Apple ‘Unleased’ Event Predictions

While it is quite common, it is not 100% certain that Apple will hold an October event. However, they tend to hole one more often than not. Since 2008 they have held an October event every year except for 2009, 2010,  2015, and 2017. So, 69.2% of the time they do hold an October event.

September is generally reserved for iPhones, the is particular true for 2012 going forward. The October 2011 event was when they introduced the iPhone 4s, but the fact that the iPhone was not going to be available in June was announced in June of that year, at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference. 

The October event can usually include updates on the iPad and the Mac. Last year was an anomaly due to everything related to COVID. Apple had three fall events last year, the September event was iPads, October's event focused on the iPhone, and the November event was the introduction of the first Apple Silicon Macs. 

Since we have already had the iPhone and iPad event, this event will likely focus on Macs. We have already seen some Macs with Apple Silicon. These are the 24-inch iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, lower-end 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini. I think that this event will focus on Macs and there will be some Macs announced. Here are my predictions for the event, starting with the Higher-End MacBook Pro.

Higher-end MacBook Pro

Prior to Apple Silicon there was no simple differentiation that you could point to say one device is considered more of a “pro” machine. However, I think there will be a 14-inch MacBook Pro as that will be the higher-end MacBook Pro. Along with this I think there will be a replacement for the 16-inch MacBook Pro. I think that both of these models will be aimed at professionals.

14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros

The most professional MacBook Pro that Apple has is the 16-inch MacBook Pro. The 16-inch MacBook Pro is designed to be the best machine that Apple has to offer and also provide the greatest flexibility. If you were to get a laptop that could be a desktop replacement  the you get a 16-inch MacBook Pro.

As an example, you can configure up to 8TB of storage and up to 64GB of memory. With the 16-inch MacBook Pro you can do just about everything. I think that this will continue to be the case. However, even though the 16-inch MacBook Pro is the highest of the high end, it is not always the most portable. Because of this, I think there will be a smaller 14-inch model.

I do not think that the two models will have many differences, excluding battery, screen, and weight differences. There are many rumors about what might be in these higher-end MacBook Pros.

The most notable of these rumors if the return of some ports, like an HDMI and an SD Card slot. I am not sure if we will actually see both of these. I could see the HDMI making a return, or even the SD Card slot. This would make the devices more similar to what many consider the "best" MacBook Pros, the models introduced before the butterfly keyboard.

I do not think the MacBook Pros are the only Macs to be introduced. I think there will also be a higher-end Mac mini.

Higher-end Mac mini

When Apple introduced the first devices with the Apple Silicon chip called the M1, the included the lower-end Mac mini. Even when they introduced the M1 Mac mini they kept the Intel version in the line up. If they were looking to have only model of Mac mini they would have removed the Intel version. Since they have not, I think as though there is still a newer Mac mini model left to be introduced. 

I think it will use the same processor as the MacBook Pros. I think this Mac mini will have two additional USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, bringing the total to four. If the MacBook Pros have an SD Card slot, my guess is the Mac mini will as well.

Macs require an operating system to run and that operating system will be macOS Monterey.

macOS Monterey

Given that this is likely to be a Mac-focused event, I think that Apple will announce the date for macOS Monterey at this event. It is already halfway through October and it is likely that macOS Monterey will be released later this month. Possibly on the 20th, 26th, or 27th. It is possible that macOS Monterey will not be released until November as well, given that macOS Big Sur was not released until November 12th. 

There is one last possibility of a topic and that would be the AirPods.

AirPods

It is possible that we might see some new AirPods being released, if they are ready and available in enough quantities. I would not be surprised if Apple wanted to have them out last month with the new line of iPhone 13s but they may not have been ready yet. 

If they do introduced these, I think these will be more in the style of the AirPods Pro, but not have the noise cancelling features nor the silicone tips that insert into the ear canal. Instead, I think these will be like the second-generation AirPods and have less of a stem on each individual AirPod.

Prediction Recap

Here is a recap of what I think we will see at the "Unleashed" event.

Overall I think

Apple's "Unleashed" event streams on Monday, October 18th, 2021 at 10am pacific time. As always, I will have a recap of what was announced as well as a prediction results post later in the week.