Update: Follow our Apple October Event live blog today for all the big M3 Mac news and more!
Just ahead of Halloween, Apple has planned quite a treat for people hoping for new Mac models. Apple's "Scary Fast" event is today October 30, with new Macs likely to be announced.
We've heard rumors previously about would-be Apple launches this month, particularly centered around new iPads. But those rumors didn't pan out, with Apple instead merely releasing a new version of its Apple Pencil stylus with USB-C connectivity on October 17.
Now, however, we know for certain new Apple products will be announced on October 30. Here's what we know about the October Apple event along with what we're expecting to see.
Apple Event news
- We're covering all the big news today at our Apple October Event live blog.
- However it sounds like Apple's unlikely to reveal a 13-inch MacBook Pro M3 at ‘Scary Fast’ event
- Apple is expected to launch up to four new M3 Macs at the event with a release date of November 8.
- The new Macs are expected to be in short supply according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
- We've got a breakdown of just how 'scary fast' the new MacBook Pro M3 Pro could be.
When is the Apple October event taking place?
The October Apple event is scheduled for October 30 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. It will be a virtual-only event, unlike in-persons event like the September get-together that gave us the new iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9 models. In other instances, Apple merely issues a press release detailing its new products. But now the company is hosting a virtual presentation — and it hasn't done so in well over a year.
Apple has done October product launches before, but the timing is particularly interesting as Apple is slated to announce its quarterly earnings on November 2. Typically, earnings for the company's fiscal fourth quarter would be announced during October, so the fact that Apple pushed back the announcement into November made the product announcement more likely.
How do I watch the Apple October event?
Apple has added the option to add the event start time to your calendar on its Events page, where it will be streaming the entire thing live.
On YouTube, Apple has added a stream placeholder for the big event, but over on its official website stream, you can see an animated Apple logo that morphs into a Finder icon. That is another little clue that we could be seeing new Mac hardware (or silicon) announced at the event.
Expect the live stream to go live sometime on Tuesday morning, probably a few hours before the event's 5pm. PT start time.
If you own an Apple device such as an Apple TV, you can even watch the event through the TV app.
What products should we expect to see Apple launch this month?
With iPhone and Apple Watch updates already in the books for this year, the most likely candidate for an October 2023 announcement involves a new iMac, as Apple last released a version of its all-in-one desktop back in 2021. That's a long time to go between updates.
In his report, Gurman also suggests that new MacBook Pros could be in the works, citing constrained supplies. As of this writing, some 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are listing ship dates in November, suggesting Apple needs to refresh the lineup.
Of course, Apple released new MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max silicon in January, which would seemingly rule out another update this year for either the 14-inch MacBook Pro or 16-inch MacBook Pro. The 13-inch MacBook Pro, however, last saw an update in June 2022 when it adopted the M2 chipset.
What else do you know about the rumored new iMac?
With the current iMac powered by an M1 chipset, upgraded silicon seems to be the most likely change to a new model. Apple could use an M2 chipset in its all-in-one, but the more persistant rumor tips Apple M3 silicon to power an upgraded iMac.
The M3 is supposed to arrive this year anyhow, so Apple would be rolling out two upgrades for the price of one by including that silicon in a 2023 iMac. That said, other reports have pegged 2024 as a more likely release date for the M3, with the chip showing up in MacBook Pro models at that time.
For what it's worth, leaked specs indicate the M3 will start with 8 CPU and 10 GPU cores. Speculation about an M3 Max system-on-chip suggests it will have up to 16 CPU cores and up to 40 GPU cores. An M3 Ultra, on the other hand, could offer 28 CPU cores and 80 GPU cores.
The 2021 iMac release also included a redesign for the all-in-one setup, and every indication is that a new model would retain that design, right down to the 24-inch display. There has been talk of a 32-inch iMac, but that's not expected until next year.
What else do you know about the rumored new MacBook Pro model?
With the latest 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models having arrived a mere nine months ago, it seems more probably that those models won't see an upgrade until 2024. That said, a second update within a year isn't unheard, especially if new M3 chips are good to go now.
A more likely scenario might see the 13-inch MacBook Pro get an update first, as it's a little longer in the tooth. An upgrade to the M3 chipset seems the most probable change, though again, that's something most experts expect to happen this coming spring.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed that M3-powered MacBook Pros will be the star of the show on October 30. However, units will be initially limited, so could be hard to buy at launch.
Is there anything else Apple might launch in October?
One segment of Apple's lineup that hasn't been updated in a while are its peripherals. The latest report from Marc Gurman (as of Friday, October 27) is that Apple will be releasing a new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad with a USB-C charging port. There's no word on if any of these devices would be redesigned, so expect that you'll have to flip the mouse over on its back to recharge it.
The only other products awaiting updates are all iPads. In fact, if we don't see new iPads between now and the the new year, we'll have gone the length of 2023 without any sort of tablet release from Apple.
Earlier this month, there had been chatter about updates to the mini and Air products, with both an iPad mini 7 and iPad Air 6 tipped to come out in October. However, as the rumored announcement date came and went with only an updated Apple Pencil to show for it, the expectation was that Apple would hold off on any new iPad models until early next year.
That said, if iPads are a part of this month's product announcement, the most significant changes would probably involve new chipsets. The iPad mini 7 is expected to feature an A16 chip like the one in the iPhone 14 Pro and standard iPhone 15 models, while the iPad Air 6 is in line to adopt M2 silicon.
More from Tom's Guide
