Apple’s Upcoming October Event: What to Expect

Following the successful It’s Glowtime event, Apple is set to hold another special event this October to launch new products. Here’s a summary of what’s expected to be announced.

Apple Intelligence

Apple has confirmed that the Apple Intelligence personal intelligence update will be available to consumers this October with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.

Apple Intelligence comes with several intelligent features, including:

• A new focus mode, “Reduce Distractions,” shows only notifications that might require immediate interaction.
• Priority messages in the Mail app help your device understand the content of your email and will push urgent messages to the top.
• Smart Reply in the Mail app suggests simple answers and checks your email for questions to make sure you’ve answered them all.
• Siri is more natural, flexible, and integrated into the entire experience, with a new design that shines brightly and beautifully around the edge of your iPhone screen.
• Apple Intelligence helps users prioritize and stay focused in the moment by summarizing notifications from multiple apps.
• The Clean feature in the Photos app helps you remove objects or people from your photos, ready to fill the background as if the object or person was never there.
• The Memory feature in the Photos app helps you create movies you want to watch, just type a description, and you can also use natural language to find the images you want.
• Writing tools can change your writing style, proofread, and summarize text, whether in Mail, Notes, Pages, or third-party apps.

However, Apple Intelligence only supports iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all 4 models of the iPhone 16 series.

MacBook Pro Models with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max Chips

New MacBook Pro models are expected to be launched this year, with a focus on improving performance with the latest chips. The design is expected to be similar to the current model, but with 16GB of RAM as a base, up from the original 8GB of RAM.

The new MacBook Pro models will come in five options:

• 14-inch MacBook Pro, M4 chip
• 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro chip
• 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Max chip
• 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro chip
• MacBook Pro 16-inch with M4 Max chip

Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro Chip Models

The new Mac mini is expected to come with a choice of M4 or M4 Pro chips, with a redesigned body that is smaller and similar to the Apple TV. The USB-A port will be eliminated, but there will be five USB-C ports, positioned separately, with two on the front and three on the back, including Ethernet, HDMI, and a headphone jack.

iMac M4 Model Chip

The new iMac models will be updated with the M4 chip, but it remains to be seen whether peripherals like the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad will change their ports from Lightning to USB-C or not.

iPad mini 7th Generation

The seventh-generation iPad mini is not expected to have a new design, with the display still being 8.3 inches and having Touch ID on the top power button. The front-facing camera is expected to be vertically the same as before.

However, there are reports that Apple will improve the display to reduce Jelly Scrolling, which is an issue seen on the sixth-generation iPad mini. This is expected because some areas of the screen have a slower refresh rate than others.

Performance is expected to be improved with an A-series chip, possibly an A18 or M1 chip, to support Apple Intelligence. It will also support Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, with the cellular version possibly enabling 5G/4G from eSIM only, and no longer supporting traditional-style SIM cards.

Additionally, the seventh-generation iPad mini may support the Apple Pencil Pro like the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air, as well as support for the Apple Pencil’s tip-lifting feature, unlike the current iPad mini.

iPad 11th Generation

The 11th-generation iPad may start at a lower level than the current 10th-generation iPad, but no significant technical information has leaked. Budget iPads are typically 2 years behind the latest chips, so it’s possible the 11th-generation iPad could feature an A16 Bionic chip, but if Apple wants to expand Apple Intelligence to support it, perhaps the 11th-generation iPad could move to an A17 chip or later.

However, Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, a display industry research firm, reported that display panels for the new iPad will not begin shipping until October, so it’s likely that the 11th-generation iPad may experience a delay in its launch and could delay its commercialization until early 2025.