Apple “Scary Fast” Event Scheduled for 30 October 2023
In what may be the “One more thing…” event for 2023, Apple has issued invitations to a special virtual event on 30 October 2023 at the unusual hour of 5 PM Pacific Time. The time and the “Scary fast” tagline are undoubtedly a nod to Halloween the next day. I’m dying to see Tim Cook as Dracula, unveiling a new Mac with a sweep of his cloak and a puff of smoke.
Speculation as to what Apple will announce is focusing on the iMac and MacBook Pro, perhaps powered by an M3 chip. The company also hasn’t yet released any iPad updates this year, which is unusual.
You can add the event to your calendar and watch the event live on Apple’s website or in the Apple TV app. TidBITS readers will once again be gathering in SlackBITS to kibbitz during the presentation—you’re welcome to join us.
Darn, 1AM our time… after a long flight the night before… I doubt I’ll be awake.
Online only, odd time, odd day…and a focus on speed and a Mac icon. The Pro surely…
Exactly my thought, not getting up at 1am for that lol.
More likely M3 Macs of some kind. We’ll see!
Ditto, 1 AM. If I’m up, I’ll watch it; otherwise, I’ll watch it from bed when I wake up. I do enjoy these events, but they can wait.
I guess we’ll see, but I’m not sure I believe that the M3 is ready just yet. My guess is that this is just an update to the iMac line to get the M2 series of chips, including perhaps the M2 Pro and Max.
For those for whom the time is inconvenient:
The stream is recorded so you can watch it at your leisure. If yu don’t want to be spoiled, watch before you read any news. It will be just like watching live.
But we will miss the chat in SlackBITS. I’ll have a word with Tim.
M2 iMac seems to make most sense, but with that kind of event tagline, it almost has to be M3. M2 was late, so perhaps indeed it is already time for M3.
I really just hope it’s not new M3 Pro/Max 14"/16" MBPs. I just booked an expensive overseas trip for the holiday break. I can’t be spending another $3k+ on a new MBP.
Well Simon, let’s sign you up for an Apple Card! You can finance that M3 Mac Pro, with upgraded wheels, with no interest till 11/2024 !!
If I may, where ya headed? Enjoy, be safe and airtags in your luggage!
Unfortunately, I already have an Apple Card (but I don’t do financing, ever) so that won’t fix my predicament.
Korea, checking in on the in-laws. With a stopover (for recovery from the in-laws) in Kauai on the way back home. 
And yes, between the two of us we’ll be bringing along about 5 AirTags for sure. 
Back on topic, the usually super reliable Gurman
now claims the iMac will receive just M3 with no other significant changes. That’s kind of what I would have expected before the year’s end (how long has it now been since the M1 iMac came out and hasn’t been touched since?), but is Apple really taking the ho-hum 24" iMac to launch the M3 and using “scary fast” to advertise it? Last time they used “scary fast” and “scary faster” was when Pro and Max were introduced.
Love Kauai…much nicer than Oahu. Maui is nice too but a lot more crowded than Kauai is.
If a new iMac (or any desktop) is announced, I would think that new versions of the keyboards, trackpad and mouse with USB-C ports would also be announced. When Apple replaces the AirPod Max headphones, that should wrap up the conversion.
The Postscript (towards the bottom) to this Daring Fireball post has very bold speculation that the existing 24” iMacs will be upgraded with the M2 and a new iMac Pro will get M2 Pro and M2 Max chips.
Dan Moren agrees with you:
I like Gruber’s speculation that perhaps a new larger iMac is launching with M2 Pro/Max. That could explain the tagline and it would take into account that it’s quite likely M3 Pro/Max is not ready to ship in volume yet. It could also explain where those colored braided USB cables came from that were peddled as being for iPhone 15. I just hope such an iMac gets a 27" (or larger) screen. The 24" is a nice cash register, but seriously.
So I guess the question is: what happens to items you put in your Apple Store wishlist when they get replaced? It’s clear now that I should have bought that MBP 14, and the Studio is just a dream. If there is, somehow, news of an iMac to replace my 27-inch iMac '20, or a new MBP to top my M2 Air which is giving me regrets owing to just the 2 TB4 ports, I’ll certainly be interested.
I would like to see an M2 iMac and still with 24" display. The M2 would support more RAM.
Well, we hope, but don’t know.
However, we can chat a bit about proper grammar, over here we got a “SCARILY FAST”, isn’t that scary?
Correct of course, but scarily pedantic(al).
Word on the street is The uber-reliable Gurman says that will happen. Obviously, anything else at this point would seem a bit odd. IMHO if they just replace the port with USB-C on the mouse though, they might as well leave it Lightning. I really hope they make use of the transition to fix the design. This has got to be one of the dumbest Apple designs in quite a while. Definitely on par with the hockey puck mouse.
On a related but O/T note, can anybody here tell me if I get Apple’s extended Bluetooth Keyboard (the latest and greatest with TouchID) but connect it over USB, can I leave BT off? Or will that break functionality?
I just tested that for you. The latest extended keyboard and trackpad work with Bluetooth off when connected to the computer (in my case, via the Studio Display). I tested touch ID by bringing up the Password Panel in Systems Settings.
Now, I will restart Bluetooth and go back to my usual setup.
Thank you, @aforkosh. That’s great news. If they now adapt their mouse to allow for a USB-C cable to be plugged in while using it, I’d be all set.
I have nothing against BT at all, but at work I have a setup where I control multiple Macs (and one Linux beast) from a single location. They’re all plugged into the same monitor on which I just flip from input to input. I have a fancy USB mouse plugged into an old Apple Extended KB. To move from one computer to the next (when I’m not using VNC) all I have to do is switch what that KB is plugged into (each one of those Macs and the Linux box have a USB cable that ends female at my desk). It’s a very simple solution and it works perfect for my use. But some day that old Apple KB is going to break (or I drown it in spilled coffee). And of course I like the idea of getting TouchID for my desktop Macs too.
Until then, perhaps there’s an opportunity for an enterprising entrepreneur. Maybe call it the “half-pad”. It’s a mouse pad that hangs off the edge of your desk, so you can use just the front half of the mouse while it’s plugged in.
Here’s a Bingo card for Apple’s “Scary Fast” Event on Monday October 30.
Is it normal for Apple to send Influencers free devices and snacks in advance of a product announcement?
It’s a measure of how important they’ve become to the bottom line. The time for tech journalists to get these, if ever they did from Apple, has passed.
“Gift boxes”? That used to be called bribe.
It wasn’t all that uncommon for companies to send journalists things like this in conjunction with a product release or announcement. It’s basically the same as sending out review units for relatively inexpensive devices that the company doesn’t expect to be returned because they can’t be resold anyway.
I haven’t seen such a thing in quite some time, not being a YouTuber, but most grown-up companies don’t see such gift boxes as all that effective either, on top of the perceptions of trying to buy good coverage.
My guess at event releases:
✓- iMac 24", M3
✘- Mac Mini, M3 & M3 Pro
✓- MBP 14" & 16", M3 Pro & Max
✘- MBP 13", M3
✘ EDIT: + USB-C kb/trackpad/mouse.
(EDIT 2: ✓✘ added after the event.)
Good thing I received this as I hadn’t heard anything about an event today. OK I have about 50 minutes to get ready for it. I hope I’ll be able to get it via my TV 4K so I’m not restricted to the small screen of my iPad Mini.
Edit. OK was able to watch it using my TV and my 70" TV. They missed the boat by not bringing back the 27" iMac. Why should someone have to downgrade to a 24" iMac?
FYI, I’ve moved all the post-event discussion over to the article I just published about the event.