What to Expect From the 'Scary Fast' October 30 Apple Event

[Gudi]

The iMac Pro must have been in a fairly advanced stage of development by April 2017 while the new Mac Pro wasn't even a twinkle in their eye. My guess is that the iMac Pro was going to be the new Mac Pro, and the panicked April press conference probably happened after they shared that news with a few key developers and customers...

Plausible. But Apple never was a company who cares about expansion slots. Today we have a similar situation with the un-upgradable Mac Studio and the lackluster Mac Pro.

These supercomputers are prestige projects like super sports-cars for car makers. They are not build for practical use. Otherwise they would be simple beige boxes.

 

[Realityck]

The author might be drunk when he posted this article.

On one side he is saying that 14 and 16 inch Macbook PROs will get updated with M3 chips though they were last updated in January 2023. But "M2" Mac Mini (again last updated in January 2023) will not get M3 chips until 2024?

Does this make any sense?

For a long time both examples were the most popular consumer Macs. The 14"/16" MBP for laptops and the iMac as an all-in-one for businesses, education and consumers. I don't think the Mac mini was ever big in the business/education circuit IMHO. It was certainly attractive to some consumers. It required consumers to buy the necessary accessories/monitor for it to be deployed. The previous iMac's came bundled with all you need for deployment. Yes I am suggesting Apple likely wants to increase Mac sales badly with the rumors.

 

[Shirasaki]

You need to put in some effort to transition away from macOS the legacy platform. If you can only do 20% of your work on iPad Pro, you need to try harder.

Or, maybe it should happen the other way around, let the real world force iPad to become more like macOS and more versatile. There is no reason why the world must bend to the will of iPad alone.

 

[Sippincider]

I love my Magic Mice, but agree the charging port on the bottom is dumb. They should change it and/or allow for wireless charging.

Careful or the Magic Mouse 3 will be wirelessly-charged by a MagSafe which attaches to the bottom...

 

[fathergll]

The previous 27" iMac models were pretty big as an all-in-one desktop. If they could take that form factor, remove the massive black bezels and make it similar looking to a 14/16" MBP display it would be the equivalent of almost a 30" display. (29.5" edge to edge).

While I'm not in the market anymore for iMacs, ever since I played with a Surface Studio it was evident that 3:2 aspect ratio is just awesome in an all in one. The sheer amount of screen real estate you gain with just a 1" bigger screen compared to the iMac was eye opening(no Owl pun intended). Also as nice as the iMac it just looks so dated with the distracting silver chin. If your going to have a chin just give the option of all black(iMac Pro was a better step in right direction and new 24" is just awful).

 

[Sippincider]

Also as nice as the iMac it just looks so dated with the distracting silver chin.

The silver chin wasn't as distracting, as the bright white bezels on the current 24" iMac.

Need black bezels to separate the screen from the background, as both the Surface Studio and previous iMac get right.

 

[Warped9]

The only thing that made the old iMac look dated were the thick black bezels. And few people seem to feel the thin off-white bezels of the current iMac are distracting.

 

[Realityck]

The silver chin wasn't as distracting, as the bright white bezels on the current 24" iMac.

Need black bezels to separate the screen from the background, as both the Surface Studio and previous iMac get right.

Often people observed that the light colored bezels and chin that the 24" iMacs used was a lot less distracting and blended with the background wall color. Compare with the below image.

 

[dumastudetto]

Or, maybe it should happen the other way around, let the real world force iPad to become more like macOS and more versatile. There is no reason why the world must bend to the will of iPad alone.

People wanting the future to look like the past are going to have to realise the flaw in their thinking sooner than later.

 

[Sippincider]

Often people observed that the light colored bezels and chin that the 24" iMacs used was a lot less distracting and blended with the background wall color.

Correct. I'm in the camp who wants the bezels to separate the background, not blend it.

Probably another glossy vs matte argument here. Maybe Apple should give us a BTO option.

 

[Falhófnir]

Often people observed that the light colored bezels and chin that the 24" iMacs used was a lot less distracting and blended with the background wall color. Compare with the below image.

View attachment 2303963

To my eye the white is distracting because it blends in with the wall colour. The black border helps isolate the display quite nicely, and this image shows it well.

 

[heath_durbin]

I will wait for M4 😗

I would, but I relay need 2 new iMac 27”, so i’m hopping!

1½ hours to unveil the new astounding, amazing innovative, USB-C Magic Mouse?

Haha, yeah, hopefully the rumors are wrong, and they have some extras to tell us about!

 

[heath_durbin]

What if it’s M3 iPad Pros? I remember Apple announcing the 11” iPP in Oct 2018. (Our is still going strong after 5 years - my favorite Apple product.)

This wouldn’t explain the Finder icon as the event logo, though, unless there’s something big happening in iPadOS.

(Either way, this event is intriguing. We’ve got a nice weekend planned, and Monday will be a busy day at the office. It’ll be nice to get home from work, get family settled, and check out MR/Apple.com to see what happened!)

Yes, apple realized Halloween was a bad day for an event, as is Monday morning, so they are doing it Monday evening before Halloween.

 

[fathergll]

Often people observed that the light colored bezels and chin that the 24" iMacs used was a lot less distracting and blended with the background wall color. Compare with the below image.

View attachment 2303963

Well I don't view computers as furniture to be setup in the middle of some Ikea space. But apparently thats what the iMac is for. But at least give people an option on this.

Majority of all serious high end video monitors are always black unless Apple makes them. Again I don't care if Apple has these colors.....but just give some choice on it.

 

[heath_durbin]

The disappointment is the lack of innovation at Apple.
Look at all the other laptop manufacturers. They are releasing new form factors, new features, new visual looks & honestly have started to close the gap on quality/luxury that Apple offered.

That being said, I could never use WindowsOS and even though the Mac OS is boring - it is still simpler than clunky windows (although the rate Apple is going, they will catch up soon)

Toyotas are boring - but they are the most condistently reliable and long lasting vehicles.

I agree, apple needs to step it up… but sadly, they appear to be going backwards… taking features away.

For example, you can no longer assign third, fourth, fifth, and sixth key on a mouse to do different things. (You can only assign first and second key.)

 

[HowardEv]

No one will be disappointed if Apple releases the M3 as a new product that has never existed: a small stand alone CPU with internal battery. Replace the old Mini designed for wall power Intel chips and CDs, with new, smaller than Raspberry Pi form factor (and with an all day battery). Everyone could immediately upgrade to scary fast M3 and keep using their old displays and MacBooks and iPads and iPhones to control it with Remote Desktop. Or get a new miniLED display and new keyboard/mouse/trackpad for state of the art display with thunderbolt speed.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

What ever comes to the surface of the swamp, I will be curious if any M3 variations are present and what their single core speed is as compared to the M1 and M2. I am not a dedicated techie any more, but is seems the M1 was limited to 16GB of ram and the M2 supports 24GB of ram. I would guess the M3 could support 32 GB of ram. My M1 Ultra supports 128GB of ram, the M2 Ultra supports 192GB of ram so one could expect the M3 Ultra to support 256GB of ram. The M1 Max supports 64GB or ram and the M2 Max supports 96GB of ram so one could expect the M3 Max to support 128GB of ram.

Both the M1 Pro and M2 Pro only support 32GB of ram which is curious when compared to the notes above.

My last of the Intel chips Mini supports 64GB of third party (OWC) memory. I would be tempted by an M3 Mini version that supports 64GB of memory for my file server. Memory is used to cache the incoming data streams.

A MacBook 14" or 16" Pro with 128GB of ram and a 8TB SSD would also be of interest only if there is a significant increase in single core speeds.

I always buy a maximum-available Mac laptop and use them as desktop-replacement boxes about half time. FYI I found that when my laptops start age-limiting out it was always due to RAM inadequacy, not really very sensitive to single core CPU speeds. CPU speed was noticeable for sure, but not so disabling as the RAM limitation.

My expectation is that Apple's excellent Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) will make RAM relevance increase even more rapidly than it always has. My MBPs typically last ~6 years before RAM inadequacy drives me to replacement, but we are in a new world with the M series so my 96 GB M2 MBP might limit out on the neural processor or the GPU before RAM.

 

[coolfactor]

The disappointment is the lack of innovation at Apple.
Look at all the other laptop manufacturers. They are releasing new form factors, new features, new visual looks & honestly have started to close the gap on quality/luxury that Apple offered.

That being said, I could never use WindowsOS and even though the Mac OS is boring - it is still simpler than clunky windows (although the rate Apple is going, they will catch up soon)

One of the true strengths of macOS and its unsung advantages is being built on a true UNIX foundation. Web Developers that use Macs (properly) learn to appreciate this. Almost every "Linux" software library is also available to Macs. These are not fancy GUI apps that you find "boring". You can think of them as tweaks to the engine under the hood.. easily adding capabilities. "Headless" apps, some may call them. Can you get a Windows computer to have the same type of functionality? Sure, but it requires a science degree, compromises, and prayers that the computer won't randomly crash.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Yeah no disappointment, most folks should have known the speed bump from m1 to m2 wasn't much, but the m3 should be significant. So I skipped m2 and will be eyeing m3 if significant improvements happen with the smaller architecture.

I strongly disagree when you say "the speed bump from m1 to m2 wasn't much." M1 was strong, so 15-20% increase actually is substantial IMO. Plus more available RAM, Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6E made the jump to M2 quite significant. Battery life with M2 is already easily all day, so expected improved efficiency of M3 is mostly n/a.

My guess is that M3 will primarily show its chops most at the very highest end of Studio Ultras and Mac Pros. Everything below top end will see marginal (but meaningful) improvements just like we did with M2.

 

[Chuckeee]

I always buy a maximum-available Mac laptop and use them as desktop-replacement boxes about half time. FYI I found that when my laptops start age-limiting out it was always due to RAM inadequacy, not really very sensitive to single core CPU speeds. CPU speed was noticeable for sure, but not so disabling as the RAM limitation.

Do you use a stand or an external display? I have always found laptop displays (while on a table) to be uncomfortable (neck) to use continuously for several hours.

 

[heath_durbin]

No one will be disappointed if Apple releases the M3 as a new product that has never existed: a small stand alone CPU with internal battery. Replace the old Mini designed for wall power Intel chips and CDs, with new, smaller than Raspberry Pi form factor (and with an all day battery). Everyone could immediately upgrade to scary fast M3 and keep using their old displays and MacBooks and iPads and iPhones to control it with Remote Desktop. Or get a new miniLED display and new keyboard/mouse/trackpad for state of the art display with thunderbolt speed.

This would be awesome!!!

And best of all, you can leave it plugged in all day, and it acts as its own battery back up (UPS)

 

[magicschoolbus]

bold prediction; a pink imac is announced similar to the 10.9 shade on the ipad.

 

[bobdobalina]

My nearly 3 year old M1 Touch Bar MacBook Pro is holding up well. I want to get to 5 years old before contemplating a replacement.

Amazing. 3 years in. Battery still lasts me from 8.50 to 6pm at college. Everybody else plugs in their PC laptops before lunch hour and I walk past.

Can’t wait for what’s released next week. As those innovations will be in whichever Mac I eventually replace mine with ⭐️

You shouldn't have any problems getting 5 years out of your M1.

I bought an M3 Max earlier this year... and I'm a little embarrassed to say I'm typing this on my 2015 MBP. The M3 is incredible but my old 2015 just feels like an old friend and works so well. It's my sit on the couch and goof off machine.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Plausible. But Apple never was a company who cares about expansion slots. Today we have a similar situation with the un-upgradable Mac Studio and the lackluster Mac Pro.

These supercomputers are prestige projects like super sports-cars for car makers. They are not build for practical use. Otherwise they would be simple beige boxes.

Saying "Apple never was a company who cares about expansion slots" is untrue. Circa 2004 my G5 tower at the time was full of slots for RAM, HDD, etc., and the earlier G4 towers were similar. That was before the switch to Intel, so now that Apple is designing its own chips and boxes from the ground up they may or may not again look to use of expansion slots. Not for RAM due to baked-on UMA, but for other things. We will see.

 

[eropko]

I always buy a maximum-available Mac laptop and use them as desktop-replacement boxes about half time. FYI I found that when my laptops start age-limiting out it was always due to RAM inadequacy, not really very sensitive to single core CPU speeds. CPU speed was noticeable for sure, but not so disabling as the RAM limitation.

My expectation is that Apple's excellent Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) will make RAM relevance increase even more rapidly than it always has. My MBPs typically last ~6 years before RAM inadequacy drives me to replacement, but we are in a new world with the M series so my 96 GB M2 MBP might limit out on the neural processor or the GPU before RAM.

Most probably your MBP will die of SSD wear faster than 96Gb RAM (even 64Gb) will become obsolete.