Apple nerds, mark your calendars. Apple’s annual spring iPhone event will be September 16 at 3 a.m. AEST. That means in a week, we’ll likely be getting the skinny on the iPhone 12 lineup, the Apple Watch Series 6, the iOS 14 release date, iPads, and maybe even some new headphones and the long-rumoured AirTags.
There’s been a lot of back-and-forth between Apple prognosticators about when this dang event was supposed to happen. Some contended that due to covid-19, the event would likely be delayed to late October. Jon Prosser swore up and down that Apple would save its annual event for later this spring, with the Apple Watch and iPad announcements coming via press release today. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman turned out to be right, noting that today’s announcement was just letting us know when exactly Apple’s event would take place. In any case, while the date is a little later than usual compared to previous years, it’s still on a Tuesday in September so… not even a pandemic can throw Apple too far off schedule.
Speaking of rumours, there have been plenty with regard to the iPhone 12 lineup. There will likely be four models that take design cues from the iPhone 5, namely in the form of squared-off edges. We’re expecting two cheaper models measuring 5.4 and 6.1 inches, and two “Pro” models at 6.1 and 6.7 inches. We’ve also heard some interesting rumours regarding a possible 120Hz screen and some fancy camera modes. All four are also expected to be Apple’s first 5G compatible phones. That said, while the announcement is coming next week, it’s likely there’ll be a slight delay when it comes to shipping due to supply chain issues caused by the pandemic.
As for the Apple Watch Series 6, most rumours thus far have indicated that we should expect to see blood oxygen monitoring in some capacity. More interesting is a recent rumour that Apple will be replacing the Series 3 with a more updated budget model.
We’re also expecting to see an updated iPad Air, and potentially, a smaller and cheaper HomePod and over-ear headphones. There are even rumours Apple’s AirTags, which help you track lost stuff like your keys, could be announced. There’s also an outside chance that this is when Apple might announce its first Apple Silicon computers and put us all out of our speculative misery.
We won’t find out until next week, and as usual, Apple’s announcement is cryptic and reveals zero details other than time and date. On the bright side, at least we don’t have to listen to Apple leakers argue about the event itself anymore.