Apple spread its latest launches across three days this week, ending with a Pro and Tell event in Los Angeles on Wednesday 28 October. The headline product is Apple's first MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen, joined by a refreshed 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac with the new M6 chip, and the first iPad mini with an OLED screen. Pre-orders opened on 28 October in the US, with deliveries from 6 November.
South African prices and availability have not been announced yet, so we estimated.
Insights on Apple's Pro and Tell week
Here is what Apple launched, with US prices converted at about R16.46 to the dollar. US prices exclude sales tax, and South African prices usually land well above a straight conversion once VAT, duties and margins are added.
Product | What's new | US starting price | In rand (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
MacBook Pro 14in and 16in with OLED | First touchscreen MacBook, OLED "PROLED XDR" display, Dynamic Island, M5 Pro or M5 Max chips | $2,899 | About R47,700 |
MacBook Pro 14in with M6 | New M6 chip, same mini-LED screen and design as before | $1,999 | About R32,900 |
iMac with M6 | New M6 chip, 24-inch 4.5K screen, seven colours | $1,499 | About R24,700 |
iPad mini with OLED | 8.5-inch OLED screen, A20 Pro chip, speakers under the screen, IP67 water and dust resistance | $699 | About R11,500 |
The OLED MacBook Pro is the big change. It is Apple's first laptop with an OLED display and touch input, and it brings the Dynamic Island, the pill-shaped cut-out used on iPhones, to the Mac.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is a quieter update. Its 12-core M6 chip offers up to 30% more graphics performance and 25% faster AI tasks than before, with up to 24 hours of video playback, but the screen and body are unchanged. Stuff estimates it should cost around R41,000 here if local pricing holds.
The iPad mini gets its biggest update yet, with a slightly larger screen, a thinner body and water resistance, but it is also more expensive: its US price has risen twice this year, from $499 to $699, which Apple has partly blamed on memory and chip shortages.
What others are saying about Apple's Pro and Tell week
Stuff's Brett Venter noted the M6 MacBook Pro was announced quietly by press release before the event, a sign of how modest the update is. MacRumors covered the iPad mini's second price rise this year. Tom's Guide reported that the OLED MacBook Pro uses M5 Pro and M5 Max chips rather than new M6 versions.
On the iPhone Duo, Apple told 9to5Mac that it is aware of an issue with the inner display on a small number of units, and that affected users should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
What Apple did not announce
The gaps are as telling as the launches. There are no M6 Pro or M6 Max chips. Reports say Apple skipped them, so its most expensive new laptop runs on the M5 chips from March, and the next Pro and Max chips may not arrive until late 2027. The rumoured "MacBook Ultra" name did not happen either, as Apple kept the Pro branding. The cheaper M6 MacBook Pro got no design changes and no OLED screen.
And Apple has given no South African dates or prices, so local buyers should expect the usual gap, which we worked out at about 27% for the iPhone Duo. Speaking of the Duo, a small number of early units have had problems with the inner folding screen. Apple says affected users should get a replacement, and because it has no official stores here, South African buyers should start with iStore or Core Group, even if they bought through a network.
The wider pattern is price. Between rising memory costs and new features, Apple's devices are getting more expensive, which is one reason pre-owned iPhones are becoming a bigger business here.
You might also like our piece on Apple's Beats game controllers, Claude becoming an office suite, and Sixty60 selling gaming PCs.
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