This is a whirlwind of a month for Apple rumors. First, we heard from leaker Jon Prosser that it was an Apple event was scheduled for March 16, but it is excluded by Bloombergsee Mark Gurman. Once the date is over, Prosser and other sweets suggest that there will be an Apple event on March 23, which apparently does not happen either.
/article-new/2021/02/aipad-pro-tags-slight-tweak-feature.jpg?resize=560%2C315&ssl=1)
With the attention now shifting to April, we have compiled this overview of where things stand.
Rumors move to April
The first word Apple can announce in April comes from the Japanese website Mac Otakara in early January. The blog said Apple would release the second-generation AirPods Pro and a third-generation iPhone SE in April, but the report did not specify whether the products would be announced at an event or with press releases. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has since claimed that a new iPhone SE will only be released in 2022, but new AirPods Pro is still possible in the spring.
The April talks intensified this week, starting with a report from the Taiwanese publication on the supply chain DigiTimes which demanded volume shipments of Mini-LED display components for a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro will launch in the second quarter of 2021, which runs from April to June. This was followed by a report from Gurman, who claims that planning to announce new iPads as early as April, including new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models.
Gurman noted that the new iPad Pro models may include a Thunderbolt connector. This rumor certainly sounds plausible, as the new iPad Pro models are expected to be equipped with a faster A14X chip based on the M1 chip in the latest Macs, and the M1 disk supports Thunderbolt. Since Thunderbolt uses the USB-C connector design, the new iPad Pro models will continue to work with existing USB-C chargers and accessories.
Gurman said Apple should keep the Mini-LED backlight on the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro to a minimum, as is commonly rumored, suggesting that Mini-LED screen technology may be exclusive to the larger model , at least for now.
Kuo added to the pile early Thursday, claiming that mass production of Mini-LED iPads will begin mid to late April.
Apple event in April?
Apple’s last meeting in April was in 2010, when the late Steve Jobs announced the developer preview of iPhone OS 4 (later renamed iOS 4) at Apple’s small town hall convention center in its former Infinite Loop headquarters.
However, according to Prosser, Apple plans to host an April event this year. Prosser said in a YouTube video today that a “vague and mysterious” source who was “100% accurate” told him there would be an event in late April, but Prosser thought a April event ‘little to no sense’ and he was more likely to believe his sources calling a March 23 event.
Prosser himself admits that it’s worth treating this rumor in April with some skepticism, as it would be Apple’s first April event in 11 years, but he stressed the source of his source. It is also noteworthy that Prosser was about three consecutive rumors about events inaccurate, including a November 17 event, an event of 16 March, and a March 23 event (except for a last-minute announcement).
What about the rest of March?
As Gurman and Kuo indicate that new iPads are unlikely to be announced until at least April, Kuu recently claimed that mass production of third-generation AirPods is now scheduled for the second half of 2021, the list of new Apple products which may be revealed in March begins to shrink.
However, a new ‘Items’ tab, enabled by default in the Find My app in the iOS 14.5 beta, has raised some hope that Apple’s long-awaited AirTags article trackers will be released soon. Apple has said that iOS 14.5 will be released in early spring, but a specific release date remains unclear. If the Release Candidate version is finally released next week, iOS 14.5 could be released on Monday, March 29th or Tuesday, March 30th.
Apple may prefer to launch the AirTags and / or other new products with press releases like last year, including updated iPad Pro and MacBook Air models on March 18 and the second generation iPhone SE on April 15.
Gurman’s report this week said AirTags were still ‘planned for this year’.
Although, although rumors have been circulating all over the map since late, there seems to be enough smoke to indicate that within the next six weeks or at least a few new products will be announced. Whether any of the product announcements will take place in the last days of March or in April or during an event or otherwise remains to be seen.