As we progress through October, it is looking less and less likely that Apple is going to hold the rumoured October event to announce products like macOS Ventura, new M2 MacBook Pro laptops and Mac mini and the long-awaited Apple Silicon Mac Pro. Instead, it is expected that Apple will announce them by press release as each one is ready. In this article, we look at the timings and what Apple still has to announce.
Its Getting Too Late To Hold An Event In October
The clock is ticking, and time is running out for Apple to announce an event in October. This is because the Invites normally go out around a week to 10 days before an event, which would mean there is very little time left before the end of October, and based on their track record, if Apple doesn’t hold an event in October that is likely to be it for the rest of the year.
The New Products Don’t Warrant An Event
So it looks very likely that there will be no more Apple events in 2022. That said, this idea is not new; we have been warned. The very well-respected source of reliable Apple-related information Mark Gurman from Bloomberg said in his Power On newsletter on September 25th…
“None of these new products is a major departure for Apple. They’ll get some improved specifications and a chip that was already announced at a formal event in June at WWDC 2022. That has me thinking: Does Apple really have enough here to make it worth pulling together another highly polished launch event?
It seems unlikely. Apple may ultimately end up feeling differently, but I think the company (as of now) is more likely to release its remaining 2022 products via press releases, updates to its website and briefings with select members of the press—rather than via a major iPhone-style keynote.“
Roll forward a couple of weeks, and it looks like Mark is right yet again. In the October 15th edition of his Power On Newsletter, Mark Gurman goes on to say…
“Apple has traditionally ushered in its late fall iPad and Mac updates with splashy events, but this year’s rollout will be more subdued. Apple will launch the products on its website without the kind of gathering we saw in September with the iPhone 14’s debut.
My belief is that Apple has eschewed another event because of the fairly ordinary nature of the announcements. It’s a slew of updates that amount to spec bumps or seen-before designs.”
And there you have it. The announcements that Apple has planned for 2022 are basically too boring to warrant the hassle and expense of holding an event.
So what can we expect that was too boring for Apple to hold a dedicated event to announce?
MacBook Pro 14 And 16-inch With M2 Pro And M2 Max Chips
Back in June, we learned that Apple had been testing a 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips codenamed J414. It was suggested that the M2 Max chip is expected to have 12 CPU cores and 38 graphics cores, up from 10 CPU cores and 32 graphics cores in the current model, with up to 64 GB of unified memory. Similarly, they have been testing a 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro, and M2 Max chips codenamed J416, with the M2 Max expected to have the same specifications as the 14-inch MacBook Pro version, and it is now considered that these MacBook Pro computers will get a simple upgrade, no redesign of additional features.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported…
“I’m told that the new iPad software update and the first version of macOS Ventura add support for the latest iPad Pro models and the next versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The high-end laptops will get the first M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, more powerful versions of the standard M2. Changes to the laptops will be otherwise minimal.”
It is also being suggested by Mac Rumors that the new M2-powered MacBook Pro laptops could have after RAM…
“The current 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are equipped with LPDDR5 RAM from Samsung, with the M1 Pro chip providing up to 200 GB/s of memory bandwidth and the M1 Max chip topping out at 400 GB/s. On a speculative basis, it is possible that the next MacBook Pro models could be equipped with Samsung's latest LPDDR5X RAM for up to 33% increased memory bandwidth with up to 20% less power consumption. This would result in up to 300 GB/s memory bandwidth for the M2 Pro and up to 600 GB/s for the M2 Max.”
As to when we might see the new M2-powered MacBook Pro laptops, Mark Gurman had this to say…
“While the new MacBook Pros are on track to launch in the near future, I wouldn’t expect them to be released alongside the iPad Pro. The company has historically launched new Macs in November, as was the case in 2019 with the initial 16-inch MacBook Pro and in 2020 with the first Apple Silicon-based MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac mini.”
Mac Mini with M2 And M2 Pro Chips
Interestingly, the high-end Mac mini model is still the Space Gray model with an Intel processor from 2018, currently making it and the Mac Pro range the only Apple Mac computers still powered by Intel chips.
Although Apple chose not to announce an M2 Mac mini at the same time as the M2 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro this year, we expect Apple to announce new M2-powered Mac minis at the October Event.
Back in June 2022, we learned that Apple had been testing a Mac mini with an M2 chip codenamed J473, with the same specifications as the M2 MacBook Air, which was aimed at replacing the M1 Mac mini.
However, since then, it is now expected to be a simple upgrade of the current M1 Mac mini rather than the redesign that has been suggested in the past by sources such as Jon Prosser.
Back in March 2022, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted, “I think the new Mac mini in 2023 will likely remain the same form factor design.”
Then in July, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman was interviewed by YouTuber Vadim Yuriev, in which Mark said of the new M2 Mac mini…
“I don’t think there’ll be a redesign to the Mac mini. I actually don’t know where the rumors of a redesign came from. I think those are also going to be spec bumps. If you look at the Mac Studio, it looks like a double-height Mac mini.”
Now in October 2022, in his Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman has this to say about the M2 Mac mini…
“Apple is working on an M2 version of the Mac mini, which will be the first update to the company’s smallest Mac in two years.”
Note that Mark says nothing about the time scale for the release of the M2 Mac mini.
Mac Pro With M2 Ultra And M2 Extreme Chips
At the Mac Studio launch event back in March 2022, Apple made it clear that the Studio was not a Mac Pro replacement. Apple senior vice president of Hardware Engineering John Ternus went as far as confirming that a Mac Pro is coming "another day" to clear up any confusion about the future of the Mac Pro product line.
Interestingly, Mark Gurman revealed a tidbit about the Mac Pro development in his interview on YouTube with Vadim Yuriev, saying…
“They also had an M1 Mac Pro ready to go months ago. But they scrapped that to wait for the M2 version.”
In June 2022, we learned that Apple has been testing a Mac Pro, codenamed J180. This machine is expected to include a successor to the M1 Ultra chip used in the Mac Studio computer.
The Apple Silicon-powered Mac Pro is also expected to offer the option of the M2 Extreme, which is expected to be two M1 Ultra chips combined, just like the M1 Ultra is two M1 Max chips put together. Using the M2 Extreme would offer a beast of a machine with the following spec…
40-core CPU (32 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores)
Up to 128-core GPU
Up to 64-core Neural Engine
Up to 256GB of RAM
1,600GBps memory bandwidth
When it comes to design, it is being suggested that the new Mac Pro will only see a few design changes, with the main change being getting rid of the current Intel Xeon chips as part of its plan to make the entire range of Mac computers powered by Apple silicon.
In the WWDC 2020 keynote address, Apple said that the Apple silicon transition would take two years. However, with the passing of WWDC 2022 in June, it’s now more than two years since Apple announced the transition from Intel to its own chips. Even if we start the clock from the point that the first Apple Silicon Macs were announced in October 2020, it’s still more than 2 years from that point.
Even though Apple teased a new Mac Pro at the Peek Performance event in March 2022, the current Mac Pro is still running on Intel chips.
As to when to expect the new Apple silicon-powered Mac Pro, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted that a new Mac Pro would ship in 2023.
However, Mark Gurman has a slightly different take on this. In his interview with YouTuber Vadim Yuriev, Mark said that he thinks the Apple silicon-powered Mac Pro will ultimately be announced at the end of the year and then released in 2023.
In his October 23rd Power On Newsletter, Mark said this about the new Apple Silicon Mac Pro…
“Onto the Mac Pro. That new high-end machine will include chip options that are at least twice or four times as powerful as the M2 Max. Let’s call those chips the M2 Ultra and the M2 Extreme. My belief is that the Mac Pro will be offered with options for 24 and 48 CPU cores and 76 and 152 graphics cores—along with up to 256 gigabytes of memory.
In fact, I can share one configuration of the Mac Pro in active testing within Apple: 24 CPU cores (16 performance and 8 efficiency cores), 76 graphics cores and 192 gigabytes of memory. That particular machine is running macOS Ventura 13.3.“
What About The iMac And iMac Pro?
If you are looking for a new iMac, you may need to wait for a lot longer. You may have noticed that a 24-inch iMac with the M2 chip has been missing from Gurman's forecast of upcoming M2 Macs on Apple's product plan released back in June 2022.
Apple discontinued the iMac Pro back in 2021, and then it discontinued the 27-inch Intel-based version of the iMac in March 2022, leaving the 24-inch iMac with the M1 chip as the only remaining iMac model. The view is that, for now, Apple has effectively replaced the 27-inch iMac with the Mac Studio and its matching Studio Display, with some sources suggesting that Apple has suspended high-end iMac development.
Mark Gurman is not one of them. In his Power On newsletter, he outlined that Apple is working on at least two iMac models but is skipping the M2 chip and going to the M3 series of chips. He suggests that Apple is likely to launch an updated 24-inch iMac featuring the standard M3 chip in late 2023 and that they are continuing the development of a high-end iMac…
“I also still believe that Apple is working on a larger-screened iMac aimed at the professional market. I'd imagine this will use a variation of the M3 chip, likely an M3 Pro and M3 Max. That would match the chips inside of the MacBook Pro. I don't think the combination of a Mac Studio or Mac mini plus an Apple Studio Display cuts it for many pro users who want more screen real estate.”
But that date of 2023 may slip as the M3 family of chips are expected to be built on TSMC's 3nm technology, unlike the M1 and M2, which are currently built using a 5nm process. So if you waiting for a new iMac or iMac Pro, you are going to have to wait until late 2023 or even 2024.
macOS Ventura
During the WWDC 2022 keynote address back in June, Apple announced the next iteration of their Mac operating system, macOS 13 Ventura.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering told us…
“macOS Ventura includes powerful features and new innovations that help make the Mac experience even better. New tools like Stage Manager make focusing on tasks and moving between apps and windows easier and faster than ever, and Continuity Camera brings new videoconferencing features to any Mac, including Desk View, Studio Light, and more.
With helpful new features in Messages, state-of-the-art search technologies in Mail, and an updated design for Spotlight, Ventura has so much to offer and enriches many of the ways customers use their Macs.”
It has come to light that some of these features will not run on Intel Powered Macs running macOS 13 Ventura. The key new features in macOS Ventura include…
System Settings - Apple has redesigned the System Preferences and called it System Setting in macOS 13. There is a new sidebar design in System Settings, already familiar to iPhone and iPad users, designed to make it easier to navigate settings and configure your Mac.
Spotlight - Apple has improved Spotlight in macOS Ventura. Now you will be able to find images in Photos, Messages, Notes, the Finder, and the web right from Spotlight. You can even use Live Text to search for an image based on the text inside it.
Privacy And Security - Apple has continued its aim of making its OS as secure as possible, including locking hidden and recently deleted albums in Photos and offering to deliver important security improvements to your devices even faster, separately from standard software updates.
Safari - Apple’s browser, which they claim is “the world’s fastest browser”, gets a number of improvements.
PassKeys - Apple is now on a mission to replace passwords for good by introducing Passkeys. Passkeys have been designed to replace passwords with an easier and safer sign‑in method that is end-to-end encrypted and safe from phishing and data leaks. This makes passkeys stronger than all common two‑factor authentication types. They also work on non‑Apple devices.
Apple Mail - With macOS Ventura, Apple’s email client, Mail gets a number of new features, including improved search, undo send and scheduled send.
Messages - You can now edit a message you just sent or unsend a recent message altogether. And you can mark a message as unread if you can’t respond there and then and want to come back to it later.
Photos - With macOS 13 you can now share photos and videos seamlessly with up to five other people, so everyone can collaborate on the family’s collection and enjoy more complete memories. With iCloud Shared Photo Library, family memories are in one place for everyone to enjoy at any time, even if you’re not the one who snapped the shot or edited the photo.
Stage Manager - this new tool automatically organizes your apps and windows in a single view on any Mac, so you can stay focused while easily moving between tasks. You can switch between apps and windows seamlessly with a simple click. Or click anywhere on your desktop to quickly get back to a file or folder. and make different groups of apps for specific tasks or projects. And arrange, resize, and overlap them in your ideal layout.
FaceTime - With macOS Ventura, Handoff comes to FaceTime. You will be able to move a FaceTime call from one device to another with just a click. So you’ll always be able to join a call from the right device.
Continuity Camera - Another new feature in macOS 13, with this feature, you will be able to use the camera system in an iPhone with your Mac to do things never before possible with a webcam. Simply bring your iPhone close to your Mac and it automatically switches to the iPhone as the camera input. And it works wirelessly, so there’s nothing to plug in.
Freeform - This is a new productivity app so that you and your collaborators can bring ideas to life. Plan projects, collect inspiration, brainstorm with your team, or draw with a friend. Share files and insert web links, documents, video, and audio. With Freeform, you will be able to collaborate in real time by inviting collaborators, sharing a link, and start working together instantly. As others add their thoughts, you can see changes on the canvas in real time.
Accessibility - With macOS 13, there are a number of new features to help Macs be as accessible as possible.
Live Captions (Apple Silicon Only) - This is a new accessibility tool for all audio content. This includes FaceTime, Type to Speak on calls, Text Checker to support proofreading for VoiceOver users, and more. This will also only be available for users in the US and Canada.
Emoji Dictation (Apple Silicon Only) - This feature lets a person insert emojis into a conversation using dictation. During WWDC 2022 the Apple presenter gave an example on his iPhone, saying "mindblown emoji" and it appeared in the text field.
Reference Mode with Sidecar (Apple Silicon Only) - Sidecar lets Mac owners integrate their iPad into the workflow. The iPad can act as a secondary display or digital input device for the Mac. Reference Mode will allow an iPad Pro to be used as a secondary reference display for an Apple silicon Mac. It's aimed at professionals in photography and videography that perform colour grading and compositing.
This list demonstrates that there are far fewer restrictions in macOS Ventura for Intel users to contend with than there are with macOS Monterey. That said, macOS 13 does drop support for some Intel Macs sold between 2013 and 2016, so you may find that your model simply didn't make the cut for official compatibility.
Which Macs Will Support macOS Ventura?
Apple has announced which Mac computers will support macOS Ventura…
iMac2017 and later - Learn more
Mac Pro 2019 and later - Learn more
iMac Pro 2017 -Learn more
Mac Studio 2022 Learn more
MacBook Air 2018 and later - Learn more
Mac mini 2018 and later - Learn more
MacBook Pro 2017 and later - Learn more
MacBook 2017 - Learn more
Please note that although the list relates to the Macs that will be able to run macOS Ventura, the links in the list above will refer to compatibility relating to macOS Monterey and not macOS Ventura. This will change once macOS Ventura is released.
Compared to the compatibility list for Monterey, Apple has dumped all Macs released before 2017, including the 2013 Mac Pro, which ran through to December 2019 and the 2016 MacBook Pro models that introduced the Touch Bar. In simple terms, if your Mac uses an Apple T2 or Apple Silicon chip, you're safe. If you're using an older Intel Mac, Apple is progressively dropping support for those systems.
As to when Apple will release macOS Ventura, Apple has now announced that it will be released to the public on Monday, October 24th. This will enable Apple’s marketing chief Greg Joswiak and software engineering head Craig Federighi to discuss it on October 25th at the Wall Street Journal's Tech Live event and also promote it during their fiscal fourth-quarter earnings event on October 27th 2022, as well as the other new products announced.