Contrary to widespread expectations that Apple will host a second event later in the fall after the September iPhone/Apple Watch announcements, Mark Gurman said the company will instead reveal its remaining new products for 2022 in a press release.
In the latest edition of the Bloomberg Power On newsletter, a respected insider discusses upcoming products. He predicts the imminent announcement of new (M2 and M2 Pro) versions of Mac mini, new (M2 Pro and M2 Max) versions of 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and new (M2) versions of 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros.
In numbers, that’s enough for the event: earlier in September, Apple was pleased that updated versions of three product lines proved to be enough material for the biggest event of the year. But Gurman worries that the new Macs and iPads are simply not big enough to justify a full-blown press meeting.
“None of these new products are major departures from Apple,” he explains. “They will get some improved specs and a chip that was already announced at the June official event at WWDC 2022. It got me wondering: Does Apple really have enough here to make it worth another highly polished launch event?”
He believes that instead of an event, Apple “will likely release the remaining 2022 products in the form of press releases.” That means an email (and in some cases a meeting) with relevant tech journalists, an article on the company’s Newsroom PR website, and updates on Apple’s main site. But not a single event, either virtual or face-to-face. Simply issuing press releases to mark a product update would have been normal behavior for Apple just a few years ago.
There are precedents for a single autumn event. While Apple has held onto a couple of them in six of its last ten crashes – and three in 2020 – it was the only September event in 2015, 2017 and 2019. It wouldn’t be particularly unusual.
However, if Gurman is right – and, tellingly, he’s hedging his bets by saying that “Apple may eventually change its mind” – it’s going to be a big disappointment. Many experts argue that October’s event rumors will not only be helpful, but better than September’s, with the announcement of the first post-Intel Mac Pro special event; there were also rumors of a redesigned Mac mini. But Gourmet now expects the new Mac Pro to be unrevealed (along with the highly anticipated Apple AR/VR headset) and the Mac mini to have straight-forward specs.
Apple finished with events for the year? We hope not. But it’s a moot point right now, and we won’t know the truth until next month.