Apple October event: M2 Macs, AirPods Pro 2 and one unlikely launch

With Apple's "Far Out" iPhone 14 event kicking off on September 7, it won't be long until we'll finally see everything the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro delivers, along with what's new with the Apple Watch Series 8 lineup. But what about the rest of Apple's esteemed products?

That's when Apple's October event comes in. The Cupertino tech giant is known to host a few events towards the end of a year, even managing to slip in three livestream events in 2020. As leaks and rumors have indicated, there's plenty more for the company to announce this year, and October tends to shine the spotlight on new Macs, AirPods, and iPads.

From an updated M2 iPad Pro and redesigned iPad 10 to the highly anticipated AirPods Pro 2, here's everything we expect to be announced at Apple October event — and one unlikely contender. 

M2 Mac Pro and Mac mini

With Apple's fresh M2 chip already hitting the scene this year in the MacBook Air M2 and 13-inch MacBook Pro M2, many have been speculating when the processor will arrive on other Mac products. According to reliable analyst Mark Gurman (via the Power On newsletter), Apple is gearing up to release "M2-based versions of the Mac mini, Mac Pro, and MacBook Pro" over the next few months. 

This means an updated Mac mini model and new Mac Pro is in the cards, and it makes sense seeing as Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, stated that a new Mac Pro was in the works during the Mac Studio announcement. This means the end of Intel chips in Apple products is in sight.

New iPad Pro with M2

We already have an iPad Pro with M1, so it's only fair it would get the M2 upgrade like its MacBook cousins. In his newsletter, Gurman states that a revamped iPad Pro with an M2 processor is set to arrive at the October event, and even indicated its release earlier this year.

Thanks to new features such as Stage Manager coming with (the now-delayed) iPadOS 16, Apple is gearing up the iPad with more desktop-based experiences. With M2, the iPad Pro would set itself further apart from the M1 iPad Air as well, and its power may be better reflected in the iPadOS update. 

As Apple announced (via TechCrunch), "This is an especially big year for iPadOS. As its own platform with features specifically designed for iPad, we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule. This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update."

With iOS 16 due to launch with the iPhone 14 this September, it makes sense that iPadOS 16.1 would arrive closer to when the new iPad Pro will arrive.

We can also expect an 11-inch LCD display model and a 12.9-inch mini-LED display model, but Gurman also suggests Apple's tablets will offer wireless charging and an upgraded camera. Speaking of new iPads...

Redesigned iPad 10

Apple’s 10th-generation iPad is tipped to arrive, and it's expected to bring a few big changes. While Taiwanese news outlet DigiTimes states the iPad 10 will be revealed during the September event, there's reason to believe Apple will keep its tablet announcements confined to one event.

Another leak from user yeux1122 on Korean blog Naver states the low-cost iPad will arrive in October, along with an updated iPad Pro with M2. Of course, only time will tell. 

The new iPad is set to get a new design, although the report doesn’t specify what changes we can expect. However, other leaks and rumors indicate that it will get a bigger 10.5-inch display, thinner bezels to (nearly) match the iPad Air, flat edges, and a USB-C port. 

Bezels are still expected to be slightly thick, as the Touch ID home button is tipped to be sticking around. However, one feature may be ditched: the headphone jack. 

Leaked renders of the iPad 10 from MySmartPrice indicate a lack of a 3.5mm audio jack, giving customers more reason to nab AirPods or other wireless earbuds. The Cupertino tech giant’s low-cost iPad shines as a powerful tablet at an affordable price, but a no headphone jack may annoy quite a few buyers.

As 9to5Mac points out, the new iPad is also expected to be fitted with an A14 Bionic.

Finally, the AirPods Pro 2

After a few years of speculation, the AirPods Pro 2 are finally tipped to arrive this year. Yes, leaks and rumors stated they were set to arrive back in 2021 and even in early 2022, but all signs are pointing to a 2022 launch. With the September event around the corner, will the anticipated earbuds be shown off then? Well, Apple's October event seems more likely. 

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims the second-generation AirPods Pro will be released in the fourth quarter of 2022, meaning we may see a similar release date to Apple's AirPods 3 in October. What's more, the first AirPods Pro were also announced in October back in 2019, meaning it's unlikely Apple will break this trend.

Of course, nothing is set in stone. The AirPods lineup have had various launch dates, with the original AirPods being revealed in September 2016, and the AirPods 2 being announced in March 2019. Still, with Kuo stating they will appear during the fourth quarter of 2022, October is likely a better fit. 

M2 Pro and M2 Max coming to MacBook Pro?

Now for an announcement not to expect. With Apple's M1 chip getting M1 Pro and M1 Max upgrades in the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro, it's inevitable there will be M2 Pro and M2 Max upgrades. However, these updates may not arrive in October, and Kuo backs this point. 

As reported, Apple’s M2-powered 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros could launch as soon as early next year. Apple has always been pretty consistent with its launch timetables, so our money would be on seeing the updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros in Spring 2023.

This contradicts rumors that the top-end MacBook Pro models may already be in the works, with a view to launch these at the end of 2022 “at the earliest.” But if we look at the release schedule of the M1 machines, it was always clear that this window was a little optimistic. 

The first M1 models in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air launched at the end of 2020, with the M1 Pro and M1 Max dropping almost a year later. With the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro only just recently dropping, the wait could be a little longer than the end of this year.

As Gurman reports, the next pro-tier M2 chips are set to sport up to 12 CPU cores and 38 graphics cores — an impressive increase from the 10 CPU cores and 32 graphics cores in the current MacBook Pros.

As for RAM, the chips seem to be supporting up to 64GB of memory, and with no rumors or leaks around the onboard storage, it’s fair to assume that they will remain the same (from 512GB to 8TB SSDs). 

Outlook

Apple clearly has quite a few devices up its sleeve, and its October event is expected to show quite a few of them off. While next-gen MacBook Pro models may be giving the event a skip, we still have new iPads, M2-powered Mac mini and Mac Pro, and possibly the AirPods Pro 2 in the mix.

Many leaks and rumors aren't aligned, so we won't know for sure if all these devices will be announced during the Cupertino tech giant's October event. At least we don't have to wait much longer for Apple's September event, where all eyes will be on the iPhone 14.