What to expect from Apple’s upcoming Mac and iPad announcements

Another round of Apple devices is about to arrive. After launching the iPhone 16 lineup, new Apple Watches, and AirPods 4 in September, Apple appears to be gearing up to introduce updated Macs and iPads sometime this month.

We’re expecting a new round of chip upgrades, at least one redesign, and maybe a surprise or two in October (the good kind). Official announcements may come via a traditional event or a series of early morning press releases. Apple has taken both approaches in the past, and no one knows for sure at the moment. Regardless of how it turns out, here’s what we think we’ll see in updates and what might not be updated.

Apple Intelligence is scheduled to launch “this fall.” Compatible iPhone, iPad and Mac deviceswith the first features arriving in October. This means we should get an announcement sometime soon.

First, we expect Apple’s writing tools for rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing, as well as a newly designed Siri, new Photos app features like Clean Up (similar to Google’s Magic Eraser), and live transcription of phone calls and voice memos. Other features such as ChatGPT search integrations, Genmoji custom emojis, generative image art in Image Playground, and image search in Visual Intelligence are expected to roll out “later this year and in the following months,” according to Apple.

We first saw these features being demoed at WWDC 2024, but until now, you’ve had to install one of Apple’s developer or public betas to try them out. For iPhones, the features go all the way up to the 15 Pro/Pro Max and the entire iPhone 16 line. On iPad and Mac, Apple Intelligence will launch on models with M1 generation processors or later.

Last year’s October event focused largely on the MacBook Pro line. The 14-inch and 16-inch models saw chip bumps, and Apple introduced a new 14-inch model that eventually killed off the Touch Bar. We’ll likely see updates to all three with the move to the M4 generation, but so far, there hasn’t been much in the rumor mill about major changes in terms of design. But a chip upgrade is always welcome, especially if you’re a bargain hunter looking to take advantage of some final sales for soon-to-be last-gen devices.

We expect a major redesign of Apple’s smallest desktop computer, which will likely make it even smaller. In addition to including the new M4 and M4 Pro chips, the new Mac Mini is rumored to ditch the USB-A ports and be as small as an Apple TV streaming device. This will be the first major redesign to come to the Mini in about 14 years (longer than 14 years). Edge It even existed.)

The current Mac Mini with the M2 and M2 Pro chips has been with us since the early days of 2023, so the new model seems to come at the right time. Few of us here use Mac Minis, partly because it offers a great value proposition for its performance — at least, if you already have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

I’m excited to see what the updated Mini could look like and how much the M4 Pro outperforms the current M2 Pro, but having fewer ports would probably give me pause. It also seems unlikely that the smaller Mini would have the only thing I really wanted in my machine: a fast built-in SD card slot like the Mac Studio.

The iMac has been on autopilot since the device received a colorful glow in 2021. If October’s event brings changes to Apple’s all-in-one computer, we’ll likely just see a jump from last year’s M3 to another model. New M4 version.

The real highlight might be updated versions of Apple’s Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard that use USB-C instead of Lightning. It’s among the last Apple devices that still uses a Lightning port and feels out of place now that the iPhone has transitioned (and with the EU deadline for moving to USB-C looming).

I’m still holding out hope for a larger iMac update at some point in the future. Someone wake me up when we finally get the long-rumored 32-inch iMac or a revival of the iMac Pro.

If Apple has any updated tablets in its store, the model most deserving of some changes is the iPad Mini. The current 8.3-inch iPad Mini, due in 2021, is powered by the A15 Bionic processor that we first saw with the iPhone 13 generation. Maybe it’s time for pilots everywhere to rejoice when the smallest iPad arrives with the M-series chip? Rumors suggest a refresh is coming – the question is whether the Mini measures up to the big leagues with the M4 or will be relegated to the still-kicking M2 like the latest iPad Air. Either way, anything is better than what happened to the little iPhones.

There are also rumors that Apple may update the entry-level 10.9-inch iPad to the new 11th generation model, but it’s not clear if that update is in the cards for this month or sometime early next year. The current 10th generation model launched at $449, but Apple corrected course by lowering its starting price to $349 earlier this year. The 11th generation model will likely look very similar, though it could be a chance for Apple to clean up and refresh the messy accessory case.

The M4 processor made its debut five months ago in the latest iPad Pro, and as we mentioned above, Apple is expected to announce its latest chipset that will finally make its way to most Macs in the coming weeks.

But will we see any M4 Max or M4 Ultra chips debut in the Mac Studio and Mac Pro updates? These pro hardware are still present on the M2 Max and M2 Ultra, so they are due for an upgrade. But rumors of new models have been largely non-existent so far. In addition, get new chips via complete Having a bunch of Macs available at once might be a bit of a stretch — Apple has a bad track record of spacing things out.