Apple had hosted Education event at Chicago to unveil new iPad in March and followed up with the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2018 in June to show developments made in software (iOS and macOS) and the fall event in September to reveal the new line of iPhone XS and XR mobile series; just when everybody thought the Cupertino-based company is done for the year, it has surprised everyone by announcing that it is hosting another hardware unveiling programme on 30 October.
With just a day before the event, many reports are coming in that Apple has a whole lot of products to showcase at the Special Event October 2018 in Brooklyn, which is slated to go live at 10:00 am EDT (7:30 pm IST) in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
The invitation to the media features artistic and colourful Apple logo with a message—"There's more in the making"— and going by the unique presentation, many are of the opinion that the company will unveil the new line of the iPad Pro and also possibly Macbook series too.
Apple iPad Pro: All you need to know
Recently leaked iOS 12.1 beta, Apple has included a new bezel-less iPad icon hinting that the upcoming Pro tablet series will indeed embrace the edge-to-edge display feature of the iPhone X series and also boast Face ID security feature. The good news is that the iPad Pro (2018) will not have the notch.
This also means there won't any fingerprint sensor at the base, as well and 2018 will mark the end of the revolutionary Touch ID, which made its debut with iPhone 5S will no longer feature in any of Apple products.
It is said to come in two sizes having dimensions almost same as the current—10.5-inch and 12.9-inch— but will have more screen real estate due to thinning of bezels and will have advanced true tone display technology.
Another big change coming in the new iPad Pro is the inclusion of Type C USB port instead of lightning cable seen in the current iPad and iPhone series.
As far as internal hardware is concerned, the new iPad Pro (2018) series is expected to come with a modified version Apple A12 processor seen in the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR series.
The previous generation iPad Pro comes with Apple A10X Fusion with M10 co-processor. Its successor is likely to come with either A11X series to continue the chronological order or maybe jump to A12X Bionic Fusion series to make it on parity with iPhone processor naming scheme. It is expected to perform on par with a PC computer.
Apple is also likely to bring the new generation Pencil stylus with improved sensitivity and also offer longer battery life.
New Apple MacBook Air series and Mac Mini:
Apple, earlier in the year, unveiled new heavy duty MacBook Pro series with upgraded Intel processors and now many believe the company will finally bring new MacBook Air, which was last refreshed in 2015.
Word on the street is that Apple is likely to bring next-generation Mac Mini with latest Intel chips for normal home and office purposes. For those unaware, the previous generation was unveiled way back in 2014.
Other important announcements expected at Apple Special Event October 2018 include iOS 12.1. It is either expected to reveal the software release timeline or else just begin rolling out to the eligible iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch (6th gen).
Also, the company is also touted finally reveal the actual availability date of the AirPower wireless charging pad. It was announced during the iPhone X launch event in September 2017 and was expected to hit stores in early 2018, but so far Apple has been mum on it. The company might finally make it available to the consumers during the upcoming festive shopping season.
