Apple could have a lot to unveil through Halloween week.
Apple has confirmed that it will announce new Macs during a week-long event starting October 28. It isn’t the first time it’s taken this route, and I’m absolutely here for it.
It was the worst-kept secret in tech that Apple was ramping up to announce new M4-powered Macs sooner rather than later. The company has now essentially confirmed as much after Apple SVP Greg Joswiak took to the X social network to tease “an exciting week of announcements” featuring a stylized Finder icon.
A new Mac mini, refreshed iMac, and updated MacBook Pro are all thought to be in the cards, while those hoping for a new MacBook Air are set to have to wait until early next year. Though, there’s a wildcard here as well.
Joswiak might have made a point of hinting at new Macs, there is always the chance of a new iPad breaking cover if only to add support for Apple Intelligence. Though other rumors suggest the 11th-generation iPad could be a spring product.
A new (old) approach to events
The launch of the M4 chip in an iPad Pro rather than any kind of Mac had already set this generation out from the norm, but that isn’t the only way Apple seems to be shaking things up here.
Apple could refresh the 24-inch iMac
Whereas Apple tends to announce big new products like flagship Mac notebooks via a streamed event on its website and elsewhere, this year’s unveilings are going to be unveiled via a week of individual debuts instead. I have to imagine that the reason for that is twofold, starting with the fact that these are likely to be relatively minor spec bumps the likes of which just don’t have enough to flesh out a video event.
Apple falls back to press releases when announcing products like this regularly, but it seems these Macs will be unveiled across multiple days. Which brings me to my second reason.
It might be inside baseball, but it’s no secret that Apple likes to control the news cycle wherever possible. With these new Macs set to be spec bumps rather than grand design refreshes, keeping everyone interested isn’t likely to be easy. One way around that is to stretch the event out, creating headlines throughout a week rather than a day.
Apple last launched products on consecutive days this way back in March of 2019, starting with a new iPad Air and iPad mini products on the 18th. That was followed by a new iMac on the 19th and then the AirPods 2 on the 20th.
Sure, there have been press releases announcing products and services since then, but it’s unusual for Apple to take the approach of spreading an event (albeit a lackluster one) across multiple days like this. I’m a fan, I must admit, not least because it gives us here at AppleInsider a bit of a break between the new products dropping.
It also adds an element of excitement, something that’s been sorely missing with Apple’s events in recent years. Sure, we might have a good idea of what Apple is going to drop next week, but at least it’ll last longer than usual.
Who knows, maybe there will be a rare surprise in amongst those Macs, too. Fingers crossed.