Apple will host another product announcement event on October 30 at 10am Eastern time, according to invitations that have gone out to members of the press and an update to Apple’s live events page.
The invitation for the event carries the copy, “There’s more in the making,” and it’s accompanied by artistic renditions of Apple’s logo. This combo suggests the products discussed at this event might be targeted at creative professionals and hobbyists—a common theme for Apple’s products of late. In fact, there appear to be several versions of the logo, and different members of the press received different ones. You can see many of them above or by refreshing the Apple live events page.
The creative focus lines up closely with previous rumors about Apple’s hardware plans for the rest of the year. Multiple reports from Bloomberg and others have said that Apple plans to introduce new iPad Pro models this fall. According to sources close to Apple as well as data found in the latest iOS builds, the new iPad Pros would have near-edge-to-edge displays like the iPhone XS, as well as the TrueDepth camera array for Face ID and other applications. More surprisingly, some sources have said that the tablets will drop Apple’s Lightning port in favor of the growing industry standard USB-C and that they will support 4K external displays.
On top of that, there are murmurs of new Macs, too. One report claimed that Apple will introduce a new Mac mini with more powerful internals and a steeper price aimed at developers and creatives. The report also said that a replacement for the MacBook Air with a retina display will come by the end of the year.
It’s important to remain skeptical of rumors until official announcements are made, but Apple’s famed iron grip on information about its products before launch has been weaker lately. Almost everything about the iPhone XS was leaked before that device’s announcement, for example.
Only a month ago, Apple hosted an event to announce the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, and Apple Watch series 4. That event was at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. The October 30 event will be held at the Howard Gilman Opera House and Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Source: ARS TECHNICA