Apple’s October event may have been canceled before it began

By Alex Blake September 26, 2022

For months, we’ve been expecting Apple to host an event this October where it would reveal brand-new Macs and iPads. However, that’s all been thrown into uncertainty now thanks to a new report from a reliable tech reporter.

The news comes from Mark Gurman, who stated in his weekly Power On newsletter that Apple might simply release the new products using press releases instead of a showy event like its iPhone 14 launch extravaganza.

tim cook at the apple spring loaded event 2021 — Apple

According to Gurman, the remaining updates to Apple products coming this year are not significant enough to warrant a full-blown show with various speakers and perhaps hands-on time afterward. That kind of event requires plenty of planning and post-shoot editing, which Apple might feel is wasted if the updates are not true headline events.

For instance, Gurman notes that the main contenders to launch later in 2022 are updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, a new Mac Mini with M2 and M2 Pro chips, and an updated iPad Pro with the M2 chip. None of these, he says, represent a “major departure” for Apple. “They’ll get some improved specifications and a chip that was already announced at a formal event in June at WWDC 2022,” Gurman explains. The idea is that Apple could simply announce these products in press releases on its website.

That might be a letdown for Apple fans, but it would not be without precedent. Apple launched the AirPods Max, 24-inch iMac, and 2019’s 16-inch MacBook Pro all via press releases, which might sound surprising given their high profiles. But it shows the company is not afraid of shunning the stage when it needs to.

And while the upcoming Mac Pro refresh could be a big one — it’s going to finally migrate from Intel processors to Apple silicon chips, after all — that probably won’t arrive until 2023, Gurman believes.

So, if you were getting the popcorn ready for another Apple show later this year, you might end up being disappointed. That said, Gurman could be wrong, and the event might go ahead after all. It just doesn’t seem that likely considering what’s left to launch this year.

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