What to Expect From the ‘Scary Fast’ October 30 Apple Event

Apple shocked us earlier this week with a surprise October event. It’s interesting to note that the event is scheduled for Monday, October 30 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Since Apple has never held an event at night before, Monday should be quite intriguing.

Apple’s artwork for the event confirms that the “Scary Fast” event will be centered around the Mac. We’re going to see Macs because the Apple logo on Apple’s website changes to the Mac Finder symbol.
Though there have been conflicting rumors on what would be announced during the event, it appears like the whole portfolio of M3 chips will be available. We’ve included the things we’ve heard are on the horizon, but there may be some unforeseen surprises as well.

MacBook Pro models in 14 and 16 inches

It seems early for an upgrade—the M2 Pro and M2 Max CPUs were added to the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models in January 2023—but it is not unheard of for Apple to update a Mac twice in a single year.

Less than a year after the introduction of the M2 Pro and M2 Max CPUs, Apple is anticipated to upgrade the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with its next-generation M3 Pro and M3 Max chips.

Upgrading to a 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU will be possible for the basic M3 Pro chip, which will include a 12-core CPU and 18-core GPU. With the ability to upgrade to a 40-core GPU, the basic M3 Max processor will feature 16 and 32 cores of graphics processing capacity.

Notable performance gains should result from upgrading from M2 Pro/M2 Max to M3 Pro and M3 Max, particularly in terms of the GPU and the MacBook Pro’s capacity to run demanding games.

There’s a potential that display performance will also be improved because a recent report from DigiTimes said that the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models will come with more power-efficient miniLED panels.

There might be notable gains in the battery life of the MacBook Pro models if the M3 update and a new miniLED display are implemented. We don’t anticipate any major design modifications for the MacBook Pro models save the new CPUs and maybe the new display.

macOS

The 24-inch iMac hasn’t been updated by Apple since 2021, and the M1 chip is still in use. At Apple’s presentation, a new version of the iMac is anticipated to be unveiled. It will utilize the same M3 processor as the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Performance on the CPU and GPU will both be enhanced by switching from M1 to M3, with the GPU performing better. With an upgrade, we could see more maximum memory accessible in addition to a higher-capacity SSD because the M3 processor enables additional RAM.

The iMac’s display won’t see any significant design changes, but Mark Gurman of Bloomberg thinks Apple will adjust the stand. A new manufacturing procedure will be employed to attach the stand, and several internal iMac components will be moved and modified.

Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E upgrades are probably on the horizon. Over the past year, these technologies have been included in additional Macs. Orange, blue, pink, and silver finishes are apparently being evaluated for the M3 iMac, so we should see some of the same color possibilities that were offered for the M1 iMac.

USB-C Connectors

The Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard are just a few of the Mac peripherals that Apple is anticipated to discontinue to include Lightning ports. These products will switch to USB-C ports from Lightning as part of Apple’s move to USB-C throughout its whole product range.

Some Alternatives

Except for the redesigned 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models and the iMac, no other rumors indicate that other devices are receiving updates.

Although there was initial speculation that the 13-inch MacBook Pro would receive an M3 processor upgrade, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has subsequently verified that the 13-inch MacBook Pro will receive a refresh at a later time.

Updates for other Mac models, like as the MacBook Air, Mac mini, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio, as well as iPads and AirPods, won’t be available until 2024. It won’t be until next year that we see updated iPads or AirPods.