Apple is gearing up for a full week of M4 Mac announcements

Apple CEO Tim Cook in front of the launch week logo – Image credit: Apple

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Apple to unveil a slew of new products during Halloween week, including English: the focus is on new Mac updates with the M4.

After Apple’s “Glowtime” event in September, it was expected that another event would be on the horizon. Given the lack of discussion of Mac products, as well as iPad updates, during the September announcements, a second presentation of the remaining catalog was widely anticipated.

Mac () your calendars! We have an exciting week of announcements ahead of us starting Monday morning. Stay tuned pic.twitter.com/YnoCYkZq6c

— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) October 24, 2024

Apple has since confirmed that new products are on the way, but not via an event. Instead, a week of announcements is planned starting October 28.

In a departure from the usual event schedule, it’s clear that Apple is communicating that it will be a Mac-heavy week. To start, Greg Joswiak's post on X begins with “Mac your calendars!”

The animation itself also starts with a Finder face icon before morphing into the Apple logo. It also uses the same “Glowtime” aesthetic, hinting at Apple Intelligence, which also runs on Apple Silicon Macs.

Here's what Apple is expected to unveil this week.

Mac mini, iMac, MacBook Pro

Since the introduction of the M4 iPad Pro variants, there's been demand for Apple to do the same for its Apple Silicon Mac models. Without any changes since the M3, there's a lot that Apple could change.

Perhaps the biggest update it could make is to the Mac mini, if rumors are to be believed. An update is expected soon, and the Mac mini will get a long-overdue refresh.

The current Mac mini design is already pretty small.

This could include a new smaller form factor that moves away from its boxy aluminum puck design in favor of something even sleeker. There is even talk that it will have five USB Type-C ports instead of the USB-A versions.

Along with the Mac mini, the desktop Mac could also get an iMac update. The 24-inch model was last updated to the M3 in November 2023, but an update to the M4 is not out of the question.

There have been rumors that Apple will create a larger iMac design, possibly with a 32-inch display. It’s questionable whether this will come to fruition, as rumors of a change usually multiply as the world gets closer to an expected launch.

An M4 MacBook Pro could be coming soon

The more obvious change will be the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro. With a fall 2023 update, a year-long break between updates would be reasonable for some of the most popular Mac options in the catalog.

iPad

While Apple's weeklong event will be mostly focused on the Mac, there's a small chance that Apple could announce other things, too. This could include a base model of the iPad.

The iPad hasn't been updated in quite some time. It was last updated in the fall of 2022.

Rumors don't say much about updates to the base iPad, with the most likely change being a spec upgrade to a more modern chip. This makes sense, since Apple would like to bring Apple Intelligence to as many devices as possible, including the iPad.