These surprises could be in store for Apple’s October Mac announcements

According to reports, Apple will release new Macs at an event sometime this month. The rumors about these new Macs have been consistent: Apple will likely release M4 MacBook Pros, an M4 iMac, and a redesigned M4 Mac mini. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is the main source reporting about the upcoming event, and he has a reliable track record–it’s so good that he has historically been spot-on with what is eventually released, down to the specifications of the products.

Which can set up Apple followers for a bit of a letdown once the event comes and goes–we already know what will be revealed. But there’s always a chance that the rumors miss out on something and that always ends up being the surprise and delight of the event. What surprises could happen at the upcoming Mac event? Here are a few ideas. (Or, considering the context of what I just wrote, here are some “spoilers.”)

A bigger iMac

Several reports indicate that a 32-inch iMac is in the works, but Gurman reported in August that it is “unclear if that will be an M4 product or something that comes the following year or later.” Mac hardware rumors catch on because of reports about parts that can be tracked in the supply chain, so in the case of a big iMac, you’d think we’d heard a lot about Apple buying a ton of 32-inch panels. But we haven’t heard much.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, though. A 32-inch iMac with an M4 or M4 Pro (following the model of the Mac mini) would complement the 24-inch iMac Apple currently offers and inject some excitement into the lineup again. 

A new Apple display

Since Apple is going to release a new Mac mini, this is a good opportunity to release a new display, too. The Studio Display is over two years old, which isn’t outdated in terms of how Apple handles its display lineup; Apple has historically kept displays in the lineup for two or three years before replacing them with something new. But Apple could update the Studio Display and promote it as an ideal display for the new Mac mini.

The Pro Display XDR, however, is almost five years old and for a display that costs $5,999, you’re paying a severely high price for outdated tech. An upgrade with ProMotion and proper HDR is a no-brainer, but this doesn’t seem like the event to release a new pro display, though. It’s a better fit for a new Mac Studio, which is expected to be released at WWDC next year.

Lightning strikes on the Magic Mouse, Trackpad, Keyboard

Much was made when Apple transitioned the AirPods, iPhone, and iPad from Lightning to USB-C. Apple has switched those products successfully, but Apple still uses Lightning in the Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard. Gurman reported before last year’s “Scary Fast” event that these devices would be outfitted with USB-C, but that didn’t happen.

Foundry

Foundry

Foundry

But the surprise here isn’t that Apple replaces the Lightning port on these devices with USB-C, but that Apple doesn’t update these accessories, and Lightning sticks around for a while longer. After all, the switch to USB-C seems inevitable, so Apple deciding to keep using Lighting would be out of line with the current trend and an unexpected move.

MacBook Pro with a display update

Apple is using displays based on OLED technology in its iPad Pro and iPhones, and it’s been rumored that it will replace the mini LED display in the MacBook Pro. The iPad Pro 4 uses a Tandem OLED (which it refers to as “Ultra Retina XDR”) and it looks great.

Some reports say that the MacBook Pro switch to OLED isn’t scheduled to happen for a while, but Apple has been known to surprise us before with new tech we weren’t expecting.

Event? What event?

What would be a huge surprise is if Apple didn’t hold an M4 Mac event and simply posted press releases in its Newsroom to announce the releases. It’s not totally out of the realm of possibility, since the M4 upgrade isn’t especially remarkable over the M3, and a demo of the Mac mini’s new design won’t take much time.

However, in case you haven’t heard, AI is all the rage in the tech world and Apple puts considerable effort into promoting its Apple Intelligence feature set. It’s not as though the M4 does anything special with Apple Intelligence, which runs on any M-series Mac (as well as Intel Macs with a T2 chip). But Apple will use this event to promote Apple Intelligence, and it will be a big part of the show.