Next Apple Event Set for Oct. 30: Expect 'Scary Fast' Macs, But No iPads

pcmag.com:

Get ready for another Apple event. After launching the iPhone 15 last month, the company has another presentation on tap, and the teaser suggests Cupertino will reveal new Macs.

Apple today sent out invitations for the event with the mysterious tagline “Scary fast.” It won't host the event at its Apple Park headquarters, however. Expect an online-only stream at Apple.com on Oct. 30 at 5pm PST — an unusually late time for an Apple product introduction. 

Apple’s web page for the event also contains an Easter egg. If you wait long enough, the Apple icon on the web page transforms into the Finder icon found on the company’s macOS interface. So the event should almost certainly introduce some cutting-edge Mac products. 

Bloomberg reports that a new 24-inch iMac and possibly refreshed MacBook Pros will be revealed during the event. There are also rumors that the products will arrive with a more powerful M3 chip, a few months after the company introduced the M2 Ultra for the Mac Pro.

Just don’t expect new iPads at the event. Earlier reports said that Apple was preparing to release refreshed iPads last week. But all we got was a new Apple Pencil featuring a USB-C port. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo now says refreshed iPads won’t arrive until next year. 

Cupertino's decision to announce the event is also raising eyebrows. The company did so right as Qualcomm held its own event, introducing an upcoming Snapdragon X Elite chip. The new silicon promises to be the fastest laptop processor on the market once it arrives in the first notebooks mid-next year. Hence, Apple may have decided to try and steal some thunder from Qualcomm, which is aiming to power a wave of next-generation Arm-based laptops.

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