(UPDATED) Apple October "Hi, Speed" Event - What/What Not to Expect

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

Apple October "Hi, Speed" Event

EDIT:UPDATED OCTOBER 9TH, 2020

There's some breaking news. Apparently, some items have been canned from the event. Both Twitter leaker Jon Prosser (74.5% accurate) and Kang (97.8% accurate) are BOTH saying that NO AirPods Studio OR AirTags are coming at this event. Had just JP said it then I would've just said to not expect it, but maybe his leaker was caught. But now that Kang has also said it (one of the most accurate leakers and probably is part of the team that watches the events beforehand after post-production), I've decided to update my post. God Damn, COVID-19 really did a number on their supply chain if they're pushing back products that are ready to ship. Like for example to tell you how bad it is, the iMac that was released in August 2020 was apparently ready back in April...

 

If I edited something in, I gave the leaker their credit (If you see (Kang) or (JP) that's their leak, but if you see (Kang and JP), that's when both corroborate each other.)

 

Apple announced their October Event today and I don't have a life, so I just wanted to round up all the leaks for items you can expect at the event on Tuesday.

 

What to Expect

Note: These are all still LEAKS AND RUMORS, and no spec/product I list here is *guaranteed* to come out on Tuesday. However, these are things very likely to come out. Don't get mad at me for getting ~$50 on a price wrong because the leak said so.

Spoiler

iPhone 12 Series (4 New iPhones)

• iPhone 12 mini
  • 5.4" OLED Display
  • Dual camera array
  • 64GB Storage (128GB and 256GB Options)
  • 4GB of RAM
  • 5G Sub-6GHz
  • Starts at $699 (Kang, JP reports the 64GB option will start at $649)
  • Available next month (Kang and JP)

• iPhone 12
  • 6.1" OLED Display
  • Dual camera array
  • 64GB Storage (128GB and 256GB Options)
  • 4GB of RAM
  • 5G Sub-6GHz
  • Starts at $799
  • Available this month (Kang and JP)

• iPhone 12 Pro
  • 6.1" OLED Display
  • Triple camera array w/ LiDAR
  • 128GB Storage (256GB and 512GB Options)
  • 4GB of RAM
  • 5G Sub-6GHz and mmWave
  • Navy/Dark Blue color to replace Midnight Green
  • Starts at $999
  • Available this month (Kang and JP)

• iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • 6.7" OLED Display
  • Triple camera array w/ LiDAR
    • Bigger Sensor than the 12 Pro, may take better pictures (Kang)
  • 128GB Storage (256B and 512GB Options)
  • 4GB of RAM
  • 5G Sub-6GHz and mmWave
  • Navy/Dark Blue color to replace Midnight Green
  • Starts at $1099
  • Available next month (Kang and JP)

All iPhone 12 Series will have

• A boxy design reminiscent of the iPhone 4
  • The Pro models will have stainless steel while the Non-Pro models will use Aluminum
• A14 Bionic Processor
  • Same as the iPad Air (4th Generation)
• Apple U1 Chip
  • Ultra Wide-Band chip, useful with AirTags (see below)
• Smaller Bezels
  • The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 will have similar bezels to the iPhone 11 Pro (smaller than the iPhone 11), and the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max will have smaller bezels than the iPhone 11 Pro.
• Braided USB-C to Lightning Cable
  • The Pro models may come with a black one
• No Included Power Adapter/EarPods
• Super Retina XDR-Class Display (Kang)
• No reduction in notch size
  • The iPhone 12 mini's notch is reported to be smaller, but only to be proportional to the rest of the iPhone 12 series in software. So yes, it will physically have a smaller notch, but in reality its the same size when you're using the phone.
  • I think Apple wants to "shock" the world when they figure out how to get all of these sensors under the screen. What better way to do it than to have an outdated notch disappear?

HomePod mini

• Smaller version of the HomePod home speaker
• Price ~$99

MagSafe (Kang)

• Replacement to the "long lived" AirPower* Charging Mat, but not their AirPower vision at all.
• Uses iPhone 12 Magnets to line up with the charger, think of the Apple Watch
• Comes in "MagSafe" and "MagSafe Duo" options
• Price of ~$150-$200 (That's speculation, Kang didn't give a price)

*If you don't know the lore around AirPower, it was a charging device that was packed with coils. Allegedly, AirPower was ready to ship early last year but was canceled last minute due to fears of it combusting. Yes, you heard me right. Apparently, since they had to pack so many of both Qi and the proprietary Apple Watch coils in the mat, the coils would get too hot and explode. Apparently, if you placed two iPhones on the mat it would be fine, an Apple Watch on the mat and it would be fine, but an apple watch and an iPhone would cause it to heat up and explode. 

 

What Not to expect

Spoiler

Apple Silicon Macs

• Apple Silicon Macs are expected to get their own event in November
• Will start with a MacBook Pro 13"

iPad Pro

• People are also speculating that a refresh to the iPad Pro will come in November alongside new Macs with Apple Silicon
• iPad Pro will have a Mini-LED display
• Will come with an A14X Processor (which is rumored to have benchmark scores which are on-par with the Core i9-9980H)

 

AirTags (Tile-like tracking device)

• Pushed back to March 2021 (Kang and JP)
• Slightly larger than a bottle cap
• Apple U1 Ultra-Wide Band Chip
• Will use AR to help locate a lost AirTag
• Reportedly was ready for earlier this year, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Price ~$25-$35 for 1 AirTag (maybe bundle pricing)

AirPods Studio (Apple's take on Over-Ear headphones)

• These were supposed to come at the October 2020 event, but got shifted back for some reason. (Kang and JP)
• No dedicated L or R sides. Will be able to detect whether it's on your left or right ear and will play the right channel correspondingly.
• Will be able to detect if the headphones are placed on your neck and pause music, and vice versa.
• Retro design
• Charges Via USB-C, but will not have a headphone jack. All connectivity will be wireless, hence the name Airpods.
• Apple U1 Ultra-Wide Band Chip
• Price $599 for the Leather "edition" version and $349 for the cheaper "sport" version

Fun Fact: This leak got 6 people fired. Remember kids, be careful with your leaks and make sure not to leave any traces behind!

My Thoughts

NOTE: These were my opinions as of October 6th. Most of these products have changed in some way over the past few days.

Spoiler

First of all, I'm tired of searching up all of these leaks, never again will I do this (or maybe I will I don't know). Most importantly though, legitimacy. All pictures I used on this post were pictures of the most accurate designs of these products based off of previous leaks and details. If someone wants/needs me to, I can link to the picture's source and why I think it's legitimate. That's why I included no picture for the HomePod mini, there just hasn't been that many leaks on it except for it being "smaller" which, no duh, why else do you think its called mini? No specific design leaks or credible renders short of design artist envisioning the future of the HomePod, which look great, but aren't realisitc.

 

The only product on this list that has actually been leaked in full are AirPods Studio, but I don't want to regurgitate those photos on this site since they are the ones that got those employees fired. In respect to them, the "analyst" that got screwed over by someone else burning his leads, and Apple, I used the mockups that are based on the images, but aren't actually the images.

 

And lastly, all of the information presented above can be found in the sources I linked below. If that's not enough for some reason I can link to more articles that back up the claims made in this post.

 

Ok. I think thats enough disclaimering. Let's go down the list

 

iPhone

Finally, Someone is catering to the people who want smaller phones! If you want a smaller phone, you pretty much have the iPhone 12 mini. Even the Xperia phones have gotten pretty big in comparison. The $649 price point is going to make this phone fly off the shelves. The Pro and Pro Max models look fine, they're pretty much the same as last year but with a new shell.  LIDAR will be a huge welcome to the iPhone, especially since Apple Glasses will use the sensor too. AR isn't big right now but as soon as a company can find a way to put the technology into a small glasses frame and market it well, it will be a big hit, and it looks like Apple is on track to do that first. ProMotion/120hz is likely not coming to the Pro series, which is a shame, but at the end of the day the engineers tried to put it in and there were most likely issues with maybe color shift since the display was constantly changing refresh rate. Since Samsung isn't supplying their LTPO panels to 3rd party vendors until next year, we may have to wait one more year until ProMotion will make it on to the iPhone. Like I said up top though, the iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max will most likely be able to have a high refresh rate, but will be disabled in hardware. Remember, Pro Motion was the last thing cut before mass production. It made it from design all the way to PVT before being axed.

 

At any rate, most people shouldn't buy the iPhone 12 Pro. It's a terrible value in comparison to the bog-standard iPhone 12, hell it's a terrible value compared to most competing phones that aren't even in the same linup. For $300 less you lose LiDAR (which isn't a big make or break thing in my eyes), and extra camera (I think thats your ultra-wide camera, not quite sure about that), and get a worse display (and 64GB less of storage, but if it's like the 11 you should just be able to buy 128GB for just $50 more). But the display isn't hot garbage, apparently it's going to be similar to the ones in the iPhone X and XS, so it's not like you're losing much. For the same $999 you would pay for that craptastic deal, you could get an iPhone 12, a case for it (even an expensive DBrand Skin), and still have enough for a pair of AirPods Pro, or even a 2019 iPad (on clearance of course). I hope most people don't get that phone if they want to get an iPhone 12. Even the Pro Max is getting more features than it, that's just sad... (and that phone is a better value but I still think the 12 and 12 mini will be much more worth it).

 

AirTags

They're just tile trackers with a fancy UI. I'm sorry to Tile I guess, but unless the software is damn good what would be the point of buying the AirTags over other trackers?

 

AirPower

I'm good. It won't be something I'll get because charging $200 for a wireless charging mat is insane, but it will probably make some people happy to add to their "collection"

 

AirPods Studio

Again, I'm fine. I'm not really one to use over ear earphones. The price is fair I guess if it will have the same software experience as the AirPods, and will have good sound quality.

 

HomePod Mini

It's gonna fail just like its contemporary. No one wants to rely on Siri, of all voice assistants, to get their tasks done. And if I wanted to, I'd just say "Hey Siri" on the iPhone I already own...

 

If they don't allow 3rd party music services on this like the original one didn't, then it's going to flop again.

 

Apple Silicon

Huge and industry-changing, but apparently also lazy. We've known the Mac was on the back burner for a while but really? November is the best you have Apple? I get the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed back the release dates of most of your products, but at the same time... you got over $200B in revenue last year. I'm sorry your $200B in revenue wasn't big enough for you to release new products earlier...

 

iPad Pro (Late 2020)

I mean it's an iPad, you probably already have your opinion set on the usefulness of one, I have mine. If the benchmarks are to be believed then wow. that performance in a chip that takes up a small amount of power? And Mini-LED will make colors pop more than the LCD display that's already on it I guess. For most though I still think it's worth it to get the 2018 iPad Pro, especially since it's going to go down in price a lot once this one comes out. Hell, if you don't care about Face ID or the bezels, the 2017 iPad Pro 10.5" also has promotion, and it's still a good tablet.

 

And yes, I did write this days ago and am only posting now, remember I have no life

Sources

Spoiler

Apple's 2020 iPhone 12 event preview (imore.com)

New iPhone 12 (2020) release date, price, leaks and rumors | TechRadar

Apple AirTags: Could this be what AirTags look like? | Macworld

AirPower: Maybe Not so Dead After All? - MacRumors

AirPods Studio: Everything We Know | MacRumors

HomePod mini: Release date, price, rumors, and everything we know so far | iMore

Apple Silicon Arm Macs: Coming in Late 2020 - MacRumors

2nd iPad Pro refresh likely happening later this year - AppleTrack

 

Updated Sources as of October 9th, 2020

苹果14号发布会要点概括 通俗版： 以下日... 来自Kang - 微博 (weibo.com) - Kang's Article. If you speak English use Google Translate

Jon Prosser on Twitter: "So, about AirTags. This one hurts my heart... I’m being told that Apple has pushed back the announcement and launch of AirTags to March of 2021. https://t.co/DIUlcp01Xy" / Twitter

Jon Prosser on Twitter: "AirPods Studio The renders that I shared last month seem to be the luxury variant — made of leather/metal. I’m being told they’ll retail for.... $599 There will be another sport-like variant made of cheaper materials for $350. They WILL NOT be at the October 13 event. https://t.co/le2cfmlC9P" / Twitter

 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

I dont think prices are correct, lol. like 10000 for the mini and 2000000 for the pro max,

[Helpful Tech Witch]

7 minutes ago, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

I think Apple wants to "shock" the world when they figure out how to get all of these sensors under the screen. What better way to do it than to have an outdated notch disappear?

Or after everyone complains that the notch is still so huge, then they do their software magic and fix it.

[williamcll]

That RAM size is pretty awful though.

[Prodigy_Smit]

3 minutes ago, williamcll said:

That RAM size is pretty awful though.

The 11 pro max had less. 4gb I think. 6gb will be a pretty good bump for iOS.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

2 minutes ago, williamcll said:

That RAM size is pretty awful though.

4GB is *ok* for an iPhone. I wish they went up to 8GB because iOS isn't that great at RAM management, and anyone who says 2GB or 3GB is more than enough for iOS has clearly never used an iPhone for any reasonable amount of time.

 

It got a lot better with iOS 14, but since Apple is so aggressive with their RAM management (and since the true depth camera array takes up so much more ram due to it always tracking your face so it doesn't dim/lock the screen), 6GB should be the bare minimum for any idevice going forward.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

Just now, Smit Devrukhkar said:

The 11 pro max had less. 4gb I think. 6gb will be a pretty good bump for iOS.

I think the 6GB is wrong, I changed my OP. An A14 leak came out from the iPad Air showing that the A14 has 4GB of ram, so I think their keeping that this year too.

 

They only went to 6GB for 1TB of storage in the iPad Pros, so if they're not going 1TB in the iPhone, it probably won't have 6GB either.

[Mateyyy]

11 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

I dont think prices are correct, lol. like 10000 for the mini and 2000000 for the pro max,

 

8 minutes ago, williamcll said:

That RAM size is pretty awful though.

Far from "awful", considering we're talking about devices that will run iOS, not Android.

[Prodigy_Smit]

2 minutes ago, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

I think the 6GB is wrong,

I hope they do 6gb at-least on the pro models.

 

2 minutes ago, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

if they're not going 1TB in the iPhone

I don't understand why people need more than 256gb or 512gb of storage on a phone.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

4 minutes ago, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

They only went to 6GB for 1TB of storage in the iPad Pros, so if they're not going 1TB in the iPhone, it probably won't have 6GB either.

If its a "Pro" phone it should have more ram.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

2 minutes ago, Smit Devrukhkar said:

I don't understand why people need more than 256gb or 512gb of storage on a phone.

4K video.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Just now, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

4K video.

4k 60. and maybe 4k 120 if apple chooses pro motion.

[Prodigy_Smit]

Just now, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

4K video.

Oh ya. Also "8k" now.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

2 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

If its a "Pro" phone it should have more ram.

You're right. I think they were banking on ProMotion to break up the product line, so if you wanted a 120hz screen you go with the Pro and if not you go with the regular, but now that it's looking like ProMotion was cut because they didn't have enough time, the Pro iPhones are a horrible deal, especially now that the cheaper ones are getting OLED.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

1 minute ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

4k 60. and maybe 4k 120 if apple chooses pro motion.

Apparently the iPhone 12 Pros can do 4k 120/240FPS for slow-mo. I think it was leaked back in an iOS 14 beta.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Just now, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

Apparently the iPhone 12 Pros can do 4k 120/240FPS for slow-mo. I think it was leaked back in an iOS 14 beta.

this is why you would need 1tb. 1.4 gb for a min at 4k 240.

[iEimis]

That invitation wallpaper confirms AirTags pretty much. Surrounding 'waves' (kinda looks like sound waves) look like a smaller homepod and original size homepod so probably confirm mini is coming and 'sound waves' can also refer to AirPods Studio. Then, obviously Hi, Speed slogan probably refers to 5G and A14.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 minute ago, iEimis said:

Hi, Speed

Apple is trying to make a pun. I don't think it's very punny.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

1 minute ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

Apple is trying to make a pun. I don't think it's very punny.

I mean "Time Flies" literally meant Watch and Air so...

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 minute ago, NotTheFirstDaniel said:

I mean "Time Flies" literally meant Watch and Air so...

That was good ish. this one is bad.

[Ashleyyyy]

it's gonna be an interesting event, but they likely won't announce anything i'll be in the market for. i'm happy with my iPhone 6s and the ARM Mac's likely won't be announced here so... i'll watch it like the loyal fangirl i am but meh

[Commodus]

7 minutes ago, Ashley said:

it's gonna be an interesting event, but they likely won't announce anything i'll be in the market for. i'm happy with my iPhone 6s and the ARM Mac's likely won't be announced here so... i'll watch it like the loyal fangirl i am but meh

I suspect Apple might just introduce an ARM Mac there. It wouldn't make sense to have a third event in November, as far as I'm concerned, and the iPhone 12 + other gear might only occupy so much time. Now, whether or not you can get an ARM Mac before November or December is another matter...

[Ashleyyyy]

Just now, Commodus said:

I suspect Apple might just introduce an ARM Mac there. It wouldn't make sense to have a third event in November, as far as I'm concerned, and the iPhone 12 + other gear might only occupy so much time. Now, whether or not you can get an ARM Mac before November or December is another matter...

if they do that'd be sick. i'm gonna hold out though, mostly for financial reasons, but like... it's gonna be first gen. apple's first gen products especially computers never last really long. the first MacBook Pro for example was laughable. they released it with a core duo and then replaced it with a core 2 duo model 6 months later like...

 

besides i don't care about having the latest and greatest. macOS Catalina was a horrible release (i'm still on Mojave) so i wanna see some reviews about macOS Big Sur first before i even consider it. if it's bad i'm just gonna hold out until the next models and the next OS get released and then check again.

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

2 minutes ago, Commodus said:

I suspect Apple might just introduce an ARM Mac there. It wouldn't make sense to have a third event in November, as far as I'm concerned, and the iPhone 12 + other gear might only occupy so much time. Now, whether or not you can get an ARM Mac before November or December is another matter...

The iPhones usually take about an hour to showcase , and coupled with AirTags, HomePod Mini, and AirPods Studio, they have about an 1:30 atleast of content. They can definitely speed it along and rush all the slides (we'll know by how fast they move the slides and how much info they skip), but it just makes more sense for Macs to get their own event as they usually do.

[Commodus]

2 minutes ago, Ashley said:

if they do that'd be sick. i'm gonna hold out though, mostly for financial reasons, but like... it's gonna be first gen. apple's first gen products especially computers never last really long. the first MacBook Pro for example was laughable. they released it with a core duo and then replaced it with a core 2 duo model 6 months later like...

 

besides i don't care about having the latest and greatest. macOS Catalina was a horrible release (i'm still on Mojave) so i wanna see some reviews about macOS Big Sur first before i even consider it. if it's bad i'm just gonna hold out until the next models and the next OS get released and then check again.

That makes sense. Apple sounds like it's as prepared as it'll ever be, but I could see that first-gen model being rendered obsolete relatively quickly. My first iMac was the last PowerPC model, and that may have been smart as my next upgrade came when x86 was fast and reasonably mature.