What Products Should We Expect From Apple's March 2020 Event?
Originally Posted: February 4th, 2020
What Products Should We Expect from Apple’s March 2020 Event?
iPhone 9? iPhone SE 2?
The name is up for debate, but we'll likely see a new low-cost iPhone.
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Apple has fallen into something of a normal schedule. Summer always means WWDC and new software, fall always means new iPhones. Other products, like the iPad and Mac, don't have as regular of a schedule. New Macs rely on Intel shipping new CPUs, so Macs ship throughout the year when they are ready. New iPads come out at all times throughout the year, but the flagships still fall on a roughly 12-to-18 month refresh cycle, with updated budget models fitting into the gaps that are left.
For the past few years, Apple has also held a spring event, usually in March. It's the counterpoint to the fall event, falling around halfway between the annual iPhone shows.
Apple always pads these spring events with updates about the company, past products, and different initiatives they are undertaking. Ignoring those for now and getting into the meat of the presentations, here's what we saw over the past few years.
In 2015:
-12-inch MacBook
-Apple Watch launch
In 2016:
-Phone SE
-9.7-inch iPad Pro
In 2018:
-New $329 iPad
-Education Announcements (Logitech Crayon, iWork updates, Classroom Management Apps)
In 2019:
-Services (Apple News+, Apple Card, Apple Arcade and Apple TV+)
-New iPads Air and Mini, and AirPods 2 (via press release)
Here's What I Think We'll See In March 2020, From Most To Least Likely:
1) New Low-Cost iPhone
Expect something that looks like the iPhone 8…
Apple could call it the iPhone 9, filling the gap between 8 and 10 they left. It could be the iPhone SE 2, which people have been clamoring for since the original came out of nowhere in 2016. Whatever it is called, it's widely expected to use the same formula they used for the original iPhone SE. Take an older chassis, and fill it with modern internals. This phone will be for people who want a less-expensive iPhone and people who want a new iPhone with a Home button. All the rumors point to us seeing the iPhone 8 design with the A12 CPU from 2018, or the A13 from the iPhone 11.
What we probably won't see is a new design, or an iPhone with a 4.0" screen size, like the iPhone 5/5S/SE. There are a lot of reasons for this. First, the SE is an old design that originally came out in 2012. Some people say it's the best iPhone design, and they may be right. The small size has its advantages, but it also creates a few problems.
…not a new design with an edge-to-edge screen
All applications need to scale from the 4.0" size up to the 6.5" of the Pro Max. This creates UI design challenges, resulting in less-than-ideal choices for the smallest or biggest, and creates more work for developers. It's not just the physical size difference, but also the resolution difference. It's hard to make a great app that fills the bigger screen, yet scales all the way down the iPhone SE size. Sometimes it's good to let go of the past.
It also creates issues for fitting components in. A lot of the reasons phones have gotten better lately is due to them getting bigger. Bigger screens, bigger camera lenses, bigger batteries. A lot of people want the design of the iPhone X, with FaceID and an edge-to-edge screen, in a smaller size. Unfortunately, making components smaller is hard, and expensive. It's not unrealistic to expect a new iPhone X mini, but it is very unlikely it will debut in March as a budget model.
The iPhone 9/SE2 should be around $399, and should support their next big announcement, Apple Tags.
2) Apple Tags
If you have read Apple rumors over the past few months, you'll know it's an open secret Apple is working on a Tile competitor that they are calling Tags. Tile is a company that makes small devices that can be used to track physical objects, like your keys. Apple revamped the FindMyiPhone application in iOS 13, changing the name to FindMy and adding support for a decentralized, secure way to locate your devices. FindMy can already be used to find your iPad, Watch, AirPods or Mac, and it's logical to assume that application could be used to track other things when a Tag is added to them.
Mockup of what Apple Tags could look like
Enterprising people like Guilherme Rambo, Steve Troughton-Smith and others have dug into Apple's code and found references to these unreleased products. We even have screenshots of what the UI will look like, which is where the reference to the name Tags was found. Most people expected that they would come out with the iPhone 11 last fall, which would help explain the still-mostly-useless U1 Wideband chip was added.
It'd be easy to flow right into Tags from the iPhone 9 and the U1 chip. A small, disk-like accessory that you can attach to anything and track anywhere with the new Find My network. The FindMy app is incredibly privacy-centric, as you would hope for a feature literally meant to track someone.
I hope Apple addresses potential abuses of AirTags and what they are doing to prevent it in their announcement. It's a safe bet we'll see their super-sleek integration into iOS and macOS and wonder how we ever kept track of our keys without them.
3) iPad Pro 4
The last thing we're likely to see is an updated iPad Pro. Rumors point to this being a much smaller update than we got in 2018, using the same design, while adding small features and camera improvements. The biggest addition is likely to be a new Time-Of-Flight sensor, which will allow for better 3D sensing and AR capabilities. That sensor will likely make its way into the iPhone this fall, and we are sure to see some of Apple's favorite thing: AR demos!
Beyond the Time-Of-Flight sensor, we may see some other camera specific features, even though the iPad still makes for an awkward camera. It'll likely include an A13X processor, U1 chip, and whatever else Apple can cram in there.
4) New Macs
Getting into less likely territory now, we could see a new 14- or 13-inch MacBook Pro in the style of the 16-inch or an updated MacBook Air. Even less likely than that would be some spec bumps to the iMac or Mac mini. There are a few Macs that are due to get updated to Intel's 10th generation CPUs, but we're unlikely to see them at this event. Apple tends to make these events smaller, choosing to focus on a few things. Unfortunately, I think new Macs will have to wait for WWDC in June, or a press release along the way.
5) Apple TV Hardware
The Apple TV+ service is a big focus for Apple lately, but the Apple TV hardware hasn't been updated since 2017. The current 4K model is certainly powerful enough for what it does, and Apple is focusing more on adding the Apple TV app to Smart TVs and other streaming platforms, so it's unlikely we'll see new hardware. If anything, I think it is due for a price drop.
6) HeadPods
In spring 2019, we got 2nd generation AirPods. In October 2019, we got AirPods Pro. Both of these were announced via press release. It makes sense, since they aren't an easy thing to demo on stage. Last time Apple tried to demo an audio product on stage, it was the HomePod. Still, if rumors of Apple-branded over-the-ear wireless headphones are true, they could be worth stage time.
7) AirPower
Firmly in fantasy land now, AirPower could reappear in a less ambitious form. AirPower was originally announced in 2017, but was never released due to problems in the design process. If Apple decided to remove support for the Apple Watch, which doesn't support Qi standard, it's possible AirPower could live again. Apple doesn't need to, and they're much more likely to never utter the name AirPower on stage ever again.
RIP AirPower, we hardly knew ye.
