Apple’s Oct. 13 Event Rumour, Plus iPhone Duo Pre-Order Dates for Canada

On Oct. 8, staff at Apple Stores are cleared to open boxes they were told not to touch. MacRumors reported on Oct. 1 that stores had received confidential packages marked “Do Not Open Until October 8”, most likely new signage and display materials. Five days after that date, if Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is right, Apple will hold a launch event.

Gurman first reported that Apple plans to introduce new smart home products on Tuesday, Oct. 13. In his Power On newsletter on Oct. 4 he went further, writing that “Apple is planning to hold an event” that day, according to MacRumors. As of Oct. 4, Apple had not sent invitations or confirmed anything. Everything in the next section is reporting, not an announcement.

Apple’s Oct. 13 event: what’s rumoured

Three products, per Gurman’s reporting as summarized by MacRumors:

• A smart home hub. Apple’s first, with a small square touchscreen on a tilting metal arm in a design that recalls the iMac G4. Gurman, via MacRumors, says “the hub is about as thick as an iPhone, and its display is surrounded by a quarter-inch, black bezel.” A wall-mount version is also in the works. MacRumors has reported it may come in four colours: silver, space grey, starlight and rose pink.
• A new HomePod mini. Same design, a faster chip and new colours including pink and green.
• A new Apple TV 4K. Also the same design with a faster chip.

The common thread, according to the same reporting, is the Siri upgrade Apple first promised in 2024. A home hub is a Siri product before it is anything else, which is why Daring Fireball’s John Gruber argued it “has to be unveiled with a keynote video and some sort of media event with hands-on demos,” as quoted by MacRumors. If Siri is about to sit on your kitchen counter, it’s worth knowing where your Siri and Apple Intelligence requests actually go.

No pricing has been reported for any of the three. Canadian availability for the hub hasn’t been reported either.

iPhone Duo pre-order date and Canada price

The iPhone Duo is the confirmed part of Apple’s October. Apple announced its first foldable on Sept. 9, and its Canadian newsroom release sets the dates: pre-orders open Friday, Oct. 16 at 5 a.m. Pacific, which is 8 a.m. in Toronto, and the phone goes on sale Friday, Oct. 23 in more than 70 countries, Canada included. Another 28 regions follow on Oct. 30.

It starts at US$1,999 (CA$2,999) for 256GB, or CA$124.96 a month over 24 months. MacObserver compiled the full Canadian price list from Apple’s store:

The folding premium over the biggest regular iPhone is a flat CA$1,100 at every tier. Colours are star white and night sky. Apple’s own case is CA$99, and the folio with a kickstand is CA$179.

Here’s the part Canadians should notice. In the U.S. the same four tiers run from US$1,999 to US$3,199, according to MacObserver. Converted at about 1.39, the base model would be roughly CA$2,780 and the 2TB model roughly CA$4,450. Apple.ca charges CA$2,999 and CA$4,799, about CA$220 and CA$350 more. Both sets of prices are before sales tax, so the gap is Apple’s, not Ottawa’s. Our read is that Apple is pricing in a weaker loonie than the current exchange rate, with some cushion.

“iPhone Duo is the most transformational change to iPhone since the original.” John Ternus, Apple CEO

Supply could be tight: the yield report

That quote comes from Apple’s launch release. Getting the phone into hands may be harder than the pitch. China’s Jiemian News, citing a Foxconn source, reported that assembly yields were “only at about 60 per cent as of September 17,” according to MobileSyrup, and that reaching full capacity could take about six more months. MacRumors’ weekly roundup put the timeline at six months to a year. The same report says Apple is targeting six to eight million units this year. Apple has not commented.

Low yields don’t change the launch date. They usually change how fast ship estimates slip once pre-orders open.

What to do if you want one

• Set an alarm for 8 a.m. ET on Oct. 16. If early supply is limited, Oct. 23 delivery dates are likely to go in the first hours of pre-orders.
• Pick your storage tier now. The jump from 1TB to 2TB costs CA$900 in Canada, the largest step in the lineup.
• Wait for Oct. 13 if you’re buying an Apple TV or HomePod mini. Both are reportedly due for refreshes, so buying the current models before Oct. 13 is a poor bet.

The boxes open on Oct. 8. On Gurman’s timeline, Apple has five more days to explain what the new signage is for.