When Apple sent out the invites for its “Scary Fast” event, it was assumed to just be a cute Halloween-themed way of pointing out that its new Macs powered by M3 would be… well, fast.
But it appears that Apple is really doubling down on the Halloween theme with a gift box it has seemingly sent out to tech influencers who’ll be making content around the event, such as Lamarr Wilson. The gift box contains a pair of AirPods Max, as well as a bunch of “sweet and spooky” snacks to complement the Halloween “treats” Apple plans to unveil on October 30.
@lamarrwilson ♬ original sound - Lamarr Wilson
“It’s almost Halloween and Apple has some treats in store for you,” a letter included in the box reads. “On the evening of October 30th, we’ll unveil something special and invite you to join the online watch party.
“To make your viewing experience a bit more ‘spatial’, we hope you’ll enjoy immersive listening with AirPods Max, along with a few sweet and spooky snacks.”
I personally can’t remember the company leaning into a holiday theme gimmick like this before, and it doesn’t feel very Apple at all. We’ll just have to see whether the event itself has any horror theming, or if this is just word-of-mouth marketing to build hype for a Mac-focused event (which will almost certainly attract less attention than last month’s iPhone 15 unveiling).
Here’s how to watch Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ October event, to find out for yourself.
Apple Scary Fast event — what we’re expecting
While Apple hasn’t explicitly said as much, this is going to be a Mac-focused event. Not only is that what the leaks say, but Apple’s own teaser image transitions into the Mac Finder icon, meaning this isn’t going to be about refreshed iPads (which, by the way, are now expected next year).
That means that Apple’s third-generation computer processor — the M3 chip — is finally ready for its unveiling. With the tagline of ‘Scary Fast’, Apple likely has reasons to be confident that performance is a big leap from the already powerful M2, and that’s certainly possible with its 3-nanometer fabrication process.
But what products will the M3 make its debut in? Bloomberg’s well-connected reporter Mark Gurman believes we’ll be seeing a refreshed 24-inch iMac — which makes sense as the colorful range is currently M1-powered and over two years old — alongside new versions of the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
It’s the latter of these that is especially interesting, as that suggests Apple will show an M3 Pro or M3 Max chip at the same time as the basic M3. That would be a change of strategy from the roll out of M1 and M2, where souped-up chips arrived at a later date.
Less excitingly, we might also see a new-look Magic Keyboard, Trackpad and Mouse — hopefully with the (USB-C) charging connector in a more sensible place for the latter.
Those are the products that seem nailed on, and Gurman has warned audiences not to expect a 13-inch MacBook Pro with M3 on Monday. There’s also no recent word of an M3-powered Mac mini, but we wouldn’t rule it out completely given one was seen in testing just a few months ago…
