We’ve been hearing rumors of Apple planning an event for this spring since late last year. That’s no surprise, because March events have become commonplace on Apple’s yearly calendar and the only reason we didn’t have one last year was because of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we have our first prediction of a date for that event.
Korea’s Economic Daily News (via CultofMac) has put March 16th forward as the first date prediction for Apple’s spring event. While Apple’s previous in-person events were later in the month, this date actually looks pretty reasonable next to last year’s March 18th launch of the 2020 iPad Pros.
I wrote about this event being a month out last week, and here we are, just a few days shy of one month away from this predicted event date. In that article, I mentioned that this event would likely only have two products offered. However, as CultofMac mentions in the linked article above, there is at least one other viable option for this event.
We know all about the new iPad Pros, especially the 12.9″ version that should come with a miniLED display. We also know more than we probably should about any pre-release Apple product when it comes to their long-rumored AirTags. However, there have been reports that a new iPad Mini could also arrive at this spring. At this point, any spring release is likely to take place at this event. A new Mini with slimmer bezels seems like a reasonable addition to the lineup this year, so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it’s unveiled in a few weeks.
Another device that has popped up in a few recent rumors is the AirPods 3. It’s been almost two years since the AirPods 2 were released, so this is another product that seems like a very reasonable candidate for this event. My only hesitation saying that we should expect either these new wireless buds or a refreshed iPad Mini is that we haven’t gotten any real supply chain reports of production and testing like I would normally expect.
However, I don’t think that rules either of them out yet. COVID restrictions could be hampering the rumor cycle. That, and neither of these devices is going to generate the kind of buzz that iPhone 13 rumors do, so it may just be that the analysts aren’t paying that much attention to them. Hopefully something will come up over the next week or two to confirm whether they are in or out.
So now we are likely down to just 3 1/2 weeks before new iPad Pros are announced and on sale. Are you looking to buy this year? If so, is the new miniLED screen what you’re after, or is 5G a major selling point for you? Let me know in the Comments section below or on Twitter @iPadInsightBlog.
