Apple spent three days unveiling new Macs and an iPad mini, all due on sale here on Friday, 6 November. iOS 27.2 also arrived, HomePod mini 2 went on sale, and Apple said it will replace some iPhone Duo units with display faults.
Touchscreen Macs, M6 Macs, and a new iPad mini
Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook Pro headlines the week. The 14- and 16-inch models use a tandem OLED “PROLED XDR” display with touch, a Dynamic Island, and M5 Pro or M5 Max chips. Apple says they’re thinner and lighter than the current models, with up to 24 hours of battery life and Thunderbolt 5. The 14-inch starts at $4,599, and the 16-inch at $5,499. Pre-orders opened mid-week, with availability from Friday, 6 November.
On the same cadence, Apple introduced a 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 and the familiar Liquid Retina XDR display, starting at $3,199, and a 24-inch iMac with M6 from $2,399, in seven colours. The iPad mini is the biggest redesign of that tablet in years: an 8.5-inch OLED display, A20 Pro, a thinner 5.4mm design, and IP67 water and dust resistance for the first time. A nano-texture display option is available, and the front camera now sits on the landscape edge for video calls. It does not support ProMotion, so the refresh rate stays at 60Hz. Wi-Fi models start at $1,099, and Wi-Fi + Cellular at $1,349, in midnight or starlight, with 128GB, 256GB and 512GB storage. Pre-orders open Thursday, 29 October, also arriving 6 November. Prices include GST.
iOS 27.2 expands Siri AI, but holds back Health
Apple released iOS 27.2 on Monday, with the rest of the 27.2 family. Siri AI now works in French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, and can recall earlier conversations and draw on more personal context. The Apple TV app gains household profiles, and Messages can suggest actions such as adding a calendar event. iPhone Duo also gets Apple Pencil support and Edge Light for video calls. The redesigned Health app, which appeared in the 27.2 betas, did not ship in the public release; it’s expected later.
HomePod mini 2 is on sale
HomePod mini 2 went on sale on Friday, 30 October, at $229 including GST, in pink, green, blue, white and midnight. It can be used as a Mac speaker, and four of them can be paired with the new Apple TV 4K for surround sound. Siri AI is still due in a later software update, with no date attached.
Apple will replace some cracked Duo screens
After a week of reports that some iPhone Duo inner displays were cracking along the hinge, Apple told 9to5Mac it is “aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units.” Affected customers should contact AppleCare for a replacement; AppleCare+ is not required. If you’ve seen a problem, go to Apple rather than a carrier.
What to watch next week
The new Macs and iPad mini go on sale on Friday, 6 November. Apple is also due to report quarterly results early in the week, John Ternus’s first as CEO.
