Inbound M4 Mac updates rumored to arrive as early as October 28

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware

Apple's next wave of product launches could happen as soon as October 28, with M4 Mac models arriving as part of a very busy week for the company.

A silver Apple Mac Mini computer on a white desk, situated below an LG monitor.
The current Mac mini design



Apple is expected to be introducing new Mac updates in the near future, including a New Mac mini and upgrades to the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 16-inch MacBook Pro. While the exact timing isn't known, it could possibly be just a week away.

In an X post on Tuesday, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman outlined Apple's week from October 28 to November 1. The week starts with the introduction of Apple Intelligence as part of Apple's operating system releases on Monday, while the earnings results will occur on October 31.

However, Gurman adds that there will be an "M4 Mac launch" between the other two events. At face value, that would mean launches happening between Monday, October 28 or Wednesday, October 30.

Given that Apple generally likes to announce new hardware at about 9AM ET, we're guessing October 29. Furthermore, Apple has a history of preferring to hold events and product launches on a Tuesday, making that the most likely day for hardware introductions.

It is still unclear whether Apple will hold an actual event for the Mac launches, or will proceed with a press release-based introduction.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,425member
    Given that Apple generally likes to announce new hardware at about 9AM ET, we're guessing October 29. Furthermore, Apple has a history of preferring to hold events and product launches on a Tuesday, making that the most likely day for hardware introductions.


    It is still unclear whether Apple will hold an actual event for the Mac launches, or will proceed with a press release-based introduction.


    Not true at all. Press release-only announcements might drop at 9:00, at market open on the east coast, but Apple events always start at 1:00pm eastern time.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 2 of 5
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,170member
    Apple live events usually start at 1pm ET but not always.

    That said when an event has a live component Apple typically sends the invitation email in advance to give people time to book travel. Since the pandemic Apple has leaned to giving two weeks notice. Prior to the pandemic it was typically one week.

    We are already past the moment when Apple would normally would send out an e-mail for a hosted live event. In my opinion this points to a likely press release-only launch.

    Tech media has been speculating on an October event for months and now with each passing day the likelihood of a live hosted event drops. If they intended on hosting an event with hands-on demo session after a launch video on Tuesday the 29th, the e-mail invitations would have gone out on the 15th.

    Since iOS 18.1 and Sequoia 15.1 are slated to release on Monday the 28th it would make sense for Apple to close the Store early Tuesday morning, drop some press releases and reopen the Store with the newly announced products.
    edited 3:37PM
  • Reply 3 of 5
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,425member
    I'm thinking it's possible the iMac may be refreshed too. Many of the configurations and colors (other than silver) have lead times that are 2-6 weeks out.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,568member
    I wonder what the odds are on them releasing a real Apple Silicon Mac Pro with an M4 Extreme (of whatever they end up calling it) configuration.
    edited 5:49PM
  • Reply 5 of 5
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,170member
    saarek said:
    I wonder what the odds are on them releasing a real Apple Silicon Mac Pro with an M4 Extreme (of whatever the end up calling it) configuration.
    In 2024? About 0.1%, maybe less.

    In 2025? Higher chance as long as they don't discontinue the Mac Pro product. With Apple Silicon there are no discrete GPU add-in cards so the spaciousness and capacity of the Mac Pro chassis is largely useless.

    There aren't many usage cases that favor a Mac Pro over a Mac Studio at this point. If they can put an M-series Max or Ultra SoC in the Studio, that's probably covers over 95% of their high-end market. Note that there have been no credible rumors about the impending release of M4 Max or Ultra silicon. We're probably still 6-9 months away from that. You can look forward to it when the rumor mill starts churning out speculation but we haven't see any of that.

    Heck, we haven't seen any M4 Macs yet with vanilla or Pro chips let alone the higher-end silicon. One thing that's clear, Apple Engineering doesn't have the bandwidth to push out all four M-series chip variants at the same time.
    edited 5:56PM
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