Apple to unveil new Macs and iPads tonight

Computing looks ahead to tonight's Apple launch to speculate on what might lie in store.

With the Apple launch just an hour away, Computing has been taking a look to see what might be included this time round.

Last month, of course, the most intriguing aspect of Apple's iPhone 5S and 5C unveilings was the support for 64-bit ARM with iOS on the iPhone 5S.

The company has been subject to on-off speculation over whether it will eventually shift its desktop and laptop lines over to 64-bit ARM too, and

However, that would be premature. More likely today will be the adoption of Intel's Haswell line of microprocessors, which will be especially useful to Apple in terms of the more energy-efficient design of the Haswell. Apple's MacBooks have always offered better battery life than their PC rivals and the chip architectures in the current range of Apple computers are somewhat long in the tooth.

Expect, too, better integration between the OSX computer operating system and iOS7, Apple's mobile operating system.

But 64-bit ARM could well make an appearance in a new tablet computer, and speculation has also surrounded the notion that Apple could copy Microsoft and put a keyboard on its latest iPad tablet computer.

While the Microsoft Surface, the tablet with keyboard, has endured a muted welcome in its first year on sale - Microsoft had to write-down unsold stock worth some $900m in its financial year to the end of June - the "touch" and "type" keyboards that attached magnetically to the devices were generally praised as neat design touch.

Also in tablet computers, the popular iPad Mini will almost certainly be refreshed and, with the rival Google Nexus 7 proving popular at £199, there's price pressure piling up on Apple, too. At the very least, the new Mini ought to offer an improved screen and updated microprocessor.

Other iPads ought to enjoy a bump-up in solid-state disk storage given that the fast-access storage devices have dropped dramatically in price in the past year.

Finally, there has also been speculation in the past month about the mythical Apple TV. Of course, Apple does offer a small form-factor device for streaming content to the television.

But what has been expected for years is a fully fledged Apple television - screen 'n' all - that will do for the TV markets what the iPod did for MP3 players and the iPhone did for smartphones.

The reality, though, is likely to be more mundane - just an update or new services for the old Apple TV box.