Apple’s Mac event invitation decoded

On 19 October, Apple sent out invitations for a 27 October event, and for some of us this event is even more exciting than September’s iPhone 7 launch. That’s because we’re expecting the long-awaited Mac updates that we have been hoping for since early last year.

Apple’s invitation is an interesting one, sticking with the dark background that we saw from the iPhone 7 event last month but with a splash of colour created by what looks like powdered paint.

It’s possible that the dark background hints at new colours for the Mac and potentially if the iPad if Apple decides to use this event to update it.

The tagline is the most exciting, and the biggest hint towards a Mac launch. Back in 1984, when Steve Jobs introduced the first Mac to the world, the Mac said “Hello” on its screen. Apple’s “Hello again” tagline is likely to be a reference to that first unveiling more than 30 years ago. We’re expecting a new MacBook Pro. Other possibilities include a new Mac Pro,  new MacBook Air and new iMac. We might even see a new MacBook, a new Mac mini, a new iPad mini… The possibilities are endless.

Turn to the next slide to see more of Apple’s previous cryptic invitations, as we remind ourselves of events past and the clues that Apple sneakily (and sometimes not so sneakily) hid within its invitation designs.

Apple sent out invitations for an event on 7 September and it’s the one we’d been waiting for all year. As always, Apple’s invitation was cryptic, so we couldn’t resist attempting to decode the hidden messages within it.

The most obvious clue was the date – the 7 hinted at the biggest announcement of the day, the iPhone 7.

The graphic itself was a bokeh version of the Apple logo on a dark background, which hinted both at the camera improvements and new bokeh feature in the iPhone 7 Plus, as well as the new Jet Black colour for the iPhone.

Apple’s choice of the words “See you” in the tagline were also likely to be a nod towards camera upgrades.

On 21 March 2016, Apple hosted an event, and in traditional Apple fashion, the company included a cryptic tagline in its invitation.

The tagline, “Let us loop you in,” likely referred to new Apple Watch straps and the new Spaceship Campus. The colours may have also been a hint at the iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7in, which launched in all four of the colours shown.

Back in August of 2015, Apple released a cryptic special event invitation for an event on 9 September, when the company announced the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, a revamped Apple TV, the iPad Pro and a new iPad mini.

This time we were in front of the big leaf from Apple’s logo; underneath it sat the enigmatic catch line “Hey Siri, give us a hint.”

Not satisfied with this ambiguous clue, we asked Siri to, well, give us a hint. The invitation is very clear, after all; Siri should tell us something about the event. Here’s what she replied:

• At first sneaky Siri wanted to confuse us: “I can neither confirm nor deny that I am not authorised either to confirm or deny that I cannot disclose anything that you would then have to confirm. In any case, I would deny it. Got it?” No, to be honest we didn’t get it, did you?

• The second time she was still puzzling, trying to put us in the wrong direction. “What, you can’t tell from my colourful wavey words?” Is she referring to the colourful waves that appear on the invitation underneath the big leaf?

• The third time Siri understood we were not going to give up; so she tried a new strategy. She attempted to flatter us to make us forget our goal. “You’re cute when you’re desperate for information.” Wait, desperate? That’s not flattering, is it?

• The fourth time we finally got something more substantial. “The only hint I can give you right now is a hint of lime. And that there’s a big announcement on 9 September.” At least now we know that the announcement is going to be big.

• The fifth time Siri was quite rude. “You’ll have to wait until 9 September. I bet you were one of those kids who snuck downstairs to open presents early, weren’t you?”

• The sixth and last answer? “Why don’t you check a rumours blog? That’s what I do.”

On 8 October 2014, Apple sent invites hinting at more than just an iPad (Apple’s October events usually focus tablets) with a tagline that read: “It’s been way too long.”

We attempted to decode the 16 October event invite, but it turned out to be the iPad Air 2, the iPad mini 3, iMacs with Retina displays and an updated Mac mini.

Find out more about the iPad 6 rumours.

Back in 2007 Apple released this invitation, with the tagline: “The first 30 years were just the beginning. Welcome to 2007.”

The invite hinted at big things to come, and of course, it was at Macworld 2007 that Steve Jobs unveiled the very first generation of iPhone during this event.

Apple’s 2008 WWDC invite hinted at two major launches, which turned out to be the App Store and the iPhone 3G.

2008 also saw the launch of the first MacBook Air during Macworld 2008. Apple left a huge clue to the new MacBook in the invitation’s tagline: “There’s something in the air.”

The following year, Apple invited developers to the 2009 WWDC with a fairly easy to read invite, where it announced the iPhone 3GS that is depicted in the illustration, as well as iOS 3, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and some MacBook updates.

The iPhone 4S event’s invitation was extra cryptic, showing the date, time, place and product type through a series of four familiar iOS icons, with the tagline ‘Let’s talk iPhone’. The event also saw the launch of iCloud and iOS 5.

Also in 2011 was the launch of the iPad 2. The event was conveniently held on the 2 March, so there was a nice big number two on the invitation, with the calendar page peeling back to reveal an iPad beneath it. The tagline, “Come see what 2011 will be the year of”, also hinted at the iPad 2.

In 2012, Apple issued an invite for its third-generation iPad’s launch, which clearly pointed towards a tablet related launch. The new iPad had a Retina display, which is likely the meaning behind the “really have to see” part of the tagline. Apple also announced the Retina MacBook Pro at the event, as well as iOS 6, some updates to its other Mac ranges and more.

Read next: Apple timeline in pictures and video

Later in 2012 came the iPhone 5 launch invite, which made it quite clear than the iPhone 5 was coming with the large number 5 shadow beneath the 12 (which stood for the 12 September date of the event).

In October 2012 came one of our favourite invitations, with a tagline that reads: “We’ve got a little more to show you.” It was a play on words, with the “little” referring to the 7.9in iPad mini, the first generation of the smaller Apple tablet.

September of last year saw the launch of the iPhone 5S, which was also joined by the iPhone 5C. Looking closely, this invite has a few clues hidden within it, including hints at the colourful iPhone 5C in the tagline: “This should brighten everyone’s day.” The white circles with the grey outline look a lot like the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, too, which was one of the new features of the iPhone 5S.

In September 2014, the invitation to Apple’s iPhone 6 event showed a shadow that many believed looked like a sun dial, hinting at the iWatch which did indeed debut at the event, but is actually called the Apple Watch instead.