Apple sends out gift boxes containing the AirPods Max to promote the "Scary fast" event

Apple's "Scary fast" event being held on Monday is a bit unusual as it will take place in the evening hours. The pre-recorded announcements will take place at 5 pm PDT which means it will start at 8 pm EDT. We expect Apple to unveil M3-powered Macs including the 24-inch iMac and MacBook Pro. The M3 is the latest iteration of Apple Silicon and while designed by Apple, they are manufactured by TSMC using its N3B 3nm process node.

To promote the event, Apple is sending out gift boxes to certain influencers. The box includes a free over-ear AirPods Max headphone (a $549 value) along with some "sweet and spooky" snacks and drinks for the influencer to consume while he/she watches the "Scary fast" event on Monday night. The "Scary fast" name refers not only to Halloween, which takes place on Tuesday, but also to the zippy performance that the M3 SoC delivers.

TikTok influencer Lamar Wilson (via 9to5Google) posted a video on the platform showing off the gift box and the AirPods Max he received from Apple

While unlikely, Apple could use Monday evening's event to introduce three new iPad models. The trio was rumored to be introduced on October 17th along with a new third-gen Apple Pencil offering USB-C charging support. As it turned out, the new Apple Pencil was unveiled but the new iPads were not. The three tablets include a new 11th-generation basic iPad model, an M2-powered iPad Air (the previous model was equipped with the M1 chip), and the seventh-generation iPad mini with an A16 Bionic chipset inside.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported in his Power On weekly newsletter that these new iPads won't be introduced until March and they will all receive a 'specs boost.' And the first iPads ever to have an OLED display, the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2024), will be announced during a separate event that will take place after the other three models become official in March. 

Rumors that say the next-gen iPad Pro models will be the first iPads in history to feature OLED screens were challenged by a wacky story in DigiTimes that claims Apple will use LCD screens instead. The current 11-inch iPad Pro uses an LCD display while the 12.9-inch model features a mini-LED display.