Apple Confirms October 16 Event: What’ll We See?

Today, when Apple sent out press invites to its October 16 event set to take place at its Cupertino campus next week, the company PR team decided to go with text that was firmly “tongue in cheek.”

“It’s been way too long,” it reads, ironically alluding to the fact that Apple just hosted one of the biggest events it had in years just last month on September 9, where the company unveiled the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay, and the long-awaited Apple Watch. So what will we be seeing at this newest event next week?

From what we’ve been able to gather over the last few weeks, Apple will lift the curtain on a new version (or versions) of the iPad. Today, we saw leaked photos alleged to show the new chassis of the iPad Air 2, which looks a whole lot like the iPhone 6. There’s also been talk of a gold-colored iPad, as well as a new anti-reflective display to make using the iPad in bright lights or outside much easier. Expect announcements on the iPad for sure, though we might also hear an announcement for the rumored iPad Pro, with a 2015 release window.

Furthermore, Apple has yet to release the final version of OS X Yosemite, which went gold about a week ago. On top of that, we’ve heard rumors about a new iMac desktop computer with a Retina display, along with a refresh of the Mac Mini computer.

Honestly, I have a good feeling about all of those announcements coming, and maybe even more. These are the big products that Apple didn’t want to include in its last event because it didn’t want to take the focus off of the iPhone 6 or Apple Watch for very long, since those are the devices meant to appeal to the widest swath of consumers. Meanwhile, Mac and iPad adoption is going to target a somewhat smaller group of Apple enthusiasts, and as such, they’re going to be grouped together next week. Anyone hoping for a new kind of Macbook, too?