Signs point to another Apple special event in October

Apple’s “Gather Round” event on “September 12 came and went. We heard about the amazing new features of the Apple Watch Series 4 (even if they’re not available yet) and the trifurcation of the iPhone X into XR, XS, and the unfortunately named XS Max,” David Gewirtz writes for ZDNet. “But no new iPads. No new Mac mini. No new MacBook or MacBook Air. No new EarPods. And where the heck is the AirPower?”

“For those looking forward to new releases of anything other than phones and the Watch, September was a disappointment. The big question going forward is simple: is this all there is? Are we destined to continue through the rest of 2018 without updates to some very key kit?” Gewirtz writes. “Probably not.”

“Apple has held a second fall event 60 percent of the time,” Gewirtz writes. “Furthermore, that second event has NEVER included new iPhone announcements, has always included a Mac announcement, and in four of the six second fall events, has also included an iPad announcement. Speaking of iPad announcements, there is some evidence that a 2018 iPad is on its way. According to a piece reported by 9to5Mac, an iOS 12.1 beta release includes an identifier (a data stub) mentioning a ‘2018 fall’ iPad.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Gewirtz has looked into his crystal ball and with history as his guide advised, “Go ahead and tentatively mark your calendars for either Tuesday, October 23 or Thursday October 25.”

That sounds just about right to us, too.

The second iPad Pro models lose the antiquated Home button and move to gestural iOS is the second we upgrade our iPad Pros!

SEE ALSO:
Apple special event possible in October as iOS 12.1 beta references ‘iPad2018Fall’ – September 19, 2018

12 Comments

    1. Would not surprise me in the LEAST if he did that specifically to get people to post “it’s AirPods, idiot, duh!” Because, even a comment that you’re an idiot is a commenter that likely had to view your ads 🙂

    1. It really doesn’t make much sense to me, either. Other companies seem to easily manage to update hardware if newer hardware is available. If Apple had socket-able CPUs and GPUs, it might be a lot easier. Still, for a company like Apple with an abundance of cash, even soldered components would be swapped between new production runs.

      Of course, with those slender-cased iMacs, higher thermals can easily be a problem with higher performance components and Apple doesn’t seem to like users fiddling with fan speeds and such.

      I’ve gone through lots of scenarios in my head but I obviously can’t pinpoint Apple’s actual reasons for their slower update schedules. It probably comes down to Apple’s desire for profitability on a component basis and not increased overall sales. I just wish someone at Apple would give us at least some answer.

      Just one look at Apple’s revenue per product line chart and the iPhone is just light years ahead, so I’m guessing that’s where Apple is putting most of its resources.

    2. Actually, I do know why. And, it’s really bad.

      Apple COULD make REALLY nice Macintosh Computer. They could sell them at premium prices. They could do maybe 10 or 15 Billion per quarter in sales. They could be the biggest PC maker on the planet. They do even do this WITHOUT going toe to toe with Dell or Acer or anyone else. More than half of the corporate desktops in America could have really good Macs on them. Lots of people would be happy and loyal customers. Worker productivity would go up and I T support costs could go down. Sounds good, right? So what’s the problem?

      The gross profit margins on computers WILL NEVER reach the margins that are on iPhones. Even with premium prices. If you sell lots and lots of Macs then Apple’s TOTAL margin goes DOWN. The stock price goes down. That’s WHY, my friends.

      I think different than this. What I’ve described is a way for Apple to make 10 to 15 BILLION in NET profits than they are right now even with a decrease in margins. No other company on the planet would leave this kind of money on the table. That’s why Apple doesn’t want to make the best trucks on the planet. The iPhone is just too big of a cash cow. An odd parodox- you make gobs of money on a superior product and your stock price drops. It’s a long fall from a trillion dollars.

  1. Um . . . complain, complain, complain, um . . . bitch, bitch, bitch, um . . . moan, moan, moan, um . . . wail, wail, wail, um . . . lament, lament, lament, um . . . grumble, grumble, grumble, etc., etc., etc. One can glean only one thing from MDN commentors: A pox on Apple Inc and all its minions! Nothing it does is right. Everything is disappointing. Everything is archaic. Everything is SO “last year.” Good gawd, but why come here at all if being an Apple user is so painfully embarrassing? Can Apple’s “ill wind” blow NO ONE any good?

  2. Maybe Apple has finally found the time and resources to update all the Macs that are currently listed as antiquated on MacRumors:

    In order of antiquity:

    – iMacs, 479 days since updated to Kaby Lake. CPU and chassis from last decade. It has all the ports a typical user needs, they just can’t be reached from where the user normally sits.

    – 12″ Macbook, last updated 479 days ago. Still has shitty keyboard and lacks ports that most everyone in the world wants and needs. Kill it, Apple.

    – MacBook Air, lst updated 479 days ago. The only sub-$1k Mac laptop, it still has Broadwell processors and Thunderbolt 2. A relic.

    – Mac Mini — 1442 days since last neutering when Apple removed useful functions and capabilities. It still has Haswell processors and a spinning disk that was designed before Cook was CEO. Should have been completely redesigned 2 years ago.

    – Mac Pro – 1743 days since the trashcan fell out of Schiler’s ass. Overpriced, underperforming, still offers only Thunderbolt 2 and the same outclassed processors and GPUs that were obsolete in 2014. Should have been replaced or supplanted by a real workstation in 2015.

    My take: the Mac Mini and Mac Pro both need to be replaced immediately and a new Mac tower between the two needs to be offered. Perhaps the all-new 2019 Mac Pro can return to being a real workstation with internal expansion and no stupid thermal constraints, and the old 2013 trashcan can be demoted to a Mac, given modern connections and i5 & i7 chipsets, and sold for a low price.

    It would also be nice for the 12″ MacBook and the MacBook Air lines to both die immediately, replaced by a refreshed 13″ MacBook Pro without touchbar to be reduced in price. Apple also needs to separate the plain Jane MacBook series from the MacBook Pros — the current thin series with clicky clack keyboard needs to be demoted to MacBook status. A whole new series of proper, more rugged MacBook Pros with more thickness, more battery, nice quiet longer travel keyboard, and more user options like SD card slot and built in Ethernet and optical audio, etc should be introduced. Pro needs to mean something again.

  3. Nice. I just replaced my 6 with an iPhone Xs. Next steps include a new iPad, wireless printer and a decent set of over-ear headphones.

    The headphones are for my frequent flights. Seems passengers these days need to rely on their own devices – even in the front cabin. So be it.

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