online, including those from reputable sources. 

Apple’s October 28, 2026 event: Expected devices at a glance

What should you expect from Apple’s October 28 event?

14-inch and 16-inch touchscreen MacBook Pro

Of all the products Apple might unveil on October 28, 2026, the touchscreen MacBook Pro takes precedence. In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the company is preparing two MacBook Pro models — 14-inch and 16-inch — with OLED displays and touch support. 

If you don’t already know this, both the OLED panel (with deep, inky blacks and unmatched contrast) and touchscreen support are firsts for any Mac ever released. 

Beyond the upgraded screens, the new MacBook Pro models could get a Dynamic Island, the pill-shaped cutout we’ve seen on recent iPhones, instead of the notch. It could help users track live events or alerts. Some sources say the upcoming Mac models will be thinner and lighter, but that seems more believable to me. 

Here’s where my enthusiasm fades away, though. Apple is reportedly skipping the rumored M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, at least for the coming launch. So, the new MacBook Pro models should feature the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips that the company unveiled in March 2026. 

In other words, you’d be paying purely for the screen, not for a faster or exceptional performance that the regular M5 Pro or M5 Max MacBook Pro models can’t match. 

In my experience, the “Pro” moniker on an Apple product usually comes with a premium price tag, and the touchscreen MacBook Pro should be no different. Currently, the 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro (16GB unified memory, 1TB storage) starts at $2,499, while the 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro (24GB unified memory, 1TB storage) costs $2,999. 

If rumors are true, the touchscreen versions of these laptops could cost $300 to $500 more than the regular versions. The smaller touchscreen MacBook could cost around $2,800 to $3,000, while the bigger one could cost $3,300 to $3,500. 

While the higher asking price is almost certain, I’m more interested in whether Apple makes it an optional upgrade available with every CPU and storage tier or limits it to higher configurations (in which case the asking price will be higher as well). 

What fascinates me more is how we got here. Gurman says that the touchscreen MacBooks split the company in two halves, with Tim Cook and John Ternus in favor and the industrial design team resisting. I’d pay good money to sit in on that meeting.

An M6 MacBook Pro for everyone else

Not everyone wants to spend an extravagant amount of money on a touchscreen laptop. For them, Apple could launch a refreshed baseline 14-inch MacBook Pro. It will look exactly like the current model, with no touch and no OLED, but it will get a performance bump with an upgrade to the M6 chip. 

For those catching up, Apple introduced the M6 chip in the Mac mini back in September 2026. Since that was a portable work machine, the entry-level MacBook Pro will be the first laptop to get this chip. Compared to the quality-of-life changes the other two models will get, this one could be a bit dull. 

However, I’d argue that dull is exactly right for the model most buyers would want. Apple might take the covers off this model on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 (to give the touchscreen Pros more limelight on Wednesday). Pre-orders should go live immediately after the announcement, while general sales should begin on November 6, 2026, with the rest of the lineup. 

Currently, the 14-inch MacBook Pro (16GB unified memory, 1TB storage) with the baseline M5 chip costs $1,999, after a $300 price hike in June 2026. So, the refreshed model with the M6 chip could start at the same price or see a slight increase. 

A new M6-powered iMac

Apple hasn’t refreshed the iMac since the M4 model arrived in 2024. Expect the same 24-inch body, fresh colors, and a new M6 chip to power the all-in-one Mac. The current lineup is already available in seven colors, so I’m curious what’s left. It could be an iPhone 16 to iPhone 17, with darker-to-lighter (or vice versa) color variations. 

With the new silicon, the purported 2026 iMac could also get support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. An OLED iMac is reportedly still years away. So, anyone hoping for a better screen should expect disappointment for now. Finally, Apple already raised the M4 iMac’s price in June, and I don’t expect the M6 version to reverse that.

The iPad mini just jumped the queue

Had I published this roundup on Sunday, I would have included a refreshed iPad mini on the list as well. The plot twist, however, is that the iPad mini (8th generation) is already official. Apple announced the device on Monday, October 26, 2026. It is hands-down the biggest update the little iPad has seen in recent generations. 

First, Apple upgraded the LCD to a bigger, better OLED screen (limited to 60Hz). The speaker vents on the rails are gone. Instead, the new iPad mini uses an Acoustic Display (or speakers built into the screen) for a more immersive audio experience. Under the hood, the tablet runs on Apple’s A20 Pro chip (the 6-core version is available only in the 512GB storage variant). 

It’s also the first iPad to secure an official IP67 rating. A landscape camera, Apple’s N1 chip with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, Apple Pencil Pro support, and a nano-texture option (etched glass that cuts glare) round out the iPad mini’s upgrades.

The price tag stings a bit, though: $699 for Wi-Fi and $849 with cellular, up from $599 earlier this year and $499 when the previous model launched in 2024. 

What I don’t expect from Apple’s October 28 event

Apple already covered the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo at the September launch event, along with Apple Watches and AirPods. The October 13 “Welcome Home” event focused on smart home gear (devices like the HomeView hub, HomePod mini 2, and new Apple TV 4K). 

While many annual upgrades are already in place, some will arrive only next year. I mean a new baseline iPad, which could arrive early next year. Plus, an OLED iPad Air and a new iPad Pro are also expected next year. 

So here’s my read. Wednesday looks less like a leap and more like a reshuffle: a new body for existing chips, one genuinely unexplored idea in the form of the touchscreen, and a lineup that costs more at nearly every rung. If you’re shopping for a MacBook Pro, I’d wait for Apple’s real pricing before committing. If raw speed is the goal, today’s M5 Pro and M5 Max models should perform much the same for less. 

RELATED COVERAGE:

• Apple quietly hopes to end the gizmo right-to-repair war. The iPhone Duo is the latest specimen.
• iPhone Duo is here. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and all the things it didn’t break
• The iPhone Duo has developers going wild, and I’m loving their creations
• The next MacBook Air could arrive early next year, but OLED will have to wait