Apple’s fourth and most likely final Keynote of 2018, was announced with over 370 different variations of the invite, but what different things should we expect to see announced at the Keynote itself…

iPad Pro

The iPad Pro is set to receive the most significant update to the iPad lineup to date, with an “Edge to Edge” Liquid Retina display akin to the iPhone XR that was released last week. This means that the iPad Pro will continue to lack 3D Touch support, but will be able to maintain the ProMotion display which didn’t make it across to Apple’s OLED screens found in the iPhone X and XS.

The iPad Pro will also gain Face ID, but unlike the iPhone it will work in both portrait and Landscape orientations. Moreover the iPad Pro will not be gaining a notch to accommodate the sensors, and will simply incorporate it into the rim that will be present the whole way round the device.

The iPad Pro is set to get an update to both of its connectors, with the lightning port rumoured to make way for a USB-C port, which will give it enough bandwidth to connect to 4K external displays. The “Smart Connector”, or shall we say Keyboard Connector, is set to move to the back of the iPad, allowing peripherals … keyboards to click on magnetically.

Apple Pencil 2

Alongside the third revision of the iPad Pro lineup, we are set to see the second revision of the Apple Pencil. The Apple Pencil will auto pair with the iPad like the Logitech Crayon, and more interestingly gain gesture support for additional functionality. The Apple Pencil will also move to USB-C so it cab be charged directly from the iPad Pro.

MacBook

The MacBook is set to get a spec bump to the Intels 8th Generation Chipset, but nothing overly exciting.

MacBook Air

The MacBook Air was the defacto Mac for a number of years. It was slim, fast and for a Mac, inexpensive. Since then times have changed (unlike the MacBook Air itself) , and with its Non Retina display and huge bezel it has started to show its age.

The MacBook (Air?) that is set to be announced at the Keynote, has been developed to occupy the magical $999 price point that the MacBook Air currently hovers around. Expect to see a device a lot like the 13” MacBook Pro without Touch Bar, just with slightly slower internals, rather than a super slim device as that is already covered by the MacBook.

Mac mini

The Mac mini was originally announced at Macworld 2005 with the slogan BYODKM: Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse. The Mac mini was designed as low cost $499 entry level Mac, to encourage switchers from Windows. Now the Mac mini isn’t a machine for switchers, its the small headless Mac, that people use for variety of things such as running a Media server, a CI Build Machine etc, so expect the update to reflect this, with a higher base price and powerful build to order options.

iMac

The iMac is also set to receive a spec bump to the latest CPUs, which also means an increase of cores at the high end. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it incorporate a T Chip similar to the one introduced in iMac Pro unveiled last year, as Apple slowly migrate all of their Mac’s over to this new security architecture.

AirPower

It has to ship sometime doesn’t it? With it featuring in the iPhone XS manual you have to assume it is still being worked on, so what better time to release it than just before the holidays.