New Macs on Halloween?

iMac and MacBooks at surprise Apple event

Author

Leander Kahney
October 23, 2023

Apple may be about to spring an October surprise on us with a new iMac and MacBooks at the end of the month.

That’s according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the ace Apple reporter with a stellar track record of spoiling Apple’s surprises.

However, Gurman doesn't seem to have all the goods on this rumor, with few details other than that a lot of Macs appear to be in short supply at stores right now, hinting at an imminent refresh.

Plus, another ace at Apple spoilers, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, says there’ll be no new Macs this year.

So mark this rumor as sketchy — and we’ll see who’s right in a week!

Also in today’s newsletter:

  • If you have an iPhone 14 or older, SwitchEasy has a great sale right now on a ton of cool cases for older iPhone models. I like the look of the Starfield 3D Glitter case — sparkly!

  • There’s a weird bug in iOS 17 that appears to burn images onto the screen of some iPhone 15 Pros. But don’t worry — it’s not a hardware problem, and it’s fixed in the latest beta of iOS 17.1, which is expected to be released any time now.

  • This looks like a pretty cool 4K drone for just $80.

  • We hands-on review a cell-based internet service that works great if you have limited connectivity options.

  • Wow, look at that screen in today’s featured setup.

  • Today is the day in Apple's history that the iPod launched, just a month after 9/11. I remember it well. The launch was greeted with skepticism and a ton of criticism from the tech press as well as Apple fans. Most folks wanted Apple to relaunch the Newton, not a little MP3 player that cost a pretty hefty $400 (One memorable comment from the time: “iPod = Idiots Price Our Devices.”) But the iPod went on to become a monster hit, set the stage for the iPhone, and began the transformation of Apple from a small bit player in the computer market to today’s domineering tech behemoth.

  • Last Friday’s poll about Apple canceling The Problem with Jon Stewart got a lot of votes and a lot of comments. As you might expect, the situation is polarizing — see reader comments below.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

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Tweet o’ the day

One more thing ...

❝

[On the origin of the name ‘Apple’] I was on one of my fruitarian diets. I had just come back from the apple farm. It sounded fun, spirited, and not intimidating. Apple took the edge off the world ‘computer’. Plus, it would get us ahead of Atari in the phone book.

— Steve Jobs, 2011.

Today’s poll

Did you have an iPod back in the day?

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Results from last Friday’s poll: How do you feel about Apple canceling Jon Stewart?

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