Daring Fireball
★ Apple to Broadcast ‘Scary Fast’ Event Next Monday Night
https://daringfireball.net/2023/10/apple_scary_fast_event
Apple to Broadcast ‘Scary Fast’ Event Next Monday Night

So I’m just guessing here, but I’m thinking this event might be about iMacs only, and just an upgrade to the M2, and maybe some design changes, like, say, fresh colors. It’d be a lot more fun if it’s the debut of the M3, but my spidey sense says that’s not happening yet.

Daring Fireball
Oct 24, 2023 at 6:18pmDF Tootbot
Show threadDaring FireballOct 24, 2023
Postscript appended:
Show threadSt. ChrisOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball And that would mean the return of Space Gray peripherals.
Show threadNick SaundersOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball Can’t they just announce later that the Vision Pro will actually launch with an M3?
Show threadDelricOct 25, 2023
@Nickjsaunders @daringfireball months after announcing it was M2? why would they do this. they could have just held the AVP announcement to now
Show threadNick SaundersOct 25, 2023
@delric @daringfireball Seems silly to delay the Vision Pro announcement based solely on the chip, especially with WWDC being ideal for developer engagement. My point is there’s nothing wedding them to M2 being in the VP that ultimately launches. They upgraded chips in iPads 6m apart at one point.
Show threadDelricOct 25, 2023
@Nickjsaunders @daringfireball well at least not naming the chip. But either scenario is erratic and thus very unlikely. Refreshed iPad doesn’t seem the same as announcing a new product with one chip, then re-announcing months later with another. True issue is length of time needed to prep product pipeline. Chip was definitely selected long ago, which would require lying during WWDC, which I don’t find likely at all
Show threadRyan RampersadOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball adds up!
Show threadRobert Jan SchuttenOct 25, 2023
@daringfireball My hunch says you are spot on. Also in “space grey” black to match the spooky theme.
Show threadMikeOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball haven’t the M series chips been a generation behind The A series whole time? IE M3 would be based on A16 not A17.
Show threadRyan RampersadOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball it's strange timing
Show threadRachel GreenhamOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball i wonder if they want to move to a cycle where the high-end and high-volume systems come out on the new processor generation first, while they’re still dealing with yield issues, and when (hopefully!) those get resolved, bring out the lower-end but very high-volume systems. Also been a bit odd that a lot of the time the “latest” MacBook Pros/Studios etc. are only available on the (suddenly) old generation, and those customers are the most likely to resent that.
Show threadRaouf DoolOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball not throwing it in the middle of everyone’s day in the U.S. lowers expectations?
Show threadPaul AdamsOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball @gruber I could also see this as a way to announce USB-C keyboards, trackpads, and mice, since USB-C is faster than Lightning, and those accessories are important to the iMac.
Show threadAndy GriffinOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball Any chance they announce M3s next week, then say “Hey, we’ve also decided to upgrade the Vision Pro to the M3 ahead of launch, surprise!”
They couldn’t have announced the AVP with an M3. Whether the M3 comes out now or just after the AVP, launching it with an M2 will still feel like old hardware. And ray tracing seems like it would be huge for the AVP.
Show threadTheEJJ 🇨🇦Oct 24, 2023
@AG_Design @daringfireball this theory always made the most sense to me timing wise. I think that the test units for Apple Vision Pro may legitimately have M2s in them, but the production units for sale were always destined to be equipped with M3s.
Show threadTom WoodfinOct 25, 2023

@AG_Design @daringfireball That would be impressive, and the kind of wrench I can imagine Steve throwing into the works. But today’s Apple really has to be more conservative. It’s the M2 because they didn’t want to risk the launch date, and I’d have to imagine that risk was even greater for an SoC swap late in the game.

More likely they pull(ed) up the successor Vision Pro. Late next year instead of early 2025?

Show threadJohn GruberOct 25, 2023
@AG_Design I don’t think so. Especially with third-party developers getting to test on Vision Pro hardware now. Apple will sell the Vision Pro as fast as they can make them with the M2, so the complainers can go cry in a corner while they wait 10-12 weeks for their backorder to ship. And Apple has made clear that the most important silicon in Vision Pro is the R1:
Show threadTors10 Oct 24, 2023
@daringfireball how about an iMac Pro with M2 Pro?
Show threadBhavyang PauOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball This could also be for F1 deal. Broadcasting time of the event is abnormal and that suggests this is something that they want to launch globally and may be a new product category.
Show threadBhavyang PauOct 24, 2023
Having said that Apple logo animation on the event page has finder animation!
Show threadPuppetheadOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball An M2 iMac and a revitalized iMac Pro with M2 Max/Ultra (essentially Mac Studio in iMac form) would seemingly qualify as "scary fast" compared to the current iMac.
Show threadTheEJJ 🇨🇦Oct 24, 2023
@puppethead @daringfireball my wallet is going to be “scary light,” if they announce anything iMac Pro related.
Show threadJosé María AlcaideOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball So that event will begin at 1:00 am CET (Central Europe Time, most of Western Europe except UK and Portugal).
Show threadRichard2001Oct 25, 2023
@jmalcaide @daringfireball I forgot we will be in that one week period where daylight savings is off between US and Europe, so I might actually watch this live at midnight UK time (wouldn’t have at 1am start).
Show threadRick WilliamsOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball I too would be shocked to see an M3 before the Vision Pro launch. Unless Apple does something really crazy and ends up shipping the Vision Pro with an M3. That would be pretty far out there, but I guess not outside the realm of possibility.
Show threadAlex BallOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball How about not a hardware announcement at all, and Apple is doing a deal with either Formula 1 or Formula E (which would be _much_ more in line with corporate greening path)?
Show threadShenyenOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball Resident Evil Village for iPhone 15 Pro releases on that day, would be a shame to waste an opportunity to promote it during a event…
Show threadKonrad KołakowskiOct 24, 2023

@daringfireball M2 is already dated design - much slower than current Intel and AMD competition (even if on lower TDP)

It's almost 1.5 years old! M3 should have been announced in June, but it seems they had some slip (also earlier with M2 MBPs) so it's logical to catch-up and announce entire lineup in one day.

Vision Pro, as a first-gen device will probably be quickly updated few months later with M3 as well.

Show threadMichael SmithOct 24, 2023
@daringfireball #NFL #MNF on this day. Do they have some kind of NFL deal to announce? #Apple
Show threadTom WoodfinOct 25, 2023

@daringfireball There are all the signs here of the first rocky patch in the Apple/TSMC partnership. Nothing like what they experienced late in PowerPC/Intel, but surely frustrating.

The A17 Pro is on a “dead end / gotta ship something” process. Probably a conservative microarchitecture to boot, if Srouji & co. weren’t confident if/how TSMC 3nm would eventually scale.

Surely they targeted Vision Pro for M3/3nm but at some point had to lock down the HW and TSMC was not sure to be ready.

3nm is increasingly looking like a big stumble by TSMC, only masked by the fact that Apple was their exclusive early customer and doesn’t like to air dirty laundry.

Show threadSteven Op de beeckOct 25, 2023
Introducing M2 Macs in an event subtitled Scary Fast would have happened in January of 2023 with the M2 Max and Ultra — they didn’t, it was a press release.
I’m guessing they aren’t going to hold up the M3 marketing train for VisionPro and will introduce M3 devices with a focus on faster GPUs and to a lesser degree faster CPUs. Given it’s a whole event video it will be more than an iMac update: more likely MacBook Pros, not Airs. https://daringfireball.net/2023/10/apple_scary_fast_event
@daringfireball
Apple to Broadcast ‘Scary Fast’ Event Next Monday Night

So I’m just guessing here, but I’m thinking this event might be about iMacs only, and just an upgrade to the M2, and maybe some design changes, like, say, fresh colors. It’d be a lot more fun if it’s the debut of the M3, but my spidey sense says that’s not happening yet.

Daring Fireball