What to expect from the October Apple Mac event

No surprise, the previous Apple event, in September, was the traditional early autumn festival devoted to phones, revealing to the world the iPhone XR, the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max. This time, according to the most credible rumors, the Cupertino team is ready to show what could be music to your ears: new Macs and iPads.

Rather than hosting the California press as usual, Apple travels directly into PCMag's backyard here in New York. On October 30 at 10:00 (ET), the tech giant will perform at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Although nothing has yet been confirmed, the rumor has always been quite consistent: it is probably the turn of the iPad Pro and desktop Mac to cool off.

First Up: A new iPad Pro?

A new iPad Pro is at the top of expectations, with many specifics floating on the Web. According to 9to5mac, which cites "familiar sources of development of the new iPad Pro 2018", the tablet will follow the tracks of iPhones and remove the Home button. It will also add a face identifier, which will facilitate the transition.

Another important addition would be a Type C USB port capable of transmitting 4K HDR video to external displays. If this happens, it will be nice to see this connection becoming more industry-standard on another Apple product, as iPhones remain stuck to Lightning connectors. It is quite possible that there is more than one model of this new iPad Pro, size or variable storage capacity (or both).

Second place: desktop computers are late (MacBook, Too)

Rumors about new Macs have been announced, but apparently concrete evidence emerged this week. Apple Insider quotes Consomac and MySmartPrice as spotting Eurasian regulatory filings referring to three new desktops and a new MacBook. This is based on the classified model numbers. Therefore, while not an exact science, these model numbers have never been used before, making it a credible index.

So, what should we expect from these computers? A revised MacBook, in any form, would probably be an inexpensive option. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo projected that this 13-inch camera would carry a Retina display, a support for Touch ID and thinner cases. The 13-inch screen size suggests a new version of the MacBook Air, which received a modest performance boost last year, to the already-dated 5th generation "Broadwell" mobile processor family. (The smaller non-Air MacBook has a slightly smaller panel in its current incarnation.)

Indeed, we would think it is the tipping point of the air, forward or in the grave. Air, as a whole, has not been perfected for three years and, in its current version, its display should have been upgraded, its resolution being well below that of the 1080p standard. Otherwise, Apple could completely remove the Air model and this new low-cost model could simply be an entry-level evolution as part of the general MacBook non-Pro lineup. (After all, there are 13-inch armored MacBooks Pro.)

If a new MacBook of any band emerges, one thing will have is a choice of new Intel processors, offsetting the chronically backlogged processing of MacBook in recent years. It will be either a chip "Coffee Lake" of 8th generation, or a processor "Whiskey Lake" even more recent.

As for desktop computers, this would make the more to know if there was a new 21-inch iMac, a new 27-inch iMac and a Mac Mini. Of course, there is no guarantee that we will get that, but that would respect both the tradition and the current rumor.

IMacs would probably have a screen update (standardization on 4K or 5K, or incorporating the HDR, the screens are already up there in number of pixels), as well as an internal improvement – I would not wait for anything of major. Best estimates: NVMe PCI Express SSD, 8th generation CPU.

Third place: office aberrations

The Mac Mini is the least likely, at least if you believe the amount of buzz that surrounds it. Rumors have reported brief rumors, but the demand is clear and has not been updated since 2014. There is also no guarantee that Apple will reveal these desktops at this event, despite the deposits, but it would certainly make more sense. considering the theme and the rates of the chip involved.

In the end, Apple sent dozens of invitations to the press with Apple logos of different styles (our orange hairy logo is on top), but with the same slogan: "There is still a lot to do. " Contrary to what is obvious, the attention of the creator seems to be the underlying message, which tells us above all the iMac, followed closely by the iPad Pro. We will see what will actually happen, but given the Intel chips updates during the last quarter, the time has come to update all the desktops, maybe even the same. iMac Pro (which we reviewed earlier this year) or revelations on the long Mac Pro modular; the latter should be deployed in 2019 and not in 2018.

Come back for our live coverage on Tuesday, October 30, as well as for our hands-on experiences of the show.