Apple's new OLED iPad mini will open for pre-order at 10:10 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, October 28, and MacRumors has a theory about why the odd timestamp matters beyond the tablet itself.
Apple announced the iPad mini on Monday, October 26, with a press release issued at 6 a.m. PT. The company's product page lists pre-orders starting October 28, with the device launching on November 6, according to MacRumors, which relayed the listing.
The 10:10 a.m. start comes shortly after an event Apple has arranged in Los Angeles for 10 a.m. PT the same day. Apple has invited selected tech reporters and content creators to that experience, MacRumors reports. The site's Joe Rossignol suggests the ten-minute gap is not a coincidence.
The reasoning draws on Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who has reported that Apple is expected to kick off Wednesday with a short video introducing a touchscreen MacBook Pro. MacRumors infers that such a video could run about ten minutes, with pre-orders for the new hardware opening right after it ends. That would explain why the iPad mini's pre-order time sits at 10:10 rather than at the top of the hour.
It is worth stressing that this is an inference, not something Apple has said. Apple has not described what will be shown on Wednesday, how long any video will run, or which products besides the iPad mini will go on sale at that moment.
MacRumors also expects the same window to cover other Mac hardware. Gurman and Bloomberg have separately reported that an M6 refresh of the iMac and the 14-inch MacBook Pro is due that day, with no design changes. Those reports remain unconfirmed by Apple.
The publication also notes that a press release for the MacBook Pro may not appear on Apple Newsroom until closer to 10 a.m. PT on Wednesday, again based on its own reading of how Apple has handled past launches rather than any statement from the company.
For readers planning to buy, the practical takeaway is simple: the iPad mini is the only one of these products Apple has officially announced, and its pre-order date and time are now on its product page. Anything else expected on Wednesday should be treated as a rumor until Apple says otherwise.
Cupertino News will cover the event as it happens.
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