Apple is ready for its first event of the year. Don’t panic, you didn’t miss an invite, nor did the company make a public announcement. As a matter of fact, Apple is preparing an “Experience” from January 27-29 in Los Angeles, California. The information comes from creator Petr Mara, who shared an image of his invite on Instagram a few weeks ago.
At the time, it was unclear what Apple could’ve prepared. However, just after his post, the company unveiled the Apple Creator Studio, which officially launches on January 28. The Apple Creator Studio subscription is a bundle of nine apps, ranging from the most professional ones like Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, to the iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) and Pixelmator Pro, which is getting an all-new iPad app.
With that, Apple is bundling all of its creative products into a $12.99/month subscription, which will not only feature brand-new Liquid Glass icons, but other perks to the software that will remain free. That said, Apple might take this opportunity to talk about something bigger than just this bundle with creators.
M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models could be just around the corner
As suggested by MacRumors, Apple could be preparing to unveil the M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros next week. After it released the M5 option late last year, upgrades to the most powerful MacBook options are overdue. These chips will focus on AI tasks and way faster GPU speeds, as the company added Neural Accelerators for each of the GPU cores of the M5 processor. Besides that, these laptops shouldn’t get a redesign or major new features, as Apple is expected to save them for the upcoming M6 Pro/Max MacBook Pro. That being said, next week could be ideal for the release of the more powerful M5 options.
With Apple introducing its Creator Studio subscription, nothing sounds more related than also introducing the company’s most powerful laptops. Another hint at an imminent refresh also comes directly from Apple: Some configurations of the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips for the MacBook Pro have been delayed by a few weeks, with some even delayed by a couple of months. This usually indicates a new model is coming.
If the company is indeed unveiling the M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro next week, this could point to even better news. Apple could be following a trend it did with the M2 generation; where it unveiled the M2 Pro/Max MacBook in January of 2023, followed by more powerful M3 Pro/Max processors in October of the same year. That would mean a redesigned MacBook could still be planned to launch this year.
Don’t worry, Apple still has a lot more in store for the first semester of 2026
Even though this is not a proper Apple event and is focused on creators, the company could still make a public keynote in the coming months as well. After all, even if the new MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max variants gets announced next week, the company still has several products it’s rumored to introduce in the first half of the year.
For example, the iPhone 17e is just around the corner, and it should be announced this spring. There are also reports that the company could also be planning to introduce its smart home hub in a spring event, in addition to a smart bell device, a new Apple TV 4K, new HomePod mini models, and even second-generation AirTags. Later this semester, Apple could introduce its low-cost MacBook with the A18 pro chip, the M5 MacBook Air, and even the M5 Max and M5 Ultra versions of the Mac Studio, alongside a new Studio Display.
While the timeframe is unclear, Apple also has a new base-model iPad and the iPad Air to update, both of which could be released during a spring event. That said, Apple is seemingly not lacking products to introduce this year, meaning the first third of 2026 looks very promising for the company.
