Ahead of Apple's "Scary Fast" event on Monday at 5 p.m. Pacific Time, a regulatory database has potentially revealed at least some of the new products that will be announced, including new Macs and, dare we say it, maybe even a new iPad.
Last week, two Apple suppliers resubmitted filings to a Chinese regulatory database for batteries used in existing Apple products, including the latest 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, Magic Keyboard for the Mac, and iPad mini, according to information discovered by MacRumors. All of the batteries had already been filed in the database in 2021 or earlier, and they were resubmitted last week with October 2023 issue dates.
Resubmitted battery filings can hint at new products. Just ahead of the Apple Watch Series 9 being unveiled, for example, MacRumors discovered that Apple Watch Series 8 batteries were resubmitted to the same regulatory database. Ultimately, the Series 8 batteries ended up being reused in the Series 9 models.
The new filings list the same battery capacities as the original filings, suggesting that Apple's new products will not have any battery capacity changes. Longer battery life is still possible as a result of new chips with power efficiency improvements.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the 24-inch iMac to be updated with the M3 chip, and the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad accessories for the Mac are expected to be updated with USB-C charging ports instead of Lightning. Apple includes the Magic Keyboard and the Magic Mouse in the box with the iMac. Gurman also expects updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips.
The interesting inclusion in the filings is a battery for the sixth-generation iPad mini, which could end up being reused in the seventh-generation iPad mini. Gurman last week reported that Apple was not planning to debut new iPads until 2024, and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo last month said new iPads were unlikely to be released before the end of the year. The filing does not guarantee that a new iPad mini will be announced tomorrow.
Apple announced the sixth-generation iPad mini during its September 2021 event. The next model will likely be equipped with the A16 Bionic chip introduced in the iPhone 14 Pro, and it will likely have improvements to reduce so-called "jelly scrolling."
Rumors about new iPads being announced earlier this month proved to be inaccurate. Instead, Apple announced a lower-cost Apple Pencil with a USB-C port in a press release. The new Apple Pencil will be available in early November, according to Apple, and new products announced at tomorrow's event could launch around the same time.
All in all, our regulatory findings align with expectations of updated 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, and 24-inch iMac models during Apple's event. Perhaps a new iPad mini will be part of the event, as well, but it would certainly be surprising given that Gurman and Kuo do not expect new iPads for the rest of the year.
We'll find out for sure in just over 24 hours.
