When Tim Cook Tweets, Apple fans listen. Especially when he’s teasing new product. Apple usually does three to four launch events each year: one in early spring, one around its annual developers conference in June, one in September (where they almost always announce the new iPhone), and one later in the fall. Needless to say, the timing of Cook’s announcement last week caught some by surprise. The folks in Cupertino haven’t actually held a release event in the month of February since 2006 (when they unveiled the extremely forgettable iPod Hi-Fi speakers).
Apple is notoriously tight-lipped about what it shows in these events. The teaser posted to X just includes a short video of the Apple logo in a circle and a limp reference to the “newest member of the family.” Still, people have worked themselves up into a frenzy imagining all the things Cook could announce on February 19.
Thankfully, a lot of tech reporters and industry experts spend most of their year trying to figure out exactly what Tim is cooking up (pun intended). Here’s what they have been predicting, arranged in order of how confident they are.
Product: iPhone SE / iPhone E
Price range: $400-$600
Apple last updated the iPhone SE in 2022, but even then, it was quite dated in the lineup of phones. It is the only Apple phone that still has a home button. The updated version, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, will look more like current iPhones. It should have an edge-to-edge screen, Face ID, a USB-C charging port (s/o to the EU for forcing Apple to support the same cords as everyone else), and support for Apple Intelligence.
Product: MacBook Air
Price: $1,100-$1,300 (with plenty of upgrade options)
A few years ago, Apple started putting its own microchips into its computers and phones. Last year’s M4 chip was first introduced to the iMac and MacBook Pro to rave reviews. That has made a lot of Apple experts, including Gurman, expect that a version of the MacBook Air with the M4 chip will be coming out this spring. Making us more confident is that Apple announced a version of the MacBook Air with the previous-gen M3 chip around this time last year. We also expect to see an updated iPad Air with the M3 chip sometime this year too.
Product: Apple Command Center
Price: $500-$1,000
Gurman has reported that Apple is working on a new wall-mounted display that can be used as a smart home hub. The new product, which the hardworking aggregation team at MacRumors is calling the “Apple Command Center,” is supposedly going to have a 6-inch screen, a camera at the top, a rechargeable built-in battery, and internal speakers. Apparently, you’re going to have to use Siri to get the most out of it.
Product: Apple AirTag 2
Price: $30-$100
Ready for some truly harebrained speculation? Some people online have taken the circle motion graphic Cook Tweeted as a hint that the company is finally planning to update its popular tracking accessory. There are a lot of things that could be changed about Apple AirTag, which came out in April 2021. Reports say the new version will look nearly identical to the old one, with an improved internal Ultra Wideband chip that’ll make it easier to locate accurately, and a harder-to-remove built-in speaker.
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