Apple won't host traditional October event this year, 'iPad Pro' expected today - report

Posted:
in iPad edited September 2015
Breaking with recent tradition, Apple will reportedly not be holding a media event in October of this year, with the company said to be planning to lay all of its cards on the table -- including the anticipated "iPad Pro" -- with today's media presentation in San Francisco.




Citing "lots of little birdies," John Gruber of Daring Fireball indicated on Wednesday that Apple is not expected to hold an October event this year. In recent years, Apple has held announcements about new iPads and Macs for the month of October, spreading its product unveilings out over two presentations.

Conventional wisdom would have suggested that products such as a rumored "iPad Pro," as well as a 21.5-inch iMac with 4K Retina display, would have been held for an October event.

But from what Gruber has been told, it's expected that a new 12.9-inch iPad will be unveiled at today's presentation, with no October event in the works.

That would make today's "Hey Siri" event particularly jam packed: Apple is also expected to unveil the "iPhone 6s" and a larger "Plus" variant, as well as an all-new Apple TV with App Store. It's also likely that the company will showcase the main features of its soon-to-launch iOS 9 mobile operating system, and may also dedicate stage time to its forthcoming Mac update, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, as well as the Apple Watch update watchOS 2.

Gruber had predicted on Tuesday that he didn't expect new iPads to be unveiled at today's event. Instead, he assumed that the company would hold off on any iPad news until its usual October event, as it has done since 2012.

But with Wednesday's update, the author admitted he was "pretty sure" that his earlier prediction was inaccurate.

"So if there's an iPad Pro, it's coming tomorrow, no matter how much or how little that makes sense," he wrote.

Apple's media presentation will begin today at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern, and AppleInsider will be there live with full, exclusive coverage of the announcements. Readers can install our official iOS app for all of the news as it breaks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    Very likely. I think they might want to sell some iPads on Black Friday.
  • Reply 2 of 19
    damonfdamonf Posts: 229member
    I wonder what the Wall Street analysts following Apple would say about this. Would it be "Oh no, Apple doesn't have much to talk about, so they're able to fit it all into a single event, this is not good for future years, Apple isn't innovating anymore, etc. etc.", or would it instead be "Apple is so well prepared for holiday sales, they are getting a jump start by laying all the cards out in a single event"? Not that what the analysts say matters a whole lot...
  • Reply 3 of 19
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    iPad Pro and 4K iMac are not enough to make an event. There weren't that many changes in OS X either. Maybe the October event is now going to become the March event and Macs will either show up there, at WWDC or if not a major update then just a press release (which they could easily do for the 4K iMac).

    iPhones, iPads, ?Watch, and ?TV all at one event is a lot to cover in 2 hours. I hope they don't rush through things. But maybe this will force them to not let things drag on like Apple Music did at WWDC. And maybe this means there's not going to be a lot of 3rd party game demos that nobody cares about.
  • Reply 4 of 19
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Poor John Gruber at Daring Firebll.
  • Reply 5 of 19
    Mark Gurman said it first, so if he's wrong, Gruber's wrong.
  • Reply 6 of 19
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    9to5Mac says Apple is collaborating with well known fashion brands on new watch bands and features. I wonder what those features could be? New watch faces? What I think would be cool is having watch faces tied to bands so when you click in the band it would automatically update the watch face. So if you had, say, a Chanel band and they had their own branded watch face you would see that watch face any time you put on the Chanel band. I'm not exactly sure how it could work but maybe it could be a way for Apple to start offer 3rd party watch faces vs opening the floodgates and having a store for them which would have to be curated.
  • Reply 7 of 19
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Mark Gurman said it first, so if he's wrong, Gruber's wrong.

    If that's the buzz in SF my guess is they're not wrong, I always felt two events in the fall and none in the spring was wrong so if this means Apple is moving to a spring event, WWDC and a fall event then I'm glad. It spreads things out more which is better IMO.
  • Reply 8 of 19
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    So is El Capitan out today?
  • Reply 9 of 19
    asdasd wrote: »
    So is El Capitan out today?

    If they're releasing it now I would expect the 16th like iOS 9 will be.
  • Reply 10 of 19
    clemynxclemynx Posts: 1,552member
    I dont see why Gruber finds this surprising. For years now the september event has been filed with a pretty long and boring repeat of new iOS and OSX features. That time that usually span for 30-45 minutes can easily be used to showcase a new product. Sure there are two new products here but in the long run having two keynotes per year is largely enough.
  • Reply 11 of 19
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ClemyNX View Post

    I dont see why Gruber finds this surprising. For years now the september event has been filed with a pretty long and boring repeat of new iOS and OSX features. That time that usually span for 30-45 minutes can easily be used to showcase a new product. Sure there are two new products here but in the long run having two keynotes per year is largely enough.

     

    You seem to think that the WWDC keynote is for the general public/press, that is clearly directed squarely at developers the fall event is for everyone, not everyone watches all the keynotes.
  • Reply 13 of 19
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    smiffy31 wrote: »
    <div class="quote-container" data-huddler-embed="/t/188103/apple-wont-host-traditional-october-event-this-year-ipad-pro-expected-today-report#post_2772529" data-huddler-embed-placeholder="false"><span>Quote:</span><div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>ClemyNX</strong> <a href="/t/188103/apple-wont-host-traditional-october-event-this-year-ipad-pro-expected-today-report#post_2772529"><img src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" class="inlineimg" alt="View Post"/></a><br/><br/>I dont see why Gruber finds this surprising. For years now the september event has been filed with a pretty long and boring repeat of new iOS and OSX features. That time that usually span for 30-45 minutes can easily be used to showcase a new product. Sure there are two new products here but in the long run having two keynotes per year is largely enough.</div></div><p> </p>
    You seem to think that the WWDC keynote is for the general public/press, that is clearly directed squarely at developers the fall event is for everyone, not everyone watches all the keynotes.

    The keynote is for the public. Everything else is NDA'ed
  • Reply 14 of 19
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    If they're releasing it now I would expect the 16th like iOS 9 will be.

    Last year on the iPad launch they said available today.
  • Reply 15 of 19
    iPad Schmi-Pad! I'm more concerned with whether we in Europe get to see the event without Chinese overdubs :D

    Seriously: I hope that Apple has heard some the mumbles and grumbles from their last few events and goes total "minimalist art" in their presentation as well as their designs.

    Hey! Something new for Jony to tweak :smokey:
  • Reply 16 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    iPad Pro and 4K iMac are not enough to make an event. There weren't that many changes in OS X either. Maybe the October event is now going to become the March event and Macs will either show up there, at WWDC or if not a major update then just a press release (which they could easily do for the 4K iMac).



    iPhones, iPads, ?Watch, and ?TV all at one event is a lot to cover in 2 hours. I hope they don't rush through things. But maybe this will force them to not let things drag on like Apple Music did at WWDC. And maybe this means there's not going to be a lot of 3rd party game demos that nobody cares about.

    Not if they keep the keynote tight and focused. It could break down like the following;

     

    Watch / watch OS - 15min

    iPhone - 30min

    Apple TV - 40min

    iPad / Pro - 40min

     

    My gut feeling is that the rMBP line is due for a major revamp, which will involve Intel's Skylake but I don't think we see those till some time next year.  Maybe in Spring (new rMBP, Watch 2.0, and if everything works out, Apple's TV streaming service.)

  • Reply 17 of 19
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post

    And maybe this means there's not going to be a lot of 3rd party game demos that nobody cares about.



    If the Apple TV rumors are true, of course there will be.

     

    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post

    So is El Capitan out today?

     

    No GM for devs yet. Maybe a GM next week and launch first week of October.

  • Reply 18 of 19
    OK... what's that lead-in tune on Beats? "Dreams....?"
  • Reply 19 of 19
    vmarksvmarks Posts: 762editor
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     



    If the Apple TV rumors are true, of course there will be.

     

     

    No GM for devs yet. Maybe a GM next week and launch first week of October.




    sooner than that.

Sign In or Register to comment.