Apple's iPad event - what to expect

Apple's October 30 event is upon us and while it will bring no new phones or smart wearables it will be jam packed with announcements. So let's try and decipher the clues with the help of recent leaks and rumors.

The stars will undoubtedly be the iPads. Plural, as Apple will likely present its new 12.9 and 10.5-inch iPad Pros. Both are expected to ditch the home button in favor of Face ID and both will have slimmed down bezels.

Some rumors mentioned that the new iPad Pros will use a USB-C port instead of Apple's Lightning and that move will grant the new Apple slates Thunderbolt 3 support and the goodies that brings - like outputting 4K HDR videos to external monitors. Chances are however, that the only thing to get a USB-C port are their chargers and you'll still get Apple's proprietary port on the tablet itself.

The new Apple iPad Pros are expected to retain the 4:3 aspect ratio and likely use the same 120Hz ProMotion LCD displays as OLED of this size would make the devices too expensive (even for Apple products).

We are also probably getting a new Pencil. Apple is expected to update it with gesture support and perhaps even add a button to it which could give it extra functionality when used with the tablet (similar to the the styli that are used with Wacom tablets).

Next up Apple is rumored to update the three year old iPad Mini. It will likely receive a new display and a bump in processing speed.

There's talk of upgraded AirPods that will be able to accept the "Hey Siri" command without the need for a physical tap on the headphone. Apple could also finally bring the AirPower wireless charging mat to the market, but we've been disappointed by this one before so don't get your hopes up yet.

The event will likely also bring new Macbook, Mac mini and iMac. The latter two are expected to see a bump in specs but the Macbook will be the most anticipated new device.

Rumored to be the long anticipated Macbook Air with a high-res display, the new device could be a mashup of the Macbook Air and the 12-inch Macbook. Some say it will be priced lower than the current Macbook Pros (even 13-inch) and will have the Whisky Lake Intel chipsets, Touch ID but no Touch Bar.

Finally Apple will give a lot of screen time to creative software used on the new iPad Pros. We expect Adobe's new Photoshop to be demoed on stage.

We'll cover the event as it unfolds so you'd best stay right where you are.