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What to expect (and not to expect) at Apple’s iPad/Mac event tomorrow

Tim Cook

It looks like Apple’s event tomorrow will focus on new iPad models as rumored, but there are bound to be a lot of announcements beyond just the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Below we’ve put together some of our expectations for other possibilities at the event, including likely announcements for new Macs, software updates and a couple of possible surprises you might not be expecting.

iPad Air 2 & iPad mini 3: The majority of rumors leading up to tomorrow’s event have been focused on a second-generation iPad Air. It’s now all but confirmed with our discovery earlier today of iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 images in an iOS 8.1 iPad user guide. The guide confirmed nearly identical designs to previous generations as well as Touch ID and the Burst camera mode previously only available on iPhones.

Based on our own reports and several leaks in recent months, we’re expecting the new iPad Air 2 will gain a slightly thinner design, a more efficient A8 processor, the M8 chip and Touch ID from iPhone 6, and other improved camera and display components. Rumor has it that the new Air will be offered in a gold color option previously only available on iPhones. The refreshed iPad mini 3, on the other hand, will reportedly be more of a minor spec bump but include Touch ID.

A Keyboard Smartcover would also be nice. We’ve certainly seen a lot of patent work in that area, but alas it is probably one of those products that Apple reveals across all of 2015. Earlier today Google announced its HTC-made Nexus 9 tablet which works with a magnetic folio-style keyboard case, and Microsoft’s Surface has long enjoyed the benefit of the keyboard cover.

[tweet https://twitter.com/llsethj/status/522072363656302592]

yosemite hero OS X Yosemite: As much as this event is being touted as Apple’s iPad event, we’re also expecting Apple to dedicate a lot of stage time to Mac and OS X Yosemite announcements. We reported as far back as July that Apple was planning a late October release of Yosemite, the latest version of its Mac operating system that has been in beta testing since its unveiling earlier in the year at WWDC. Tomorrow we’ll likely get specific launch dates for the public release if not a release tomorrow. If it is any indication, Yosemite Apps are hitting the store 24 hours early. 

iWork/iLife/Final Cut: Not only will we get specifics on a release date, we might also hear about new features like the Photos app that Apple originally said would arrive early next year to replace Aperture and iPhoto. An update on iWork and iLife apps for OS X Yosemite and the new iCloud Drive service would also be good candidates for Apple’s Yosemite portion of its event tomorrow. We’ve already seen what may be the new icons for the apps. We reported in July that Apple was said to be preparing updates to both iMovie and Final Cut Pro to bring support for editing, exporting, and importing video taken with 4K resolution-capable cameras. That would be a great feature to introduce beside new higher-resolution desktops…

Retina iMac: The star of the show as far as Macs go tomorrow will likely be Apple’s 4K Retina iMac that we first reported back in July was in development. Our report was backed up by other reliable supply chain leaks pointing to a new higher-resolution 27-inch iMac with some claiming a 27-inch iMac with a resolution of 5120×2880 could launch by year’s end. There’s still a possibility the 21-inch model could get a mention alongside the introduction of the expected 27-inch Retina iMac tomorrow, but the latest from often reliable KGI says a 21-inch model won’t be released until early 2015.

12-inch MacBook: While Apple is indeed working on a 12-inch Retina Macbook, as we first reported back in July, at this point an appearance tomorrow is up in the air. We noted in earlier reports that the slimmer 12-inch MacBook could be pushed back into 2015 due to delays with Intel chips and yesterday analysts from the often reliable KGI reported the same. Earlier this month The Wall Street Journal reported that production of a 12-inch Retina MacBook wouldn’t start until December, another hint that it might not make an appearance tomorrow. A Retina iMac could certainly be enough to carry the show for the Mac/Yosemite portion of things, and an updated Mac mini is another possibility…

ApplePay5Apple Pay & iOS 8.1: Most expect that we’ll get an official release date for Apple Pay tomorrow following Apple’s unveiling of the payments service last month and a promise of an October launch. With the iOS 8.1 guide leaking earlier today showing off the new iPads with Touch ID, it seems likely the update will launch soon and bring Apple Pay support with it.

Apple already announced a number of banking and retail partners for the service. A recent leak from Walgreens pointed to an Oct. 18 launch date for the service, while banking partner USAA said it will begin supporting the service on Nov. 7. The later date could be part of Apple’s second wave of launch partners, as USAA is listed in the coming soon category on Apple’s site alongside PNC, Navy Federal Credit Union, Barclays, and USBank. Initial banking launch partners listed by Apple include Citi, Bank of America, Capital One, Wells Fargo, Chase, and American Express.

Multitasking_Air12-inch iPad: Another product rumored to be in Apple’s pipeline is a 12-inch iPad that some are referring to as the iPad Pro. It didn’t appear alongside the new iPad Air and iPad mini in the leaked iOS 8.1 guide today, and recent reports from Bloomberg claimed the 12.9-inch iPad won’t arrive until early next year.

Split-screen multitasking: We first reported that Apple was working on a split-screen multitasking mode for iPad back in May. While it seems like a perfect feature for a rumored 12.9-inch iPad, there’s certainly a possibility Apple could show off the feature tomorrow as a new standout feature for the iPad Air 2.

Mac mini: One last possibility for Apple’s event tomorrow is a refreshed Mac mini. We found references on Apple’s own website earlier this year, and later reports claimed a refreshed Mac mini would arrive this month. Previous rumors said the update would include Intel Iris graphics and 802.11ac wireless networking, although that was the same report that claimed the new machine would launch back in February. The current Mac mini that Apple is still selling was last updated in late 2012.

Retina Thunderbolt display: This might be my wishful thinking long shot, but if Apple is ready to start selling the Retina 4K resolution iMac as everyone is expecting, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine it has panels ready for a similar update to its aging Thunderbolt display. Many were disappointed that we didn’t get an updated Thunderbolt display alongside the introduction of the all-new Mac Pro last year, and the current Thunderbolt display hasn’t received a major upgrade since 2011. Apple last made silent minor tweaks to the Thunderbolt display in July 2012 but otherwise has remained the same since its introduction over 3 years ago.

iPods: While there hasn’t been much talk about new iPods for tomorrow’s event, the last major refresh to the whole lineup took place in 2012 at the iPhone 5 event. Updated iPods would certainly fit the event’s ‘It’s been way too long’ theme as even Apple’s highest priced iPod touch still carries the A5 processor introduced with the iPhone 4s in 2011. Apple has experimented with FaceTime camera-only iPod touch devices as well as a cheaper entry price for the iPod touch, but a major refresh (possibly with larger screen sizes like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus) is due.

Apple TV: While it’s also been ‘way too long’ since the last Apple TV update, the long-awaited Apple TV overhaul isn’t expected until early next year. The current generation Apple TV features the same single-core A5 chip as the iPhone 4s and current iPod touch, and while a minor revision was issued to this product, it dates back to the March 2012 iPad 3 event.

[tweet https://twitter.com/llsethj/status/522400097104314370]

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Comments

  1. There’s no way Apple would only release a 27″ Retina iMac without including the 21.5″ model as well. Sounds just like the dumb rumor that the 5.5″ iPhone would be delayed. Apple seems to avoid this sort of fragmentation at all costs.

    • hmurchison - 9 years ago

      The product may not exist yet. 5K on a 21.5 display is a tougher manufacturing proposition than on a 27″ display and visual impact isn’t going to have the same wallop that the 27″ has IMO

      • rettun1 - 9 years ago

        The 21 inch should just get the resolution of the current 27 inch.

      • Asbjørn Ulsberg - 9 years ago

        The current resolution on the 21″ iMac is 1920 x 1080, so a Retina 21″ iMac would have double that; 3840 x 2160, i.e. 4K. Not 5K.

    • Stetson - 9 years ago

      When it first launches it will probably be pretty expensive, more than current models. The likely market for a super expensive super high res iMac is probably professional designers / editors / programmers who wouldn’t really want the smaller model.

      I’m sure that will change over time as the retina models get cheaper and replace the non-retina iMacs.

      • Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 9 years ago

        As someone in the market for an iMac, I just hope that they offer us a non-retina option for the 27″ if the retina is going to be more expensive by any appreciable amount.

        If Apple offered retina as a simple option on all their products, I think they would be shocked at the number of people that would not pay the premium for it.

        Currently, if you buy the 27″ iMac and check most of the options to get the “fast” one, it comes in at about $3000 which is pretty dear already. I have no real use for retina myself and if I have to pay say $4000 for my new iMac … well, I just won’t.

      • Stetson - 9 years ago

        When the retina Macbook Pro came out they also updated the non-retina models one last time and kept them around for a year until they could drop the prices a bit on the retina models.

        I’m guessing they will do the same here, although I don’t think there’s a new chip from Intel yet to update the standard iMac beyond what it already has.

    • Greg Kaplan (@kaplag) - 9 years ago

      Wasn’t the 15″ retina macbook pro release ahead of the 13″ or how about how the larger iPad got retina before the mini. I don’t see the lines you are trying to draw.

      27″ is what we use in the studio I work at because it can be specked better than the 21″. It makes sense to me that the higher end machine would come out retina first.

    • jgerbes - 9 years ago

      I don’t see how you can say this. They released the 15″ retina MacBook Pro months before the 13″. The iPad mini was non-retina after 2 generations of retina 9.7″ iPads. Touch ID was introduced on the 5s, but not the 5c or new iPads. The iPhone 6 Plus has OIS where the 6 does not (and let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that it couldn’t have been done).

      Fragmentation hasn’t seemed an issue before, and that’s even if we only look back so far as 2012

    • Why? When they released the Retina MacBook Pro it was the high end only the first year.

  2. Im wondering what is up with iTunes 12? It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had an update to the Beta, so is it possible we will get an announcement tomorrow? Or at the very least another Beta?

    • irelandjnr - 9 years ago

      Didn’t a new beta come only days ago?

      • No, October 2nd was the most recent iTunes 12 beta release… Unless I missed something.

      • johnmfoley (@johnmfoley) - 9 years ago

        iTunes betas have been released as separate updates to the Yosemite betas, I think. Or at lease they were prior to the GM release candidates. I don’t find all that much of a need for a new beta except hoping for a slightly better streaming experience for Movies and TV shows in the cloud. I would expect them to show off the new iTunes with Yosemite and that they will be packaged together as an upgrade in the final release.

  3. Joefrey Kibuule - 9 years ago

    A Retina Thunderbolt display would require Thunderbolt 3. So it’s not coming until next year. External display buses don’t have to worry about bandwith requirements as they can hook them selves up directly to the GPU.

    • Mike Murray - 9 years ago

      False. Thunderbolt 2 can run 4K displays already. Apple just does not make one. And just so you know, thunderbolt is the equivalent of PCIX over a wire. Meaning none of the limitations you claim actually exist and direct wire to the GPU is exactly what happens.

      • Joefrey Kibuule - 9 years ago

        Apple’s Retina Thunderbolt Display would not be 4K. Rumors are that it will be 5120×2880, which Thunderbolt 2/DisplayPort 1.2 cannot drive with a single controller. And I don’t see Apple making a monitor that *only* works with the Mac Pro, that isn’t going to sell very well, if at all.

      • Mike Murray - 9 years ago

        They will use MST technology to send two separate streams at 2560 x 288 each in order to provide 5120 pixels horizontally. This has been discussed in detail on numerous sites and will work over the 1.2 protocol. Google please.

      • Lucas Everett - 9 years ago

        MST still requires the same bandwidth for two 2560×2880 streams over a single cable that a 5120×2880 stream would require over a single cable. The only way to drive a 5k display at 60Hz with DisplayPort 1.2 is with two cables.

  4. AirDJ31 - 9 years ago

    Yosemite. All I care about. Hopefully releasing tomorrow.

  5. Taste_of_Apple - 9 years ago

    Great round up.

  6. taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

    KGI actually said the 21″ iMac won’t get released until the second half of next year, not early next year. It stated it was difficult for apple to focus on two different retina display sizes at one.

    What was the time between the 15″ retina MacBook and 13 inch reins MacBook? I can’t remember.

    • Stetson - 9 years ago

      15″ was June 2012 and 13″ was October 2012.

  7. Tony Gines (@TGines) - 9 years ago

    I’m hoping they don’t forget about the external displays. There are plenty of mac machines that plug into thunderbolt displays. If iMacs are the only ones to get this, that would be disappointing.

  8. Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 9 years ago

    Looks like a yawner for sure. I’m excited to get Yosemite (except that awful name), but the rest is just “meh.”

    The worst part is that they won’t be stuck for time like the last event, so they will probably keep all that boring baffle-gab about how great their finances are.

    I predict Tim Cook will be an awkward speaker as usual, Federeghi will prance around with his teeth hanging out and touching his hair, pretending he’s a movie star or a standup as usual. Phil Schiller will do his “nervous fat uncle” impersonation, and there will be some kind of video with Ive against a white background staring earnestly into the camera while he spouts the exact same gushy platitudes he spouts about every product, every year.

    Zzzzzz.

    • Brendan Plake - 9 years ago

      The last paragraph is the most accurate prediction for tomorrow I think. It made me laugh because of how accurate it is.

      • nwmike - 9 years ago

        Key point in article : Rumors are so far out in front of Apple. 12-inch Retina Air, 12.9 inch iPad, nonsucky AppleTV all 2015

      • Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 9 years ago

        @ nwmike: It could be I’m wrong and there is something interesting tomorrow, but it looks to me like those products that are pushed to 2015, were originally part of Apple’s so-called “fantastic year” of products. Like, they were going to do all these fabulous things, but all they really had time to get out of the door was Yosemite and a very buggy and incomplete iOS 8.

        I guess you could say that they did make the iPhone 6 this year and it is a new design (unlike the iPads), but personally I don’t find it a *good* design at all, so I tend to discount it myself.

        Apple if you’re listening … customer here that bought a new iPhone and a new tablet every single year since 2007 at full retail price, but this year I’m not buying either and if the “retina” iMac is more expensive I ain’t buying that either. Just one data point, but still. It’s a couple of thousand bucks they won’t be getting from me this year.

  9. Yosemite for PC’s. It’s been forever.

    • SKR Imaging - 9 years ago

      + 1 for that.. they could licence the software at a cheap price point for PC users.. say 20$.. Windows Users would then have a clear competitor.. plus being able to build a Macpro style PC for almost half the price would really sell Yosemite software.. but the issue here would be drivers to support all the chipsets (AMD, Intel).. who knows.. remember when Steve Jobs was secretly porting Mac OSX to Intel chips back when Power PC was struggling?..

  10. hmurchison - 9 years ago

    Just announce the ARM based macs already.

  11. The pure gorgeousness of what you’re about to see tomorrow. And no one has it even hinted at it. It’s a brand new product. The NEW Mac. Can’t wait.

    • If it’s only going to get an upgarded Retina 5120 x 2880 screen, what’s really going to be new about it? I can’t see what more they can do to improve on, or change, the exterior design.

    • prolango - 9 years ago

      Nope, it didn’t happen. I thought you claimed that you had lots of access/expertise into Apple?

  12. SKR Imaging - 9 years ago

    My Apple TV prediction: announcement would be more apropriate at WWDC 2015 alongside iOS 9.. that way, App developers could start working on apps for the device (Seriously, Apple really needs an App store for Apple TV).. the release would then be set in September Music Event alongside iPhone 6S with “infrared sensor in phone” to control the device with and allow phone to also control your tv.. now that would be a killer announcement..

    • Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 9 years ago

      I don’t see why they need an app store for Apple TV.

      It already plays all the apps that you can load on your phone or your iPad, and the “native” AppleTV apps are actually channels, so all you’d really do is cause confusion by having apps that aren’t channels or games that are identical but can be bought for the AppleTV, or the iPad, or the iPhone.

      It seems like a bad idea to me.

      • SKR Imaging - 9 years ago

        Just like you have universal apps for both iPhone and iPad, Developers could make the game or app scaled to the Apple TV.. just mirroring your ipad to Apple TV is not the answer.. making an app for Apple TV would give a whole new canvas to work with, a 42 or 60 inch canvas.. youtube for Apple TV would look different on Apple TV than on iPad.. same for twitter or say IMDB.. or Teevee app could integrate with your TV cable box to schedule recordings of fav shows.. so much potential with an app store..

  13. Stonegate - 9 years ago

    Folks, please do not feed the trolls. When you respond to comments that are obviously intended to be outrageous you give them what they want: attention. It may be satisfying to rip off a blistering rebuttal to some troll’s juvenile rant, but all it does is encourage more trollish behavior. The only reasonable response to nonsense is no response at all.

  14. nwmike - 9 years ago

    Key point in article : Rumors are so far out in front of Apple. 12-inch Retina Air, 12.9 inch iPad, nonsucky AppleTV all 2015

  15. DamoTheBrave - 9 years ago

    At last year’s “We still have a lot to cover” event I had the impression they were ready to release a cover then. I also had the impression that maybe they’d considered it to not be ready at the last minute and scrapped it. Maybe a year on they are finally ready to do it?
    All just conjecture mind you but I’d love it to be true.

  16. trinities - 9 years ago

    It´s Really been way too long > For me < !

    That also means iPod touch is 100% refresh ! just watch! A7 chip or better guaranteed. (A8 posibility as when iPhone 4 was released the iPod touch 4g had A4 chip :) )

  17. acostaja2013 - 9 years ago

    That 5K Retina *iMac* Rumour was a Kamikazee poorly analized rumour, from I’ve read the next iMac (or Macintosh as some french sites stands will be renamed) will be 4K, I hope it to be smaller than 27″ justifing HiDPI 1080P. Same, unlss the new Cinema Display -no thunderbolt- to be 4K, I give little possibility it to be announced, actually only Mac Pro could drive 5K if receive some GPU update, as long I ve read current mac pro cant go beyond 4K despite if MST is used. 5K iMac maybe for 2016. nor earlier.

  18. bellevueboy - 9 years ago

    I wonder if hbo and cbs announcements have anything to do with today’s events….hmmm…. It’s been way too long….that someone did something about TV

  19. Wake me up when it’s time to add a 17″ MacBook Pro back to the product lineup. Everything else is just gravy.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.