Apple's big week begins with iPad mini

PLUS: Microsoft puts buyouts on the table for 60K workers

Good morning, tech enthusiasts. Apple’s next big “Pro and Tell” event kicks off tomorrow… but the fireworks have already begun.

The company has debuted a new iPad mini, calling it the tablet’s “biggest update ever,” ahead of what’s shaping up to be a packed launch, especially if you have a soft spot for Macs.

Also today: Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 workers, and Instagram takes aim at YouTube’s crown.

In today’s tech rundown:

  • Apple debuts new iPad mini ahead of big Mac event

  • Microsoft puts buyouts on the table for 60K workers

  • Instagram targets YouTube with long-form push

  • Google closes the distance for military families

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE

Image source: Apple

The Rundown: Apple just unveiled a new iPad mini with a larger 8.5-inch OLED display, an A20 Pro chip, and a $100 price bump, kicking off a launch week expected to bring the Mac’s biggest shift in years: the first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro.

The details:

  • The new mini is just 5.4mm thin and 255g, about 13% lighter than before, with an OLED screen Apple says is suited to dim-light reading; the price starts at $699.

  • Apple says the A20 Pro, from the same chip family as the iPhone 18 Pro, delivers up to 60% faster multitasking and 4.5x faster AI performance, built to run Siri AI.

  • Other upgrades include new “Acoustic Display” speakers, Wi-Fi 7, a landscape front camera for video calls, and a $100 nano-texture option to cut glare.

  • It’s just the start, with Bloomberg reporting Apple will unveil its first touchscreen, OLED MacBook Pros with M5 Pro and Max chips, and a Dynamic Island.

  • The company is also expected to launch an M6-powered 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac at the event, about a month after the M6 Mac mini began shipping.

Why it matters: Apple is on a roll this fall, from new iPhones to a smart home push with HomeView and HomePod mini 2, and now a premium iPad mini, with new Macs next. Given the industry’s memory crunch and Apple’s recent price hikes, including on this mini, buyers shouldn’t be surprised if the new MacBook Pros cost more too.

TOGETHER WITH AWS

The Rundown: Production software earns trust with errors you can see and logs you can replay. AI agents break that deal: a failure can look like a clean response, and standard logs lose why the agent did it. This Building Agentic Systems on AWS workshop covers securing agentic systems and tracing agent decisions.

In this free workshop, you’ll learn how to:

  • Secure an agent’s code and infrastructure, catching critical vulnerabilities before they ship

  • Defend against prompt injection with layered guardrails and red-team regression tests

  • Contain agent-based system risks by scoping tools, permissions, and autonomy

MICROSOFT

Image source: Microsoft

The Rundown: Microsoft shared a “Voluntary Exit Offer” for around 60K employees, about 27% of its global workforce, giving them the option to leave with a severance-style payout, as it balances AI infrastructure build-out with a push for efficiency.

The details:

  • Eligible staff on participating teams in the U.S., UK, Canada, and India, up to the VP level, must decide by early December, with exits set for Dec. 31.

  • Copilot, Windows, Xbox, and finance are among the participating teams, while some marketing, sales, and data center teams are sitting out, Bloomberg reports.

  • It’s Microsoft’s third workforce move this year, after an April retirement buyout that more than 30% of about 8,750 eligible staff took, and 4,800 layoffs in July.

  • The push comes as AI spending surges, with Microsoft’s capex expected to top $50B for the September quarter, up from nearly $35B a year ago.

Why it matters: Buyouts let Microsoft shrink without the backlash of mass layoffs, but offering one to more than a quarter of its staff signals how much the company expects AI to shape its workforce. Microsoft hasn’t set a target, but if uptake matches April’s 30%, that would mean ~18K exits, one of the biggest workforce reductions in Microsoft’s history.

INSTAGRAM

Image source: Unsplash / Gabrielle Henderson

The Rundown: Instagram is testing “Features,” horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long aimed at podcasters, comedians, and other creators, marking a stark strategy shift for the platform that spent the last six years thriving on the virality of short-form videos.

The details:

  • Features will show up in users’ main feeds and Explore, starting with select creators in the U.S. and Brazil, with wider testing rolling out over the next month.

  • Creators can also post Reels that link to a full Feature, and group related clips into series, turning short videos into a funnel for long ones, right on Instagram.

  • Instagram’s TV app will put Features front and center, and users will soon be able to save videos on their phones to watch later on TV.

  • The company hasn’t detailed how creators will earn from Features, though longer videos could open more room for ads, similar to what YouTube serves.

Why it matters: Creators have long used Instagram as a top-of-funnel tool, building momentum with Reels and then sending fans to YouTube for the full content. By linking Reels to Features right in the app, Instagram could close that gap, keeping both creators who make long-form and viewers who want to watch it on its own platform.

GOOGLE

Image source: Google

The Rundown: Google is bringing its Beam 3D video calling to 20 locations of the USO, the nonprofit that supports U.S. troops and their families, letting deployed service members talk to loved ones in lifelike, life-sized 3D.

The details:

  • Beam booths, built on HP Dimension hardware, use AI to turn video into real-time 3D that captures eye contact and body language, without headsets or glasses.

  • Google first announced the USO partnership in October 2025 and launched a pilot this year linking troops in Trzebień, Poland with families at Fort Bliss, Texas.

  • It’s now expanding to Grafenwöhr, Germany, and Fort Hood, Texas, the next stops as Google works toward 20 USO sites worldwide.

  • Google also released a docuseries showing the technology’s impact, with troops in Poland watching a child’s first steps and celebrating a spouse’s promotion.

Why it matters: Beam started in 2021 as Project Starline, a research demo of video calls that felt like sitting across a table, before Google rebranded it in 2025 and pitched it to businesses. Bringing it to military families gives the tech one of its most meaningful real-world uses yet, and a glimpse of where our video calls could head one day.

QUICK HITS

Apple acknowledged inner-screen cracking on a “small number” of its $1,999-and-up iPhone Duo and offered AppleCare replacements to users facing the issue.

X appointed former Snap and Discord product executive Peter Sellis as its new head of product, replacing Nikita Bier, who stepped down in August and took an advisory role.

Quest Diagnostics disclosed a cyberattack on its Quanum lab-testing system that allowed unauthorized access to certain patient records, including health information.

Grocery delivery giant Instacart is reportedly in advanced acquisition talks with larger rival DoorDash, after earlier discussions with Uber, which has since walked away.

Google updated its privacy policy to allow Gmail, Drive, and Photos data to inform personalized ads when users choose to share it with Google services, including AI Mode Search via Personal Intelligence.

Apple’s new in-store anti-theft system scans sealed returned iPhone boxes and runs checks, detecting missing or tampered components without opening the pack.

Alibaba won a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. government from restricting Pentagon contracts with companies that lobby for the Chinese e-commerce giant.

Japan’s GMO Internet Group said it will pay customers ¥5,000 ($32) for losses from unauthorized access to its foreign exchange trading service following a cyberattack.

Cowboy Space unveiled “Big Iron,” a reusable medium-lift rocket whose upper stage stays in orbit as a MW-class data center running GPUs; first flight targeted for 2028.

Texas startup Element3 is turning Permian Basin oil-drilling wastewater into battery-grade lithium, with a Midland plant that can produce up to 3,000 tons a year.

A KAIST team developed a wearable patch that delivers eye drops at the press of a button using a vitamin C and baking soda reaction, with no gravity or power needed.

That's it for today's tech rundown!

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Rowan, Zach, Shubham, Jennifer, and Nate — The Rundown’s editorial team

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