Apple opened a new US manufacturing centre that will build Mac mini, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said more Macs are likely next month, after the iPhone event.
Apple opens a centre that will build Mac mini
On Thursday, Apple opened its Advanced Manufacturing Center in Houston, a 20,000-square-foot training facility inside the same site that already builds Apple’s AI servers. Apple says the centre will also begin manufacturing Mac mini this year, and will offer free training sessions for small and medium-sized businesses, with plans to expand the same workshops to local college students. The curriculum covers final assembly and printed circuit board design, and uses a representative production line on site. It is a US story, but it is the first time Apple has said Mac mini will be built at that Houston site, and it follows the company’s broader pledge to invest in American manufacturing.
New MacBook Pro and iMac models may arrive in October
Separately, Gurman wrote that Apple is likely to unveil a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 chip, and a refreshed 24-inch iMac, in October, in line with its usual cadence. He has not pointed to a major iMac redesign. That would be after the September iPhone event, and after the new Mac mini and Mac Studio already scheduled to arrive in late September. Gurman has also said Apple is re-evaluating the Apple Watch lineup, including a possible round model and even screenless fitness trackers further out, and that a ceramic case could return this year or next. Until Apple confirms any of it, treat the October Mac date as a well-sourced expectation rather than a fact.
iOS 27 beta 5, and more Home features for big iCloud+ plans
Apple also seeded the fifth developer and public beta of iOS 27 this week, with further tweaks to app icons and Liquid Glass. If you pay for an iCloud+ plan with at least 2TB of storage, iOS 27 will add Apple Intelligence features in the Home app: generated descriptions for HomeKit Secure Video, search across camera clips, and automatic surfacing of noteworthy moments. You do not need to run the beta to get those features when iOS 27 ships in September.
The foldable’s shape comes into view
Leaked screen protectors for the rumoured foldable, still being called ‘iPhone Ultra’ by some accessory makers, show square corners on the hinge side and rounded corners on the outer edge, which matches months of reports about a book-style design. Camera protectors have also pointed to silver and dark blue as likely colours. A separate leak, of an apparent iPhone 18 Pro Max battery, listed a capacity of 5,391mAh, about 12 per cent larger than the equivalent 17 Pro Max cell. That is also unverified. None of the accessory or battery leaks is official, and Apple has not confirmed a name, a colour or a battery size.
What to watch next week
The September event is still unannounced, but it is now only a few weeks away. An invite, and perhaps a little more hardware before then, would not be a surprise.
