It’s been quite apparent from the past few years that it’s difficult for Apple to keep their event releases a bit secret. Of course there are a few surprises but unlike the old times, 80% of event announcements are either leaked or dug out quite a few weeks in advance. It's arguable if they are ‘leaks’ or just dumb luck. Why luck? Well, as soon as the Apple event is over, every other tech website starts with a new rumor of some sort from their ‘sources’ about the next Apple device/announcement. Almost 10 months later, everyone is dead sure on few things which would be announced as they have been ‘leaked’ and discussed and dug up with some leaked photos and evidence in the new iOS code.
You can watch the live stream here
So here we are, almost 12 months later, Apple has finally announced their usual October event. With a very mysterious invite as always. We already know it’s not an iPhone event as iPhone has been announced and released few months ago. Its time for the other Apple products to shine. Here are few predictions based on the rumours which sound very legitimate and very real.
1. New iPad
A new slightly thinner iPad with a new processor based on the new 64-bit chip Apple announced in the new iPhone 5S. Based on the past announcements, the iPad’s processor would most probably be the faster-tablet version of A7 called the A7X. iPad might as well get the camera upgrade and chances are iPad would have the spanking new fingerprint sensor, Device ID. Storage would be affordable standard 32GB, 64GB and 128GB, but don’t rule out the 256GB yet. Apple might as well start off with adding 256GB storage to the line up. New Colors which might include gold and Space Grey is expected.
2. New iPad Mini
The successful small factor tablet will also be upgraded. The iPad mini’s first generation runs a A5 processor which is 2 generations old, but Apple might keep that trend and update it to A6 chip which is present in the iPhone 5 ( now iPhone 5C). Possibly with some tweaking for tablet and display it might be the A6X. Talking about display, as of now iPad Mini doesn’t have a Retina display which the iPad, iPhone, Macbook pro and iMac has. Even though the possibility of Retina on iPad Mini is being ruled out by many experts, Apple might add in the Retina display to the new iPad Mini lineup just to make sure it can kick back and relax without worrying about the competition. Touch ID might not be seen in the iPad Mini but if Apple wants to make it proprietary feature for all Apple devices they might add that too. New Colors, especially Apple’s new favorite ‘Space Grey’ is expected.
3. New MacBook and Mac Mini
Recently, Macbook Air received the Haswell processors which not only make it faster but also helps in giving a stunning new battery life boost. Macbook pro line-up is yet to receive this benefit and so does the Mac Mini. Adding the Intel’s new Haswell chips not only upgrades its performance but also helps in providing a stable, long-lasting product with lower production cost. This is expected to be a quick, small announcement and won’t take much time. Keep in mind, if the new Macbook Pros’ are announced, chances are non-retina Macbook pro would be discontinued and the old Macbook Pro with retina might receive the lower price-tag value which will not to make it fly off-the-shelves but also make it a serious competition to other Windows-based laptops in market.
4. Finally, Mac Pro
Been quite a few months Apple had announced the Mac Pro. In WWDC , Apple just gave glimpse of how the product would look like and how fast it would be compared to the old generation. The new flagship desktop Mac won’t be aimed for the regular user but for videographers, photographers, other professional users who need more processing power to their work PC. The price of Mac Pro had always been high and this won’t be cheap either.
5. OS Mavericks
This year Apple has been very patiently teasing and testing the OS X Mavericks. So today’s event should finally rollout the new OS X Mavericks for retail. The new pricing structure and the release date is expected to be announced today. Don’t worry, OS X upgrades are usually cheap so expect anything between $19.99 to $29.99 upgrade for the new OS X Mavericks. There are a lot of hopes riding on the new OS X as it would not only improve the desktop Apps but vastly help developers to finally use their multiple display setup with ease and more convenience.
Bonus!
Apple TV might get some upgrade but don’t expect the Apple TV display or iWatch with it. That might not happen. iPod line up has been given slight upgrades in the recent past so expect new iPod colors from Space gray to gold and since holidays are around the corner iPod Nano and Touch both would be extensively colorized.
What time is the event?
The Event will be live on October 22, 2013 starting 10AM PST. For local time check here
This time all Apple device users might get a chance to watch the live stream of the Apple event on their website.
Here are some requirements to follow as provided by Apple
Streaming video requires Safari 4 or later on Mac OS X v10.6 or later; Safari on iOS 4.2 or later; or QuickTime 7 on Windows. Streaming via Apple TV requires second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 5.0.2 or later.
Live Stream Link