Apple is telling its legions of fans they’re going to be absolutely terrified by just how much (pumpkin) juice is in the company’s new line of desktop devices. New iMacs and MacBooks with newfangled M3 processors should be in store for Apple’s “Scary Fast” event, set to go late into the night just before Halloween.
The upcoming product announcement is a true spooktacular. Apple’s Scary Fast event is taking place the evening Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. ET (woe to the East Coast tech reporters who need to cover it). Apple will stream the event concurrently on its events page and official YouTube channel.
Unlike other product announcements, like last month’s iPhone 15 iPhone and Apple Watch Wonderlust event, there won’t be any in-person component at the company’s Cupertino, California headquarters. Gizmodo will should have plenty of coverage as the event airs and after the fact, so stay tuned.
What Will Apple Announce During Its ‘Scary Fast’ Event?
Apple has effectively confirmed the event will center around desktops. The teaser video for the event is Apple’s logo that morphs into the Finder app icon. As for what kind of Macs we’re talking about, the rumors have so far centered on new iMacs and MacBook Pros. Stocks of both devices have dwindled as of late, so Apple is likely to promote these devices to reboot its Mac brand in the post-covid tech sale doldrums and give it an edge during the holiday season.
All but a few rumors and reports so far have hinted that the iMac and MacBook Pro should be the first devices to sport Apple’s latest M-Series silicon. According to Bloomberg, the M3 chip will come in three flavors, M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. The new chip has shifted to the 3nm architecture found in Apple’s latest A17 Bionic with the iPhone 15.
Analysts expect the new CPU could vastly outperform the last version of Apple’s silicon. We still don’t know if Apple will release three versions of its processor at once, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said he has seen test logs that suggest the power of each new chip. The base M3 will have four high performance and four efficiency cores, as well as 10 graphics cores. That’s similar to the M2 (though Apple will likely tout its new chip is still better off than the last edition), but the Pro will have 12 CPU cores and 18 graphics cores. The Max will shoot even higher, with 16 CPU cores and 40 graphics cores.
Even that’s a vast simplification, and Apple will likely get into the deeper technicalities during its event. Folks who don’t have much interest in CPU jargon would likely tune out from the late-evening event, but Apple could try to instead emphasize its new push for gaming on Macs. Earlier this year, Apple touted its new “Game Mode” that limits computer power on extraneous tasks to boost in-game performance. Apple VP Tim Millet told IGN (via MacRumors) that the company is trying to work with more developers to bring games like the Resident Evil 4 remake and Assassin’s Creed Mirage to Mac after they were shown off being played on the iPhone 15 Pro.
Why Is Apple Releasing Two New MacBook Pros in One Year?
The Cupertino company already launched 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros this year, making any new late-year MacBook reveal rather unusual. The company also released its M2-powered 15-inch MacBook Air earlier this year. Last week, Qualcomm showed off its latest desktop CPU, the Snapdragon X Elite, claiming it can beat Apple at its own game.
The chipmaker claimed it beats Apple’s M2-Max chip in “every category.” While it’s best not to take any of that marketing speech at face value, it does point to competition in the space that could have Apple concerned. Apple’s move to its own silicon-branded CPU architecture put the company leagues ahead of other desktop products, at least in terms of simple processing power. Now that its coming up to three generations of M-series CPUs, Apple may need to bring out all the stops if it wants to maintain its lead.