Update October 28 : The first of Apple ’s three announcements is theM4 iMacand the arrival ofApple Intelligence .
There ’s a danger , if you do something for long enough , that you forget why you set about doing it in the first place . And fail to actualise that you ’ve reverse a once - useful activity into a lading - cult ritual .
Take the Apple peculiar result . These used to be some of the most thrilling experiences in the tech industry . Start with a groundbreaking product launch ( iMac , iPhone , MacBook Air ) , sprinkle in some Steve Jobs razzle - bedazzle , and fill the auditorium with a crowd so whoop - prostrate they should be tested for pertussis , and the result is , well , magical .
Why would you hold an event to announce your product , when events cost money and put everyone involved to capital inconvenience ? Why not just ship the gadget straight out to stores , and spend the money on advertizing ? Because the person - to - person experience has no equal for sharing a sense of exuberance . Because escort is believe . And because a one - off result makes people contrive their hebdomad around finding out what you ’ve got to declare , mention just make them reach for the remote .
Apple still holds printing press events — it held one last month — but they ’re altogether different these days . Nobody can do what Steve Jobs once did , but his role is filled by a rotate dramatis personae who do their good to come close : Tim Cook as compere ; Jonny I ve ( until he depart ) as the secret gospeller ; Craig Federighi as the appealing gag man . Some can equal the founder ’s burnish , but none can match his stagecraft , his power to establish anticipation and make an event unmissable .
On top of this , Apple has mostly gift up on the idea of the live event . This policy began as a hardheaded reception to COVID-19 but has continue well beyond the stage when it was medically useful because the company recognized the junior-grade benefits . Pre - record events carry no risk of product malfunction ( such as Federighi’sunfortunate experiencewhen bring out Face ID in 2017 ) , call for less logistical organization , and enable presenters to rattle through a greater mass of material in less time . But they also remove the integral purpose of closet events , which is to make the consultation feel part of history , that they were there when somethinghappened . There ’s a reason why Rolling Stones ticket be $ 150 and Rolling Stones DVDs be $ 10 .
With all this in mind , I ca n’t guess to be specially sad to distinguish that the rumored October effect will instead be a weeklong series of announcements , presumably by means of a press release or three . A lot of Apple ’s meetings could have been an email ; this one actually will be . And little , I suspect , will be lose .
I will admit that going for press releases alternatively of an upshot is n’t a terribly bright preindication , in the sense that Apple would probably concur an event if it thought the announcement were go to be momentous enough to justify one . And for that reason we should n’t expect anything this week , despite Greg Joswiak’soptimistic Logos choice , to rival the original iMac or MacBook Air for excitement . But were we expecting that anyway ? And has the troupe allowed dullness to stop it from hold events in the past times ? September ’s result was pretty dumb in the opulent strategy of thing , and my distrust is that habit rather than a sense of urgency make Apple to transport out the invite on that social function .
In actual fact , here at Macworld , we ’re expecting promulgation this calendar week that may not live up to that “ exciting ” tag , but should be crucial and worthwhile . Apple has a lot of Macs to reveal : the M4 versions of theiMac , theMacBook Pro , and theMac mini , the latter of which is probable to feature an actual physical redesign , something Mac fans have n’t seen in a while . The Mac mini is a central mathematical product in Apple ’s ecosystem , much like the iPhone SE and tenth - gen iPad , but because it is n’t a “ pro ” equipment it will plausibly never get the level time it merits .
This week ( today , in fact ) will also cross out the public launch ofApple Intelligence , which will arrive with the iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 updates . Whether that will be officially draw in with Exciting Week remains to be see , but the joy of a calendar week , as counterbalance to an event , is that you do n’t have to throttle the identification number of things you talk about , or even come up with a logical paper . Who knows , we might even get a press release about themuch - needed11th - gen iPad … although I rather doubt it .
Ultimately , though , the principal reason why this is good than an event is it ’s easier for journalists to cover it . We do n’t have to sit through a two - hour presentment taking notes like a maniac and then write them up for six hours while mainline pizza and vanilla extract rooibos . We can cover the announcements at a leisurely pace , as they come in , and give each one the time and attention it deserves .
And if there ’s anything more exciting than serene working consideration , I ’d wish to hear about it . Happy Exciting Week , everyone .
metalworks
Welcome to our hebdomadary Apple Breakfast newspaper column , which includes all the Apple intelligence you missed last calendar week in a handy morsel - sized roundup . We call it Apple Breakfast because we imagine it goes great with a Monday sunup cup of coffee or tea , but it ’s cool if you want to give it a read during tiffin or dinner hours too .
Appleconfirms‘anexciting week ’ of Mac word , begin today !
WithiOS 18 , loving your iPhoneis a substantial chore .
Why the‘iPhone SE Plus’makesmore sense than you recollect .
Apple Intelligenceis coming tofix the iPhone notice mess — finally .
Revealed : How Applecreates your word .
Aday in the lifeof CEO Tim Cook : The hunt forDiet Mountain Dew .
Apple is push Jason Cross toturn to Googlebecause Siri wo n’t dothis one simple thing .
Revealed : Thetrue costof the iPhone 16 .
The raw iPad miniskirt is onlyboringbecause thenext model will be awing .
Podcast of the week
Apple is all limit to releaseiOS 18.1 , and with it come Apple Intelligence , Apple ’s much - hype set of AI features . In the previous episode of the Macworld Podcast , we talk about what we can wait from iOS 18.1 and how it will affect how you use your iPhone . We may also seenew M4 Macs .
you’re able to catch every instalment of the Macworld Podcast onSpotify , Soundcloud , thePodcasts app , orour own site .
Reviews corner
The rumor mill
Fear not , M4 Macsare stillcoming ‘ very presently ’ .
Apple is work on a newApp Store just for games , reputation claims .
Early 2025 Apple bonanzaincludesM4 MacBook Air , iPhone SE , iPad Air , 11th - gen iPad .
More RAM , more porthole , andsweet Space Black ? The unexampled M4 MacBook Pro mightfinally get everything veracious .
Software updates, bugs, and problems
Apple willfinally fixthe iPhone 16freeze / restart bugwith this week ’s update .
iOS 18.2 betais available with loads ofnew Apple Intelligence feature .
Appleupdates firmwareon old AirPods models version6F21 .
