Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has tweeted that there will be two special events before year’s end. The first will be tomorrow’s “California Streaming” event. He says a second one will be in “several weeks” and will see Apple debut new Mac laptops and new iPads.
New MacBook Pros
Apple leaker Dylan tweets that both MacBook Pros that coming this fall will have the same chip and the same performance. In other words, both will pack the Apple-made M1X processor.
Apple suppliers have begun mass production of the upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, according to DigiTimes. Apple wants to have 600,000-800,000 shipping monthly by November, the report adds.
The upcoming laptops are expected to have a major redesign, run on Apple Silicon (M1 chips), and sport mini-LED displays. The mini-LED displays will likely use 10,000 mini-LEDs and will be comparable to OLED screens.
They’ll result in good wide color gamut performance, high contrast and HDR, and local dimming. Also, look for the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros to ditch the controversial Touch Bar.
iPad mini 6
The iPad mini 6 is expected to feature an 8.3-inch display, an increase from the current 7.9-inch screen. This will be facilitated by narrower bezels and the removal of the Home button.
This is one of many recent rumors about the expected update of the smallest Apple tablet. Another says it will sport a mini-LED display. However, the Sellers Research Group (that’s me) is skeptical of this.
iPad
Apple will update its basic iPad (the non-Pro, non-Air, non-Mini version) this fall with a ninth gen model targeted toward students, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. It will sport a thinner design and updated processor.
In September of last year, Apple updated the baseline iPad with the faster and more powerful A12 Bionic chip starting at $329, or $299 for education customers. The baseline update sits at the lower end of the iPad lineup and is tailored for customers needing an affordable iPad for day-to-day use.
