Apple took the wraps off a new iPad mini at the start of this month and launched the device this week. With that now out of the way, Cupertino is turning its attention to Macs. Apple has now confirmed that it has an “exciting week” of Mac-related announcements lined up starting this Monday. We’re anticipating updates to carry the MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini – as well as the first launch of Apple Intelligence features.
Here’s everything to know about next week.
New Mac mini
Perhaps the biggest update expected next week is the new Mac Mini it is going to get dramatic refresh in both its design and specifications. In terms of specs, it is going to get upgraded to the M4 and M4 Pro chips.
The largest change is in the size: reportedly far smaller than its predecessor, and with a form factor that has been reduced to a size similar to the Apple’s TV device. In other words, the overall footprint of the M4 Mac mini is much smaller than the current generation, though it may be slightly taller.
New MacBook Pro
The Cupertino giant is expected to make some new updates to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models next week.
According to leaks, the base model M4 MacBook is expected to start with 16GB of RAM for the first time. The laptop will also purportedly have three Thunderbolt 4 ports, up from the three that currently adorn the base M3 model. It’s also rumored to start with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, up from the base configuration on an M3 with an 8-core CPU.
Apple will also update their high-end variants of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M4 Pro chips and M4 Max chips, respectively.
New iMac
The 24-inch iMac also gets a spec bump next week. The current device runs on the M3 chip and should be updated to an M4 chip for better performance. The new 24-inch iMac may also use an upgraded 16GB of RAM and two more CPU cores, just like the base model M4 MacBook Pro.
New accessories
Apple is also expected to release new versions of the Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse next week. Don’t expect dramatic updates but rather just a transition from Lightning to USB-C.
iOS 18.1 release
In addition to announcing new hardware, Apple has also announced that it will make iOS 18.1 available next week, featuring the first of the Apple Intelligence features. These include things like Writing Tools, Clean Up in the Photos app, notification summaries, and many more.
There’s much more, but it all accompanies iOS 18.1, with Apple also set to make macOS Sequoia 15.1, iPadOS 18.1, tvOS 18.1, watchOS 11.1, and visionOS 2.1 available.