Late last week, Apple sent out invites for its ‘Let’s take a field trip’ event on March 27. The event is squarely focused on teachers and students if the tagline accompanying the event invite is to be believed. The event venue, Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago, further reaffirms that. This is the first time that Apple is holding an event in a college instead of one of its usual auditoriums.
This will be Apple’s first event since it first unveiled the iPhone X and iPhone 8 in September last year. With the event taking place just a few months before WWDC 2018, you should not really expect Apple to unveil some major new products at the event. Thanks to rumors and leaks, we already have a fair bit of idea of the products that Apple will be unveiling at its March 27 event. Let’s have a look at what the rumors say about them.
New iPad Pros
Apple has been running a “What’s a Computer” ad campaign to promote the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil for over a year now. The ads showcase children using the iPad Pro as their ‘first computer’ and how they can use it for creative purposes and their school work.
Add in the rumors of a pending iPad Pro refresh and the location of the venue and it is clear that Apple will be unveiling refreshed iPad Pros at the event. Apart from the usual upgrades like a powerful chipset — A11X Bionic, a more powerful version of the A11 Bionic chip used inside the iPhone X; and an improved display, the new iPad Pro will also feature Face ID. Apart from rumors, the presence of Face ID on the refreshed iPad Pro is further corroborated by many references in the iOS 11.3 code.
Apple first debuted Face ID with the iPhone X last year. On the phone, the company completely ditched Touch ID in favor of Face ID. That move likely stemmed from the lack of internal space on the handset and the desire to completely get rid of the home button. As for the refreshed iPad Pros, it is unclear if Apple will be getting rid of Touch ID or keep the tech alongside Face ID. If Touch ID is given the boot, the new iPad Pros are unlikely to feature a home button as well and switch to a gesture-based navigation approach like the iPhone X. The lack of a home button does mean that Apple could further slim down the bezels on the iPad Pros thereby making them slightly more compact.
Rumors point to Apple only including Face ID on the smaller 10.5-inch iPad Pro and giving the feature a miss on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. That, however, seems unlikely to me and it would be an odd decision from Apple if it goes ahead with this.
Apple Pencil 2
It has been over 2.5 years since Apple first unveiled the original Apple Pencil. Since then, the device has not received any major upgrades. Thus, to go along with the new iPad Pros, the Cupertino company is expected to unveil the Apple Pencil 2 at its March 27th event as well.
So far, there have not been much leaks surrounding the digital pencil. One leak did point to the Apple Pencil 2 coming with built-in magnets which would allow it to attach to the iPad Pro. This functionality would be similar to that of the Surface Book and Surface Pen and would ensure that most Apple Pencil owners don’t end up losing it easily.
While not confirmed, the new Apple Pencil 2 will likely have more pressure points that will provide creative individuals and artists with finer controls during their work.
Cheaper MacBook (Air?) with Retina Display
Given that Apple is aggressively pushing the iPad Pro as a computer replacement, I don’t think that the company will be stealing the limelight away from them by unveiling a cheaper MacBook. Nonetheless, over the last month or two, we have heard plenty of times from reputed sources that Apple will be launching a cheaper MacBook with Retina display.
Different leaks have claimed different release timeframe for the laptop, but reputed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple will be launching its cheaper MacBook with Retina display in Q2, 2018. With Apple holding its event on March 27 — the very end of Q1 — there’s a possibility that the company might just unveil the cheaper MacBook at the event, with the device going on sale from early Q2. And let’s not forget that a cheaper MacBook will benefit students the most as the MacBook Pro is out of reach for most of them.
It is unclear what specs this new cheap MacBook from Apple will pack, but one thing is for clear, it will come with a Retina display. Some leaks claim that this new cheaper MacBook with Retina Display will be a part of Apple’s MacBook Air lineup. However, given the age of the MacBook Air lineup and the lack of a Retina Display across all the models, I don’t think we will see Apple make this new cheaper MacBook a part of its Air lineup. If anything, this new cheaper MacBook would be used by Apple to replace the MacBook Air lineup entirely.
iPhone SE 2
Rumors of Apple working on a refreshed iPhone SE 2 variant have been circulating for quite a few months now. They have even picked up pace in the recent months, with many of them claiming that Apple will be launching the new iPhone SE 2 in March. If leaks are anything to go by, the iPhone SE 2 will feature a glass back for wireless charging, though it will continue to sport the same design as the outgoing model. Apart from upgraded internals, the handset will also feature an improved 12MP rear camera and a faster second-generation Touch ID sensor.
However, given the lack of any concrete leaks, the chances of Apple unveiling a new 4-inch iPhone at its event next week are pretty much nil. Even reputed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple will not be unveiling the iPhone SE 2 this year.
Read: iPhone SE 2: What to Expect from Apple’s Next Entry Level iPhone
What are your expectations from Apple’s March 27 event? Are you looking forward to the company unveiling the refreshed iPad Pros with Face ID and powerful internals? Or are you more excited about the cheaper MacBook?
