Report: Apple will introduce new iPhone, iPad on March 8

Once again, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has published a predictive report. This time, Bloomberg's sources have shared details on Apple's upcoming Spring event.

 

The report claims that Apple will host this year's event on March 8, which is a little earlier than usual. And the report names four major announcements expected at the event. In contrast to some of Gurman's recent newsletters, he cites sources familiar with Apple's plans, lending the report some credibility.

 

The Apple event will feature a new iPhone SE model with 5G capabilities, as has long been rumored. The sources also say the mid-range smartphone will have a faster processor and an improved camera, but it won't feature a radical new design.

 

Among other things, that suggests that the classic iPhone Home button still isn't going anywhere. The current iPhone SE uses a Home button-based design similar to that seen in 2017's iPhone 8. The report doesn't address how Apple might deal with the increased battery drain associated with 5G in that design, which has a notably small battery by today's standards.

 

That's not the only existing rumor the report claims to confirm. The next is that the iPad Air will get a refresh. As expected, the Air will have a faster processor, but like the iPhone SE, it will also gain 5G capabilities. The report doesn't specify anything about the new iPad Air's design, but the tablet got a major redesign not very long ago, so we expect the device to be similar to its predecessor.

 

The sources also claim that Apple plans to introduce a new Apple Silicon Mac as early as March, though the report does not guarantee that product will appear at the event.

 

Other reports have circulated claiming that Apple needs more time to produce the display-centric high-end iMac redesign. So our best guess for a new Mac at a March event would be a new, high-end Mac mini with the M1 Pro or M1 Max chips seen in recent MacBook Pro models. Currently, only the low-end Mac mini has Apple's custom-designed silicon, and that unit has an M1. High-end Mac mini models are still on Intel, but have not been updated in a long time.

 

Finally, the first half of March will also bring us the release of iOS 15.4, the report claims. iOS 15.3 did not introduce any major new features, but based on what we've seen in recent beta releases, iOS 15.4 seems poised to do more. Specifically, it will allow users to authenticate with Face ID while wearing face masks, and it will introduce the long-delayed Universal Control feature, which was initially planned for the first release of iOS 15 last year.

 

As always, Apple's plans could change. The company usually finalizes its event dates with email invitations to press and influencers about a week beforehand.