 MacBook Pros at an Apple retail store. Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images For the better part of two years, Apple Inc. was the talk of the computer and chip industries. It made the bold move to drop Intel Corp. processors in favor of homegrown technology and touted the rapid performance gains of its Mac lineup. Sales of the products surged, helped by a pandemic spending spree on new technology.
But the Mac's luster faded this year. The Covid-era boom turned into a bust, with demand for computers drying up. And though sales are expected to rebound in the all-important holiday quarter, Apple is suddenly facing more competition. The long-struggling Intel is staging a comeback. Qualcomm Inc., which is pushing into the market for laptop processors, recently announced a lineup that it says can trounce Apple's M2 chip. Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., meanwhile, are working on their own computer processors using technology from Arm Holdings Plc. It hasn't helped that long-awaited Mac updates have been slow to arrive. The excellent 15-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip was released a year after originally planned. The M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pros debuted months late, and the company's first Mac Pro tower with in-house silicon uses a chip with less performance than originally planned.  Apple announcing the M2 chip in 2022. Photographer: Christoph Dernbach/Getty Images But Apple has a chance to turn the page on all that come Monday evening. That's when the company is set to announce three new Mac chips (the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max) and a shift to more advanced 3-nanometer production technology. There will be major refreshes to the high-end MacBook Pros and the first update to the iMac since spring 2021. The M3 chip line is destined to be a considerable leap from the M2, bringing vastly improved speeds as well as better efficiency to improve battery life on notebooks. Here's what I am expecting from all three components: - M3: The central processing unit will boast eight cores (four for handling high-performance tasks and four efficiency cores focused on background functions) and as many as 10 cores for processing graphics. That matches the counts of the M2, but the M3 will likely support improved memory configurations and get far faster performance from each core.
- M3 Pro: This chip has been tested in multiple configurations, including one with 12 CPU cores (six for performance and six for efficiency) and 18 graphics cores. Higher-end versions of the M3 Pro are likely to get 14 CPU cores and 20 graphics cores.
- M3 Max: This chip has also been tested in different configurations, including one with 16 CPU cores (12 for performance and four for efficiency) and a whopping 40 graphics cores. There also was a less powerful version that had a still-ginormous 32 graphics cores.
Announcing three new chips at one time would be a considerable feat for Cupertino, California-based Apple, especially considering the products are based on 3-nanometer technology. Other manufacturers have struggled to get their hands on enough chips made with that advanced technique.  Steve Jobs announcing the iMac G3 in 2002. Photographer: Jennifer S. Altman It also shows that Apple has sped up the time to takes to develop major new chip generations. The M2 processor was announced 19 months after the first M1 debuted. Monday's unveiling of the M3 would narrow that gap to about 16 months. The time between computer updates is speeding up as well, in some cases at least. The previous MacBook Pro models — with M2 chips — launched in January, and now the new versions are arriving less than 10 months later. To be clear, this happened because the last generation was released later than planned. But Apple didn't let that delay push back the arrival of the M3 version. The other model getting updated Monday is the iMac. This machine has been a particular laggard — it currently still runs the M1 chip. But the new version should help restore its prominence in Apple's lineup. It's a milestone year for the iMac, which kicked off Apple's resurgence in the late 1990s and just turned 25. Monday's presentation — likely to be the company's last event of the year — won't be as attention-grabbing as an iPhone or Apple Watch launch. It will probably be filled with deeply technical language about chip speeds and feeds. And the innovations are mostly on the inside: The computers themselves won't have exciting new designs. But it still should be enough to bring computer-chip bragging rights back to Cupertino.  AirPods Max on display at an Apple retail store. Photographer: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg Apple prepares for a total AirPods overhaul. There are major changes coming to the AirPods in 2024. The company is working on extensive upgrades across the entire line, which has become one of Apple's most lucrative and important products in a relatively brief period of time. For all its success with the AirPods, Apple knows it needs to keep innovating. It's facing more competition in the market, especially from lower-priced earbuds from rivals like Jabra, Samsung and Bose. Here's what to expect: - Late 2024: Entry-level fourth-generation AirPods with a new design, updated case, improved audio, better fit and USB-C charging.
- Late 2024: A more upscale version of those fourth-generation AirPods that will add active noise cancellation. It also will have a case with speakers to support Find My alerts, helping users locate the device if they lose it.
- Late 2024: New AirPods Max with a USB-C port and fresh colors. There won't be other major changes, but it shows Apple is still committed to this product, which hasn't been updated since 2020.
- 2025: Revamped AirPods Pro with a new design and updated chip.
The changes to the entry-level AirPods should make the lineup easier to market to consumers. Right now, it isn't always clear why shoppers should buy the mid-tier AirPods for $169 over the base model at $129. The new features should better distinguish them. And adding USB-C should please the early adopters who already have that connector on their iPhones.  Actor Jason Sudeikis of Ted Lasso. Photographer: Valerie Macon /AFP Do you love Apple TV+ enough to pay $10 per month for it? The company wants to start generating even more revenue from its services division, already one of the fastest-growing parts of its business. That means higher prices for Apple TV+, News+ and Arcade. In light of those increases, it's also boosting prices for Apple One bundles. Here's the breakdown: Apple TV+: - Monthly: $9.99 (previously $6.99)
- Annually: $99 (previously $69)
Apple News+: - Monthly: $6.99 (previously $4.99)
Apple Arcade: - Monthly: $12.99 (previously $9.99)
Apple One Bundles: - Individual: $19.95 (previously $16.95)
- Family: $25.95 (previously $22.95)
- Premier: $37.95 (previously $32.95)
In explaining the price hikes, Apple pointed to increased content in both TV+ and Arcade. It didn't really discuss the reason News+ is going up. News+ hasn't been a hit with consumers, so asking for more money may be a challenge. It also remains Apple's only service that shows in-app advertising. But it will be good for publishers if more money flows to them. Last year, Apple raised prices of its music streaming service and brought TV+ up from $4.99. At $10 per month, TV+ is still one of the cheapest video streaming platforms. But it's also the only major service without a back catalog of content. It's hard to imagine Netflix and Amazon Prime being as successful as they are today without thousands of movies and TV shows that weren't produced by Netflix and Amazon themselves (as any Suits fan can attest).  Apple TV app on an iPhone. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg Apple's TV app is set for a necessary revamp. This past Tuesday I reported that Apple is set to revamp its TV app on tvOS with a new sidebar for navigation in December. Sure enough, Apple rolled out the first beta version of tvOS 17.2 on Thursday, and it includes that new interface. In my initial tests of the feature, it appears to be a significant improvement that makes it far easier to scroll through different content categories and sources. Though the beta version doesn't yet reflect this move, the company also plans to shutter its standalone TV show and movie apps on Apple TV and remove the corresponding sections in the iOS iTunes Store app.  Apple event invitation. Source: Apple Oct. 30: Apple's "Scary Fast" Mac event. As I detailed above, the company's last product launch of the year will showcase new Macs and the M3 chip. It kicks off Monday evening at 5 p.m. California time — a rare hour for an Apple event. That means it will be prime-time viewing for East Coasters, at 8 p.m., and the very start of the workday for most of Asia. The company will be airing the presentation online via its website and on YouTube.  Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg Nov. 2: Apple announces quarterly results. Apple is set to report fourth-quarter earnings at the start of November, capping its fiscal 2023. This is a critical report: We'll get our first slice of data on how the iPhone 15 models have performed and insight into how the company is feeling about the holiday period. The fourth quarter includes a little over a week of iPhone 15 sales, so we should get a pretty good idea of early momentum for the device and color from executives on how it's doing. One big question is how it's performing in China, where early sales indications have been weak. Q: How is iOS 17.2 treating you so far?
Q: Will the next AirPods Max get anything besides USB-C and new colors?
Q: Is Apple TV+ still worth it at the new price? | 
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