March is approaching and rumors are beginning to flourish of what the company may present at its already “traditional” year-end event.
In 2018 we had the iPad event focused on education and last year, after a week of launches via Twitter, the company announced its new services from Apple News +, Apple Arcade, Apple TV +, and the Apple Card.
This year I think we will see a similar modus operandi (Tim Cook may change platforms) but March will be a month full of news and announcements by the Cupertino giant.
Here are my bets for this year's event (and the days close to it):
That will not be the name but it is clear that Apple has to take an approach similar to that of Amazon with Amazon Prime with its services. The company is rumored to package several of its services in a single bundle that will allow it not only to accelerate revenue growth for the Services division (which first surpassed $ 10 billion in sales in a quarter and grew 17 % in just the last quarter) but to generate an offer that is too good for people not to take it.
Apple News + is not doing well, Apple TV + does not have enough content for people to renew their subscription once the grace year that came with the purchase of iPhones, iPads, and Macs is over, iCloud storage is still expensive compared to what offered by the competition and we don't know what's going on with Apple Arcade.
A good package, with a good price, can lead to an increase in the adoption of these services by more than 1.4 billion people who currently use an iOS device.
* seriously I hope that's not the name
It is almost a fact that Apple will launch its "cheap iPhone" during this first quarter of the year. Demand is in, rumors abound, and everything seems to line up for the company to bring to market a device to compete within a range where it doesn't compete. Of course, if the Coronavirus has not affected the production of the device as if it seems that it has done so for the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max (to the point that yesterday the company issued a correction to its sales forecasts for this quarter due to fault of the pandemic).
Tim Cook & Co. may announce new iPads during this event (or its surrounding days). But not new models of the iPad, iPad Air, or iPad Mini but of the iPad Pro. The 2018 model, the latest to launch, is -simply- fantastic and its new version could take it to a new level.
For now, the main change that this new version of the device seems to include is a triple camera system that would allow advanced virtual reality functionalities. But little is known or speculated about the new device.
I would like to see a new backlit keyboard. It is the only thing that I have today to be perfect.
Tim is already waiting!
If there is a product that has me excited, it is the "Apple Tags" (or AirTags or whatever they are called). Devices that you can put in your wallet, stick to your keys or other non-Apple devices and make them part of the ecosystem of your Find My application to be able to locate them - with sound and with an augmented reality model - with any of your iOS devices ( and using the functions of the U1 Chip included in the latest iPhone models and which has not yet been juiced).
If there is a device that can be updated via Twitter during the week, this will be the new Macbook. Or better the new MacBook models whose great feature will be the new keyboard.
The latter is more of a wish than a rumor. A desire that comes from necessity, opportunity, and logic. Apple is far from Amazon and Google in the smart speaker market (in the United States the Echo has about 70% Market Share, for example).
And it is not for any other reason at the price of the device. The secret of the Echo is the variety of models that exist. Large, medium, small, with and without a screen. There are an Echo for all tastes ... and pockets.
I am not asking Apple to make a cheap HomePod. What I am asking is that Apple expands the HomePod offering with other models that meet specific needs. Suddenly not the same audio quality as the original HomePod but the option to make and receive calls via Facetime and the possibility of controlling the entire HomeKit ecosystem via voice commands. Suddenly a HomePod Mini, at a more affordable price.
I think it is time to do it. The HomePod has the same potential as AirPods but at the household level and I think the longer it takes, the more complex it will be for Apple that users like me, who bet on the pure ecosystem, stay in it and do not have to go out and complement it with third-party devices.
The events of 2019 and 2018 were on March 25 and 27, both Tuesdays (Apple loves Tuesdays to do an event) so it would be logical that it would be on March 24 (although there is a report out there that talks about the 31). But there is still a risk that there will be no event, especially if the issue of COVID-19 (now known as the Coronavirus) continues to grow.
For now, we will wait to see what happens and we will be telling you what we hear in the blog here.
In 2018 we had the iPad event focused on education and last year, after a week of launches via Twitter, the company announced its new services from Apple News +, Apple Arcade, Apple TV +, and the Apple Card.
This year I think we will see a similar modus operandi (Tim Cook may change platforms) but March will be a month full of news and announcements by the Cupertino giant.
Here are my bets for this year's event (and the days close to it):
1. Apple "Prime"
That will not be the name but it is clear that Apple has to take an approach similar to that of Amazon with Amazon Prime with its services. The company is rumored to package several of its services in a single bundle that will allow it not only to accelerate revenue growth for the Services division (which first surpassed $ 10 billion in sales in a quarter and grew 17 % in just the last quarter) but to generate an offer that is too good for people not to take it.
Apple News + is not doing well, Apple TV + does not have enough content for people to renew their subscription once the grace year that came with the purchase of iPhones, iPads, and Macs is over, iCloud storage is still expensive compared to what offered by the competition and we don't know what's going on with Apple Arcade.
A good package, with a good price, can lead to an increase in the adoption of these services by more than 1.4 billion people who currently use an iOS device.
2. iPhone SE2 (or iPhone 9 *)
 |
| This photo is just to crave them because everything indicates that it will look more like the iPhone 8 than the iPhone SE |
* seriously I hope that's not the name
It is almost a fact that Apple will launch its "cheap iPhone" during this first quarter of the year. Demand is in, rumors abound, and everything seems to line up for the company to bring to market a device to compete within a range where it doesn't compete. Of course, if the Coronavirus has not affected the production of the device as if it seems that it has done so for the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max (to the point that yesterday the company issued a correction to its sales forecasts for this quarter due to fault of the pandemic).
3. New iPad Pro
Tim Cook & Co. may announce new iPads during this event (or its surrounding days). But not new models of the iPad, iPad Air, or iPad Mini but of the iPad Pro. The 2018 model, the latest to launch, is -simply- fantastic and its new version could take it to a new level.
For now, the main change that this new version of the device seems to include is a triple camera system that would allow advanced virtual reality functionalities. But little is known or speculated about the new device.
I would like to see a new backlit keyboard. It is the only thing that I have today to be perfect.
4. Apple Tags
Tim is already waiting!
If there is a product that has me excited, it is the "Apple Tags" (or AirTags or whatever they are called). Devices that you can put in your wallet, stick to your keys or other non-Apple devices and make them part of the ecosystem of your Find My application to be able to locate them - with sound and with an augmented reality model - with any of your iOS devices ( and using the functions of the U1 Chip included in the latest iPhone models and which has not yet been juiced).
5. New MacBook (or better MacBooks with the new keyboard)
If there is a device that can be updated via Twitter during the week, this will be the new Macbook. Or better the new MacBook models whose great feature will be the new keyboard.
(Wishful Thinking) A HomePod Mini
The latter is more of a wish than a rumor. A desire that comes from necessity, opportunity, and logic. Apple is far from Amazon and Google in the smart speaker market (in the United States the Echo has about 70% Market Share, for example).
And it is not for any other reason at the price of the device. The secret of the Echo is the variety of models that exist. Large, medium, small, with and without a screen. There are an Echo for all tastes ... and pockets.
I am not asking Apple to make a cheap HomePod. What I am asking is that Apple expands the HomePod offering with other models that meet specific needs. Suddenly not the same audio quality as the original HomePod but the option to make and receive calls via Facetime and the possibility of controlling the entire HomeKit ecosystem via voice commands. Suddenly a HomePod Mini, at a more affordable price.
I think it is time to do it. The HomePod has the same potential as AirPods but at the household level and I think the longer it takes, the more complex it will be for Apple that users like me, who bet on the pure ecosystem, stay in it and do not have to go out and complement it with third-party devices.
The Tentative Date
The events of 2019 and 2018 were on March 25 and 27, both Tuesdays (Apple loves Tuesdays to do an event) so it would be logical that it would be on March 24 (although there is a report out there that talks about the 31). But there is still a risk that there will be no event, especially if the issue of COVID-19 (now known as the Coronavirus) continues to grow.
For now, we will wait to see what happens and we will be telling you what we hear in the blog here.
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