What to expect at Apple's October event: M4 MacBook Pro, a new iPad Mini and more
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No, Apple has not announced an October event. But come on, it’s basically confirmed, right? I mean the rumor mill has been rife about the follow-up to the iPhone 16 launch, so let’s just assume that something is coming.
Because if there’s one thing we’ve learnt about Apple over the past couple of years, it’s that the company has been rigidly consistent — MacBook Air updates in Spring, WWDC in June, iPhones and Apple Watches in September, and finally something MacBook Pro-related towards the end of the year.
With that in mind, let’s pull together every rumor and leak we’re seeing and see what we can look forward to.
M4 MacBook Pros
Another year, another MacBook Pro refresh. The M3 models came out during quite the spooky event on Halloween (we rather love the M3 and M3 Max MacBook Pros), and we’re not expecting any significant design changes. Instead, we’re getting that same sleek chassis and a bump up to the M4 chipset.
And now that we’re seeing reports of M4 MacBook Pros entering mass production, it seems all but surely a lock for an October announcement.
All the M4 Macs
Much like the Mac event last year, we’re also anticipating an upgraded iMac with M4 too — though there’s no sign of one sporting an M4 Pro or M4 Max just yet. But unlike that event, we may finally see the Mac Mini get a warmly welcome upgrade too.
More interestingly, we’re seeing reports that the Mac Mini will get a redesign too, to become even smaller. Think like the Apple TV 4K, in that it seems like it could be a little taller, but leave a way smaller footprint on your desk. And on top of that, Cupertino’s gonna follow the same plan as the current Mini and give you a standard M4 and M4 Pro flavor.
iPad Mini 7
Next is the one I’m most unsure about. Stocks of the 6th Gen iPad Mini are starting to dwindle, which is usually a telltale sign that something is coming. So after nearly three years, it’s about time we get iPad Mini 7.
In terms of what’s new, we’re expecting the same sleek design with upgraded internals — a new display controller to stop the jelly scrolling, and a bump up in the chipset. Everyone points to A16, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw A17 for Apple Intelligence reasons.
The only thing I’m unsure about is when we’ll see it. This could be a September event announcement, but it could just as easily be talked about in October too!
iPad 11
At first, we were unsure about a refresh coming for the lower-end iPad. But now, it's looking more and more likely that we'll see an 11th Gen model that updates the internals. Hopefully the price is kept the same too!
What's most interesting, though, is in Gurman's report he talks about "new lower-end iPads," as in plural. Could we see a cheap big screen iPad? I sure hope so!
Anything else?
But what about the rest of the lineup? There are some devices that we can confidently say won’t appear here — such as the Mac Pro, Apple Vision Pro 2, M4 MacBook Air and this mythical foldable iPhone. But there are question marks over one item for me: a new Apple TV 4K.
Meanwhile, the Apple TV 4K was launched in 2022, and with Apple Intelligence just around the corner, it’s obvious to see just how important an improved Siri and AI could be in streamlining the TV experience.
