Following Apple’s trilogy of special events, and the AirPods Max launch, Apple almost certainly finished with its hardware launches — but there’s more coming. Here’s what you could expect to see come out of Cupertino in early 2021.
Following Apple’s trilogy of special events, and the AirPods Max launch, Apple almost certainly finished with its hardware launches — but there’s more coming. Here’s what you could expect to see come out of Cupertino in early 2021. Apple made the unprecedented decision to hold three special events in three successive months toward the end of 2020 — and didn’t stop there. Alongside the expected launch of the iPhone 12 range, the Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE, HomePod mini, new iPads, a trio of Apple Silicon Macs, and lastly the AirPods Max, there is still more in the pipeline. Since we have heard so much about rumors for products that could have launched in 2020 but didn’t, we’ve got a pretty good idea of what Apple’s next product launches will entail. Taking into account historical launches, we also probably have a decent idea of when you’ll see whatever Apple launches next. Although 2020 and the coronavirus upended many schedules, Apple’s historical launches can still help us make an educated guess for 2021. Especially as history tells us, there’s not likely to be anything new early in the year. If we are counting launches from the last 10 years, the only product launched in January was the third-generation Apple TV’s “Rev A” update in 2013, and Apple didn’t even announce that one. The bulk of early launches for Apple over the last decade all took place in March of each year, with the iPad range being the predominant product since 2016. Other products do also crop up in the month, such as the Early 2020 MacBook Air, the 2019 Retina 4K iMac and Retina 5K iMac, second-generation AirPods, the first-generation iPhone SE, and some MacBook models in 2015. This isn’t to wipe out January entirely, or to discount February, for launches, though, as the HomePod shipped in February 2018 after being announced months earlier at WWDC. Additionally, a MacBook Pro update occurred in February 2013. It just seems implausible that a major product launch would occur in February or January based on previous years. Although, again, this doesn’t consider the effects of 2020 and Apple’s new willingness to shake things up with three product launch events in succession. Add in the number of products that have been rumored for launch but didn’t see release, and all bets are off for the start of 2021 as a whole. Apple can’t launch a product before it’s ready, but it won’t launch them until the time is exactly right. So March iPad releases are done with a mind to when the education market is buying, for instance. At the other end of the year, iPhones are launched to maximize their chances as the big holiday buy. Even when the reasons are not as clear as with these, though, Apple always has a plan. Apple has a reason to launch what it does, when it does — and also in what combination, if any. For years, the Apple Watch would benefit from being launched during the huge iPhone presentations, for instance. However, if we can’t always know the reasons and only continue to wonder what Apple is waiting for on the “AirTags,” there is something we can be confident about. There is still a large pool of products we can be pretty sure are coming, if only we knew when. “AirTags” are the archetypal example. These Tile-like devices are expected to provide a secure form of location tracking are as certain as can be. Countless supply chain details, leaked images, and even examples buried in Apple’s own iOS code, all make it sure that “AirTags” are coming.
