Apple invites press to a Los Angeles event on Oct. 28, with new Pro Macs expected
Invitations billed “Pro and tell” went out Monday, and a Melius Research analyst expects Apple’s first touchscreen notebook alongside other new Macs.
By
Priya Venkataraman
In brief
- Apple will hold an event in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, and invitations went to media and analysts on Monday.
- Analysts expect new Macs, potentially including the first touchscreen laptop, but Apple has confirmed no product.
- It would be the third Apple launch under CEO John Ternus, who succeeded Tim Cook last month.
- The iMac has gone without an update since October 2024.
Apple has called media and analysts to Los Angeles for a launch event, and the invitation’s wording points toward high-end computers built around the company’s own processors.
What the invitation says
Apple emailed media and analysts on Monday, CNBC reported, inviting them to what the company calls an “Apple Experience in Los Angeles.” The message carries the line “Pro and tell,” a hint that the focus will be high-end “Pro” devices powered by Apple’s homegrown chips.
Apple has not said what it will show. The expectation of new Macs, with a touchscreen model among them, comes from analysts. Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Melius Research, wrote in a Monday note that he expects new Macs this fall, “including a touchscreen notebook,” in his words.
Apple has not confirmed that a touchscreen laptop or any other specific product will be unveiled. The company has also not published prices, specifications, release dates or availability for any expected device.
A third event under Ternus
John Ternus became Apple’s CEO last month, succeeding Tim Cook. Reitzes described the pace of launches as a “meaningful shift” from what had been two events a year. The Los Angeles gathering would be the third presentation of his short tenure, after these two:
- An iPhone event at Apple’s headquarters, which featured the foldable Duo.
- A New York gathering devoted to smart home hubs and a speaker with a screen called HomeView.
Each event so far has been aimed at a different product family: phones, then the home, and now what the invitation frames as Pro hardware.
Which Macs are fresh and which are waiting
For anyone weighing a Mac purchase, the recent update history shows where the lineup stands.
| Mac | Last update |
|---|---|
| Mac Mini and Mac Studio | New chips in August |
| MacBook Pro | Refreshed in the spring |
| MacBook Neo | New low-cost model introduced in the spring |
| iMac | October 2024 |
The iMac is the desktop that has gone longest without a refresh. Whether it will be part of the Los Angeles event has not been stated.
Why the Mac matters to Apple
Macs bring in about a tenth of Apple’s revenue, because the company still leans heavily on the iPhone. Even so, the computers have become one of the strongest elements of Apple’s artificial intelligence story. The reason given is that its chips can reach more memory, at higher speeds, than other consumer processors.
On the stock market, Apple’s shares have climbed 26% since January, ahead of the S&P 500. Separately, Apple and Meta announced a collaboration last week to put a large open-weight model, built by Meta, onto several high-end Mac Studio computers.
A touchscreen Mac would mark a break with the company’s record. Apple has historically been dismissive of touchscreen laptops, and software chief Craig Federighi explained in 2018 that the ergonomics would tire users out.
The Los Angeles event is also the only one of the three under Ternus whose invitation names a product tier, Pro, rather than a product category such as phones or home devices.
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