While we’ve yet to be informed of an official announcement, Apple is known to occasionally hold a springtime ‘special event’ — whereat the iPhone-maker typically takes the wraps off a slew of exciting, next-generation products.
Last year, on the 21st of March, for instance, Cupertino held a special event that saw the unveiling of its iPhone SE, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and a slew of festive new Apple Watch bands. The year prior, on March 9th of 2015, Apple unveiled the first-generation Apple Watch, along with its first 12-inch MacBook, and updates to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops. While there was no spring event held in either 2013 or 2014, Apple had previously held special events back on March 2nd of 2011, and again on March 7th of 2012 — whereat Steve Jobs unveiled the 2nd-generation iPad, and newly appointed CEO, Tim Cook, announced the 3rd-generation Apple TV and iPad with Retina display, respectively.
While the record may give plenty of reason to doubt Apple will hold another special event this year, it’s thus far been widely rumored that such will be the case — which is quite easy to reason, especially since Apple is sitting on a mound of devices that are in desperate need of an update.
Here’s everything we know so far, and what we can expect to see at Apple’s springtime event.
iPad
Apple’s current iPad line boasts a total of five models, including the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2, 9.7- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros, as well as the iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 4.
The last iPad update came at last year’s March 21st special event, which saw the 9.7-inch iPad Pro touch down — and prior to that, we saw both the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and 7.9-inch iPad mini 4, touch down back in September of 2015.
iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 4 are both running on some fairly outdated chipsets, too — the former on Apple’s first-ever 64-bit A7 chip, and the latter on the same iPhone 6-based A8 SoC.
Here’s What to Expect
It’s so far been rumored that Apple will unveil an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, boasting a bezel-less design, and equipped with an A10X SoC of unknown speed — as well as an updated 9-inch iPad Pro 2 boasting upgraded components across the board.
Apple has also been slated to release a more budget-friendly, 9.7-inch iPad, which could be exclusively geared towards the education sector.
Likewise, conflicting reports have clashed on whether or not the company will release an updated ‘iPad mini Pro’, featuring a 7.9-inch True Tone display, a 12 MP camera with LED flash, and quad-speaker array — similar to the larger iPad Pros before it.
Should Apple hold a spring event this year, we could see several of the models launch shortly thereafter; however, a recent report has pegged the top-tier, A10X-equipped models for an early May or June launch.
iPhone
Apple has historically waited until the fall quarter to release its flagship iPhone hardware, such as the iPhone 7 last September, iPhone 6s the September before that, and the iPhone 6 back in September, 2014. We don’t expect this tradition to change for the year ahead.
However, last March Apple unveiled its resurrected, 4-inch iPhone SE handset featuring a slew of next-generation internals, camera updates, and either 16 or 64 GB of storage.
Here’s What to Expect
It has so far been rumored that Cupertino could introduce an iPhone SE boasting even more storage this year — perhaps to the tune of 128 GB, or more. However we’ll have to wait and see if any additional info surfaces.
It was also recently rumored that Apple could unveil an iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus featuring a Red color treatment, perhaps even under the guise of Product (RED) branding.
Mac
While Apple introduced an all-new, OLED Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pro last fall, and an updated 12-inch MacBook just six-months prior, the company’s other Mac offerings have been relatively stagnant for quite some time.
Machines including the Mac mini and Mac Pro, for instance, have not been updated since 2014 and 2013, respectively; while the last iMac updates touched down back in 2015.
Tim Cook has also suggested that “some great new desktops” are looming on the horizon, however we currently have no reason to believe they will be coming this spring.
Worth noting, however, is that the company recently extended its promotional discount on select USB C-compatible accessories and peripherals (from December 31st, 2016, now running through March 31st of this year).
Here’s What to Expect
Given the time that’s elapsed between the last major Mac updates and now, it could be that Apple has a few USB C-equipped models ready to hit store shelves — though only time will tell if that’s indeed the case.
Apple Watch
Here’s What to Expect
We can almost rest assured the company will be introducing new Watch bands this spring, however, if indeed a special event is held.
As for the Apple Watch Series 3 — which could boast upgraded internals, a FaceTime camera, and even new display technology — we shouldn’t expect that to come until later this year, at the earliest.
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