By <https://9to5mac.com/author/benlovejoy/> Ben Lovejoy.
Apple has so far only said that the first <https://9to5mac.com/guides/arm/>
Apple Silicon Macs will be launched by the end of the year, but a new report
today says that they will be announced by November.
The report also indicates Apple's plans to differentiate the new iPad Air
expected to be announced tomorrow from the much more expensive iPad Pro .
<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-14/apple-s-first-major-prod
uct-launch-event-of-2020-what-to-watch> Bloomberg carries the report, which
is mostly a roundup of what we're expecting from tomorrow's event. It
doubles down on no <https://9to5mac.com/guides/iphone-12/> iPhone 12 launch
at the event.
Apple's event will also be notable for what won't be unveiled: new iPhones.
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted final testing of new 5G models earlier this
year and delayed the company's ability to kick off mass production. Apple
now plans to announce its four new iPhones in October, marking the latest
iPhone announcement since 2011. Some of the phones could even ship later
than the iPhone X, which went on sale Nov. 3, 2017.
What we're expecting instead are:
* Apple Watch Series 6, with blood oxygen monitor
* New low-end Apple Watch model
* New iPad Air, with same thin bezels as the iPad Pro
* Likely announcement of Apple One service bundles
There's been no word yet on the launch of AirTags, smaller HomePod, or
over-ear headphones, suggesting that these may wait until the iPhone event
next month, but it's not impossible that one or more may be included in
tomorrow's announcements.
First Apple Silicon Macs announcement in November
The main piece of new information in the report is a single sentence on the
new <https://9to5mac.com/guides/arm/> ARM-powered
<https://9to5mac.com/guides/mac/> Macs.
By November, the company is planning to announce new Mac computers with its
own chips.
It should be noted that this says 'announce' rather than 'launch,' leaving
open the possibility that they will be announced then but only go on sale in
December.
The most recent <https://9to5mac.com/guides/apple-silicon/> Apple Silicon
Mac news was that chip production for the new devices was
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/09/09/apple-silicon-macs-2/> on schedule for a Q4
launch. An earlier report suggested that one of the first ARM-powered Macs
will be a revamped version of
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/08/31/12-inch-macbook-returning/> the 12-inch
MacBook with a target battery life of 15-20 hours. This could put it into
head-to-head competition with the iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/09/02/comment-apple-silicon-12-inch-macbook-take-m
y-money/> for some of us.
iPad differentiation
With Apple expected to unveil a new iPad Air with the same form factor as
the iPad Pro, one big question was how Apple would differentiate the new
device from its far more expensive brother. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman sheds a
little light on this.
For Tuesday, Apple is also readying its first update to the iPad Air since
re-launching the line in March 2019. The new model will look similar to the
iPad Pro by replacing the home button with an all-screen look. It will use a
slower processor and lack some features such as the iPad Pro's ProMotion
screen.
A new mid-tier iPad could continue to juice Apple sales as consumers look
for devices to help them work and learn from home. The current iPad Air
costs $499, far less than the $799 price of the iPad Pro. A tablet that
looks similar to the iPad Pro but at a much lower price could make the new
iPad Air a hot holiday season seller.
Many more well-heeled iPad buyers are likely buying the Pro over the
entry-level iPad more for its design than its innards, so personally I'd
still expect the new Air to become the new default iPad - especially if it
is compatible with the Magic keyboard. But the ProMotion screen would enable
Apple to push some professional users to the more expensive model, and of
course, those who want the largest screen will have the iPad Pro as their
only option.
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