Although Apple itself hasn’t gone ahead and officially touted its upcoming event, one of its top execs – marketing VP Greg Joswiak – took to X with a not-so-subtle “Mac you calendars” declaration earlier today, with the post adding, “We have an exciting week of announcements ahead, starting on Monday morning.”
The expectation is that the company will launch its new Mac lineup including the iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac mini, packed with its latest M4 chips next week.
The M4 chip was first announced in May as part of the latest iPad Pro and includes enhanced capabilities to process AI tasks, as well as overall speed increases to the CPU.
The company’s AI platform — Apple Intelligence — is also expected to be rolled out publicly for the first time next week – however, Australia will have to wait until December for those features to arrive on its Apple devices.
The software will launch as part of updates to iOS, iPadOS and macOS. The M4 chips, like the new A18 chips in the iPhone 16, have been designed keeping in mind the requirements of the new Apple Intelligence software.
The base version of the M4 chip will come to the iMac, a low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro and the entry-level Mac mini, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. A Pro variant will also be included in the new mini model.
While the new iMac and MacBook Pro models will resemble the exterior design of the existing versions, the Mac mini will get its first major external redesign in more than a decade. It will be smaller and closer in size to the Apple TV set-top box. Some reports have indicated that some versions of it will have five USB-C ports for connecting accessories.
As part of its week-long announcements, Apple is also expected to refresh its Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad accessories. The new models will trade out the Lightning port and use USB-C for charging.
Not slated for a release next week, though still in the works, is believed to be an upgraded range of MacBook Airs with the M4 chips.
The company is believed to soon commence manufacturing new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs codenamed J713 and J715, with the M4 chips, before releasing them early next year.
