Just when we thought it was all over for Apple events in 2020, along comes 'One more thing' or maybe two - new Macs and Airpods Studio.
Usually the industry is awash with rumours and leaks for months prior to an Apple product reveal, but in this instance the silence has been deafening.
Nevertheless the main announcement is expected to reveal a new generation of Macs powered by Apple Silicon chips. Apple has been so successfully secretive that the types of Macs to be revealed - desktops or laptops - is unknown.
The prediction is based on an announcement at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2020. Then Apple revealed its decision to phase out Intel chips in favor of its own new architecture called Apple silicon.
Apple silicon is an extension of the Arm-based chips used in the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch and would finally bring Macs, the last component of Apple's hardware ecosystem, under the same design umbrella.
The first custom Apple processors were made out of necessity because Intel did not want to design chips for the iPhone. This sent Apple down the path of building its own processors for the iPhone and thereby ensuring complete vertical integration with the software.
The A-series chips went on to become the most powerful and efficient mobile chipsets available, and Qualcomm and even Intel could not keep up. During WWDC 2020, Apple bragged of successfully bringing 10 billion chips to devices through the years. The aim is to expand that expertise to the Mac lineup.
Apple has a habit of announcing changes to two product lines at its 2020 virtual events: Apple Watch and iPad in September; and HomePod mini and iPhone 12 in October.
Many expected the new headphones - rumoured to be called AirPods Studio - to be unveiled earlier this year, and with Christmas just weeks away, the new over-ear AirPods would be the obvious choice for this launch event.
The headphones are widely expected to have active noise-cancelling (ANC) technology, Bluetooth 5.0, a H1 chip for quick connection to devices, and a battery life of 24 hours.
The Apple event will be online only, opening it up to interested observers the world over.
There are three options:
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