Apple October 30, 2018 event

[Eug]

The invites have gone out: New York City event on All Hallows' Eve Eve.

The iMacs and MacBooks are overdue, so there's a good chance they'll be updated then. Maybe even the Mac mini? What about the Mac Pro? And the iPad Pros of course among other things.

 

[sweenish]

I believe the general consensus on the Mac Pro is 2019.

Mac mini could be the surprise star of the show if it shows up. I wonder if the MBA will die, or get refreshed to remain a viable lower cost point of entry. As it stands, I don't think it's a good purchase right now, and that will be exacerbated if it isn't refreshed here.

iPads are a gimme. I haven't been following rumors closely, I wonder if the all-screen Pro will turn out to be real.

 

[Eug]

iMac go 6-core (finally), but MacBooks stay 2-core (with Amber Lake). I've also been predicting the demise of the MacBook Air, but with the introduction of a new 13" MacBook non-Pro with Retina.

 

[KeithP]

Hopefully there will be a new Mac Mini although I don't hold out much hope that it will something that I will like.

I have always thought the Mac Mini and the iMac line should be redesigned in such a way that the internals would be identical between them with the only difference being the cases they come in (one with a monitor, one without). It would make updating easier and simplify their production while finally giving those that don't want a built-in display a more powerful machine But that ain't ever going to happen.

-Keith

 

[IronWing]

My wife wants an iPad so I've been plowing through the iPad Pro rumors. Turns out to be a pretty useless exercise. Apple is good at keeping things wrapped up when they want to.

 

[Eug]

My wife wants an iPad so I've been plowing through the iPad Pro rumors. Turns out to be a pretty useless exercise. Apple is good at keeping things wrapped up when they want to.

Does she want an iPad Pro? Does she need an iPad Pro?

If not, and she'd be fine with the iPad, then don't waste your money on an iPad Pro. Personally I have zero interest in the iPad Pro. I'd rather get the much, much cheaper iPad, but YMMV.

 

[boomhower]

Does she want an iPad Pro? Does she need an iPad Pro?

If not, and she'd be fine with the iPad, then don't waste your money on an iPad Pro. Personally I have zero interest in the iPad Pro. I'd rather get the much, much cheaper iPad, but YMMV.

Very similar conversation me and my wife have been having. We both have Air 2's. She wants a new one. I asked why do you need a new one, what do you need to do that your current one doesnt? Still waiting for an answer. Hell I dont even have a desire for a new one. Only need so much power for youtube, facebook and mobile games. For those that do video/photo editing or other pro apps I can see it. But 98% of Pro buyers should buy the regular iPad. (not counting those that buy the 12.9 for the reason they want the big display)

 

[docp]

iPads are coming out with both landscape and portraight mode of Face ID and it would be ditching lightning for usb c. Apparently they want to do 4K HDR output.

 

[docp]

And it would be running a12x with 4gb ram. I won’t be surprised with 6gb also.

 

[pcslookout]

Does she want an iPad Pro? Does she need an iPad Pro?

If not, and she'd be fine with the iPad, then don't waste your money on an iPad Pro. Personally I have zero interest in the iPad Pro. I'd rather get the much, much cheaper iPad, but YMMV.

The only reason I went with a iPad Pro is because of the 512 GB of storage.

No wireless provider can stream 1080p or 4k video smoothly. At least not with reliability.

 

[Chaotic42]

I wouldn't mind a Mac Mini. I've been wanting a Mac to play with seriously (I have a G3 Powerbook), and used Macs are expensive. We'll see how it goes, I'm not willing to spend a fortune on it.

 

[TheStu]

Very similar conversation me and my wife have been having. We both have Air 2's. She wants a new one. I asked why do you need a new one, what do you need to do that your current one doesnt? Still waiting for an answer. Hell I dont even have a desire for a new one. Only need so much power for youtube, facebook and mobile games. For those that do video/photo editing or other pro apps I can see it. But 98% of Pro buyers should buy the regular iPad. (not counting those that buy the 12.9 for the reason they want the big display)

I still use my Air 2 every day for videos, browsing, a little gaming, and reading. I don't really have any compulsion to replace it with a newer one. I did jump from the 1st gen 12.9 to the 2nd gen, but I regret it a little. I got my gen 1 Pro for an absolute steal, so had to take a loss to get the newer one, and it's not SO much faster that it offsets my loss.

 

[Eug]

I wouldn't mind a Mac Mini. I've been wanting a Mac to play with seriously (I have a G3 Powerbook), and used Macs are expensive. We'll see how it goes, I'm not willing to spend a fortune on it.

Just to play with a Mac for cheap, you can buy a 2009 MacBook6,1 or 2010 MacBook7,1.

https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/?search_keywords=MacBook6,1

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...-13-polycarbonate-unibody-mid-2010-specs.html

 

[jpiniero]

I have always thought the Mac Mini and the iMac line should be redesigned in such a way that the internals would be identical between them with the only difference being the cases they come in (one with a monitor, one without). It would make updating easier and simplify their production while finally giving those that don't want a built-in display a more powerful machine But that ain't ever going to happen.

This is Apple we're talking about, I'm thinking it will reuse the "Low Cost Macbook" logic board. It's not like Whiskey Lake U is a slouch but I'm sure people will complain.

Pretty sure 99% of the keynote is going to be about the iPad Pro and the Pencil, hence the logos.

 

[rchunter]

My iPad Air 2 battery crapped out on me so I will get that replaced and I should be good for another couple years hopefully.

I mainly just use it for reading kindle and my audio control apps.

 

[jpiniero]

Ha, the new Air is a renamed Macbook.

 

[TheStu]

Ha, the new Air is a renamed Macbook.

Looks more like they took the MacBook Escape (the 13" Pro with 2 TB ports and no Touchbar) and formed it into a wedge. We'll know for sure after the event and the store comes back up. We'll see which product doesn't exist anymore.

 

[Oyeve]

So the ipad went usb-c with no fanfare. IMO thats huge!

 

[Kaido]

New Mac Mini!!

https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/30/mac-mini-2018-announced/

 

[Kaido]

$2,356.00 for 1TB 12.9" iPad Pro 3rd-gen with AppleCare, Pencil, and Keyboard

$4,199 for a Mac Mini with a 3.2ghz 6-core i7, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, and 10GbE Ethernet

Does anyone have $6,500 lying around that I can borrow?

 

[TheStu]

So the ipad went usb-c with no fanfare. IMO thats huge!

I'm not crazy about the fact that the price floor on the 12.9" jumped $200. I won't be getting one anytime soon, but it's still irritating.

Also, the Pencil2 is $129 (Pencil1 is $99), and the Smart Keyboard (which IS improved over the old one) is $20 more than the old one.

 

[Kaido]

I'm not crazy about the fact that the price floor on the 12.9" jumped $200. I won't be getting one anytime soon, but it's still irritating.

I've been wanting to get a large 12.9" iPad to replace physical creative media (kids + paint + markers = MEGA MESS to clean up every day, lol).

The checkout page is telling me $1,257 for the base 12.9" iPad with AppleCare (I wouldn't get AppleCare for like a $300 iPad, but now that it costs a grand? dang man) & the Pencil 2.0...holy crap! I didn't even pay that much for my VR gaming computer!

 

[StinkyPinky]

Hearing rumours that the memory on the new mini is upgradeable! Possibly even the nvme ssd also.

 

[TheStu]

I've been wanting to get a large 12.9" iPad to replace physical creative media (kids + paint + markers = MEGA MESS to clean up every day, lol).

The checkout page is telling me $1,257 for the base 12.9" iPad with AppleCare (I wouldn't get AppleCare for like a $300 iPad, but now that it costs a grand? dang man) & the Pencil 2.0...holy crap! I didn't even pay that much for my VR gaming computer!

Just get a used one, that's what I've done. And for that intended purpose, the first gen iPad Pro would be more than sufficient.

Hearing rumours that the memory on the new mini is upgradeable! Possibly even the nvme ssd also.

Apple calls out that the mac mini is using DDR4 SODIMMs specifically, and the images from the keynote and on their site sure look like removable RAM. As for the SSD... if it's removable it's probably not a standard form factor. The iMac Pro is also using removable (but not user-accessible) RAM and SSDs.

 

[Kaido]

Just get a used one, that's what I've done. And for that intended purpose, the first gen iPad Pro would be more than sufficient.


Apple calls out that the mac mini is using DDR4 SODIMMs specifically, and the images from the keynote and on their site sure look like removable RAM. As for the SSD... if it's removable it's probably not a standard form factor. The iMac Pro is also using removable (but not user-accessible) RAM and SSDs.

Yeah, I'm curious if the Mini has an NVMe drive, like some of the more modern NUC's do. The Skull Canyon has twin NVME's:

https://nucblog.net/2017/01/samsung-960-series-ssds/

As far as the Pro goes, I'd be using it as well (for artistic purposes) - the screen sounds awfully nice on the new one (Liquid Retina display with a 2732x2048 resolution, 264 PPI, ProMotion, TrueTone, 600 nits of brightness, P3 color, etc.). I'm still using my old Intuos from years ago at the moment...the portability would be nice (but not like, $1200 nice, at least for me lol). I think you're right...going to keep my eye out for a first-gen deal. Maybe Black Friday?