Apple's 'Scary Fast' Event Might Mean New Macs In Time For Halloween

Apple has scheduled a surprise event on October 30 that will be streaming online at 5 p.m. (PT) for the global Apple audience. Slotting right within the impending Halloween holiday, Apple is going with the "Scary Fast" theme for the upcoming reveal — and it looks like this event will be headlined by fresh Mac hardware.

Just in case there was any doubt, the teaser animation morphs from the Apple logo to the Finder icon known from macOS for years. Rumors so far have been conflicting about the company's Mac plans, but "scary fast" is almost a dead giveaway that Apple has faster hardware — or silicon — potentially in the pipeline.

If you had any doubt these are Macs, the Apple logo turns into the Mac's Finder icon on the event page on Apple's website. pic.twitter.com/JwdTWIs7Cv

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) October 24, 2023

Considering the fact that Apple's fastest silicon, the M2 Ultra, only made its debut in June this year, a refresh is unlikely. Moreover, top-end MacBook Pro and Air models also got variations of the M2 silicon earlier this year, which means it's almost certain that this reveal will look at a different category of products. That only leaves the iMac as a possible candidate, or the debut of a new generation of M-series processors.

It looks like Apple's Halloween event will potentially mark the arrival of a new iMac. Bloomberg also reported over the past weekend that an iMac refresh is on the horizon, but the report didn't specify if is going to feature the M2 processor, or if it will mark the arrival of the M3 chip. The 24-inch M1-powered iMac has spent over two and a half years on the shelf, and is long overdue for an update.

Given Apple's stingy track record with design overhauls, the upcoming iMac will likely look unchanged. As for a possible M3 chip upgrade, it is rumored to offer eight CPU cores and 10 GPU cores. That's two more GPU cores compared to the M1 silicon fitted inside the current-gen iMac. The biggest difference between the M1 and M3 generation, however, is the inherent fabrication tech.

The M1 class is based on TSMC's 5nm process, while the M3 is heavily rumored to rely on the 3nm process. As the rule of semiconductor fabrication goes, that means more compute units crammed in the same area, promising higher performance figures while simultaneously offering gains in the energy efficiency department. 

Aside from an iMac refresh, Bloomberg also hinted at the debut of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro. There was also chatter about new iPads arriving later this year, but recent reports have pushed their tentative launch into the early 2024 phase.