Surprised no Apple Event despite all the news

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

You find it weird we didn't get an Apple Event this week despite all the new stuff announced? We got a lot of news this week. We got:

• Two new Mac Minis, one of which being a pro spec transitioning the expensive Mac Mini to Apple Silicon leaving just the Mac Pro as the last Intel Mac. The M2 model got a massive price cut as well making it even cheaper than it already was.
• The M2 Pro and Max chips with their insane core count and RAM configs
• A hardware refresh of the 14/16 inch Macbook Pros
• Both the Mac Minis and Macbook Pros now have HDMI 2.1 and Wifi 6E
• And the return of the previously discontinued fullsized HomePod

This is a lot of stuff, enough for a full one hour long Apple Event. But we didn't get an Apple Event, instead the Macs were announced in a surprise Youtube video, and the HomePod shadowdropped in a press release. They've done Apple Events in the past where they announced a lot less than what we got this week. The Unleashed Event in October 2021 only had AirPods 3, M1 Pro/Max, and 14/16 inch MBPs. The One More Thing Event in November 2020 just had the M1 Macs.

I guess this is the new direction now Apple wants to go, only doing big events for Spring, WWDC, and the annual September iPhone Event, while everything else gets a Youtube video instead, like an Apple Event Mini, like how Nintendo does full length Nintendo Directs but also surprise Nintendo Direct Minis.

Alternatively, it's possible all these were supposed to be in an October Apple Event, but something happened outside of Apple's control which caused them to have to delay the announcements to now, as there's code in the new MBPs' store pages that suggest they were supposed to be announced in the Fall.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Have they done an Apple event without some kind of new product or product category?

I don't think there's been an Apple event of spec bumps only. There always has to be some kind of design refresh for an event.

The HomePod is a new product, but it is effectively a hardware downgrade.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Have they done an Apple event without some kind of new product or product category?

I don't think there's been an Apple event of spec bumps only. There always has to be some kind of design refresh for an event.

The HomePod is a new product, but it is effectively a hardware downgrade.

The 2020 One More Thing event was just debuting the M1 chip and refreshing the Macbook Air, Mac Mini, and 13 inch Macbook Pro to it with no chassis change whatsoever.

Plus last October the vanilla iPad got a full design refresh and that was just a Youtube video.

Everything about how the Macs and the iPad refreshes were handled is strange, and leading me to believe there were delays internally due to unforeseen circumstances.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

Nice things were released this week but I don’t think they warranted a full-on event.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Nice things were released this week but I don’t think they warranted a full-on event.

One would argue simple spec refreshes of iPhones don't warrant a full-on event, yet the damn things always get one.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Yeah, but there's always people looking to upgrade their phone because they're on a neverending contract and there's always the big iOS update finally coming out. We aren't in the era of people constantly upgrading Macs and iPads, and the HomePod's moment has passed - And they're kinda saying that with the new features which are not the things you'd associate with Apple of all the tech companies.

 

[Abazigal]

Alternatively, it's possible all these were supposed to be in an October Apple Event, but something happened outside of Apple's control which caused them to have to delay the announcements to now, as there's code in the new MBPs' store pages that suggest they were supposed to be announced in the Fall.

That's my guess as well. The products were ready to go last year, but faced a last minute supply setback when covid forced the factories in China to shut down. The videos were likely already filmed last year, and it makes no sense to waste everyone's time replicating the same script when they could just air it directly.