Is Apple’s M4 Mac launch event still happening? I’m skeptical

Over the last few weeks, the endless stream of M4 MacBook Pro leaks has been almost inescapable. We’ve seen photos, unboxing videos, even M4 laptops reportedly going up for sale way ahead of time. Ye.t despite all that, there’s been one thing that has stopped me from fully believing that these leaks are legitimate — despite a well-known reporter claiming that they’re authentic.

That’s because in all the leaks we’ve seen, the box of the M4 MacBook Pro has come with the same black-and-gray wallpaper that Apple used for its M3 line of MacBook Pros. It’s something that has bugged me ever since I first noticed it. But what if the use of an old wallpaper isn’t proof that these leaks are fakes, but is actually a clue about what Apple is about to do next?

The wallpaper of it all

I know, I know. Examining wallpaper sounds like a minor, insignificant detail. But for Apple nerds like me, it’s actually far more important than it first appears. I can’t think of another time that Apple has reused a wallpaper in this way. Every time the company has launched a new MacBook Pro, it’s released a new background image to go with it. Seeing an old wallpaper on these supposedly new boxes was an immediate red flag for me — it suggested that whoever was leaking the devices was reusing M3 MacBook Pro boxes, and that threw the whole thing into doubt.

This important detail was hard to square with everything else in the leaks. They seemed so convincing, from the updated hardware to the sleek software to the report that each machine came with an as-yet-unreleased M4 chip. These elements could be faked, but with some difficulty. They all seemed so convincing.

But over the last couple days, I’ve come to a realization: Perhaps these details are not as opposed to each other as they might have at first seemed. In fact, what if Apple reusing a MacBook Pro wallpaper is actually a hint that the leaks are genuine — and that the company’s widely anticipated October event isn’t actually going to happen? After all, reusing a wallpaper doesn’t feel as egregious if we aren’t talking about an entire event dedicated to these new products.

Launching the new computers via a press release will garner much less attention, with fewer eyes noticing the familiar wallpaper. It’s less of a big deal if there’s not going to be an October event at all.

Breaking with convention

Over the last few years, Apple has fallen into a somewhat predictable pattern: host a glitzy iPhone launch event in September, then follow it up with a Mac-centric show in the fall. Sure, it doesn’t go like this every year, but it happens regularly enough that people have been forecasting that the same will happen in 2024.

Despite that, though, doubts have begun to emerge. When Apple announced the new iPad mini earlier this week, that was one device knocked off the event list. Apple also subtlety tweaked the entry-level iPad at the same time — yep, that’s something else we probably won’t be seeing at an October show.

That leaves just the MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac mini on the October event roster. The MacBook Pro leaks suggest that device will only get a minor update — a new chip, some small hardware changes here and there — and the iMac is expected to get an even smaller upgrade. Only the Mac mini is in line for a big design change, but is that enough to justify a full-blown event? I’m not so sure. And let’s not forget — the M4 itself was already introduced to the world earlier this spring on the new iPad Pro.

And now we return to that pesky MacBook Pro wallpaper. It makes no sense to keep the same background image if Apple is going to show off the new laptops at a big-time event — they’ll be plastered all over the place with an old wallpaper. That just looks wrong.

But if there’s not going to be an event at all? Well, then it seems far less important.

I’m still scratching my head

To be sure, it’s still an unusual move on Apple’s part to keep the same imagery for its new MacBook Pros. As I said before, I can’t recall the company having ever done this before, and it feels like a strange move. After all, how hard is it to make one new wallpaper? But with Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman stating that his sources have told him the leaks are genuine, perhaps we’re just going to have to get used to it. It’s something that’s made easier if you consider it could be a sign that there won’t be an October event this year.

The new M4 MacBook Pro is expected to go on sale on November 1, which means that if Apple is going to hold an October event, it’s running out of time to announce the show. Perhaps the more likely possibility is that there won’t be an event at all — and that the leaked MacBook Pro’s wallpaper was hinting at that idea the whole time.