Over the last few weeks , the eternal flow ofM4 MacBook Pro leakshas been almost inescapable . We ’ve attend pic , unbox video , even M4 laptops reportedlygoing up for saleway ahead of clip . Ye.t despite all that , there ’s been one affair that has stopped me from fully believe that these leak are lawful — despite a well - known reporterclaiming that they ’re authentic .

That ’s because in all the leak we ’ve seen , the box of theM4 MacBook Prohas 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 notice it . But what if the enjoyment of an old wallpaper is n’t proof that these leaks are fakes , but is in reality a cue about what Apple is about to do next ?

The wallpaper of it all

I be intimate , I know . canvass wallpaper sounds like a minor , undistinguished detail . But for Apple nerds like me , it ’s really far more important than it first appear . I ca n’t think of another clip that Apple has reused a wallpaper in this path . Every clip the companionship has launched a new MacBook Pro , it ’s release a new background image to go with it . see an quondam wallpaper on these supposedly fresh boxes was an quick ruby-red fleur-de-lis for me — it indicate that whoever was leaking the devices was reusingM3 MacBook Proboxes , and that threw the whole thing into incertitude .

This important detail was hard to square with everything else in the leaks . They seemed so convincing , from the updated computer hardware to the sleek software package to the report that each auto came with an as - yet - unreleasedM4 chip . These elementscouldbe faked , but with some difficulty . They all seemed so convincing .

But over the last couple Clarence Day , I ’ve come to a realisation : Perhaps these details are not as counterbalance to each other as they might have at first seemed . In fact , what if Apple reusing a MacBook Pro wallpaper is really a soupcon that the leaks are genuine — and that the fellowship ’s widely anticipatedOctober eventisn’t really move to happen ? After all , reusing a wallpaper does n’t feel as egregious if we are n’t talking about an entire event dedicate to these new products .

Launching the young computers via a press release will garner much less attention , with few eye detect the familiar wallpaper . It ’s less of a big deal ifthere ’s not travel to be an October eventat all .

Breaking with convention

Over the last few old age , Apple has fallen into a jolly predictable pattern : host a glitzyiPhone launching eventin September , then follow it up with a Mac - centric show in the nightfall . surely , it does n’t go like this every yr , but it happens regularly enough that people have been forecast that the same will happen in 2024 .

Despite that , though , doubts have begun to emerge . When Apple announced thenew iPad miniearlier this week , that was one equipment knocked off the upshot list . Apple also subtlety tweaked theentry - degree iPadat the same time — yep , that ’s something else we belike wo n’t be seeing at an October show .

That leaves just the MacBook Pro , iMacandMac minion the October outcome roll . The MacBook Pro leaks suggest that gimmick will only get a minor update — a newfangled splintering , some small computer hardware change here and there — and the iMac is expect to get an even smaller rise . Only the Mac miniskirt is in line for abig intent change , but is that enough to justify a full - blown consequence ? I ’m not so sure . And let ’s not forget — the M4 itself was already inclose to the earth originally this spring on the new iPad Pro .

And now we return to that vexing MacBook Pro wallpaper . It crap no sense to keep the same scope image if Apple is going to show off the raw laptops at a big - clock time event — they ’ll be stick on all over the place with an honest-to-god wallpaper . That just looks wrong .

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

I’m still scratching my head

To be certain , it ’s still an unusual move on Apple ’s part to keep the same imagery for its new MacBook Pros . As I say before , I ca n’t recall the company having ever done this before , and it feels like a unknown move . After all , how intemperately is it to make one new wallpaper ? But with Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman stating that his sources have told himthe leaks are genuine , perhaps we ’re just going to have to get used to it . It ’s something that ’s made well-fixed if you consider it could be a signaling that there wo n’t be an October outcome this year .

The new M4 MacBook Pro is expected to go on sale on November 1 , which mean that if Apple is going to take hold an October event , it ’s running out of time to announce the show . Perhaps the more probable opening is that there wo n’t be an event at all — and that the leak out MacBook Pro ’s wallpaper was hinting at that estimation the whole time .