Yahoo Finance Apple to hold ‘unleashed’ event with major new products including Macs expected
Apple is to hold another online event this month.
The event will take place on 18 October at 10am local pacific time, or 6pm in the UK. As with all Apple events since the beginning of the pandemic, it will be held online.
The invitation gave no clue about what the event might hold. It only included the word “Unleashed” and a blue version of the Apple logo.
Apple’s marketing boss, Greg Joswiak, shared a moving version of the same illustration – but it also revealed little about what might actually be announced.
Unleashed! These next six days are going to speed by. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/0ops2bVPvl
— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) October 12, 2021
But it is almost certain that the event’s headlining release will be new versions of the Mac. They are likely to bring Apple’s own chips to at least some of its more high-performance computers.
Apple announced last June that it would move all of its computers to its own processors within two years. The first Macs with Apple Silicon were released last November – in the form of a new MacBook Pro, Air and Mac Mini, all of which included the M1 chip – and the new 24-inch iMac with the same processor came this summer.
But that still leaves the more performance-focused computers – such as the larger MacBook Pros, and the Mac Pro – without access to the vast performance upgrades that come from Apple Silicon. Rumours have been spreading for months that a new, higher-powered version of the chip would allow at least some of those computers to switch over from Intel this year.
The results of that work is likely to be introduced at the ‘Unleashed’ event. Rumours suggest that Apple will introduce a new 14-inch and 16-inch version of the MacBook Pro, which might also include the first redesign for the line in years.
As well as the change of processor, reports have suggested that the new MacBooks could bring a range of long-requested improvements, such as the re-introduction of MagSafe charging and the revival of previously-removed ports such as HDMI and the SD Card slot.
Apple might also finally announce the upgraded version of the AirPods. They will borrow some of the design from the AirPods Pro – including their smaller stalks – but put them in a cheaper package, rumours have suggested.
Those are likely to be the main announcements, not least because most of the rest of Apple’s line-up has recently been upgraded. An event last month saw the release of new iPhones, iPads, and the Apple Watch Series 7, which goes on sale on Friday.
The date of the launch is notable in large part because it is a Monday, which is very unusual for an Apple event. The company may have opted to schedule it ahead of a Google event the following day, on the 19th, during which it is expected to unveil the new Pixel phones.
