Apple March event tipped — and it could include iPhone SE 3 and Mac Mini M1 Pro
Apple’s next event could be five months away, but new Macs and the iPhone SE 3 mean it could be worth the wait.
We’ve now had two Apple events in two months, and it seems that might be it for 2021. But it looks like we might not have to wait more than a few months for a new slew of Apple product announcements.
The well connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has claimed that he “wouldn’t expect a third event this year or any other major announcements” in the latest issue of his Power On newsletter.
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“There’s really nothing else left of substance in the road map that would be ready for 2021,” he added. “Instead, look for a larger Apple Silicon iMac, new Mac mini, new iPhone SE and new iPad Pro after 2022 gets underway.”
All very well, but when will that be? Well, according to another Apple leaker of some note — LeaksApplePro — we’re looking at March.
March it is.October 23, 2021
Unlike September events, which Apple has held like clockwork to announce new iPhones every year since 2012 (one-off pandemic delay aside), spring reveals are less set in stone. The company last had a March event in 2019 for services including Apple News Plus, Apple Arcade and the introduction of the Apple Card.
But if you were looking at the form book here, it’s notable that another March reveal — 2016’s “Let us loop you in” event — saw the unveiling of the original iPhone SE, which is one of the items tipped for a refresh this time around.
Even though LeaksApplePro’s tweet is light on any kind of context, the leaker goes into more detail elsewhere. In a piece for iDropNews, the leaker wrote that we can expect a new, improved Mac mini and the long awaited upgrade of the 27-inch iMac with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, mini-LED technology and a 120Hz ProMotion display.
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There's no mention of the iPhone SE 3 there, though analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes it’ll arrive in early 2022, so a March event seems as likely as any.
The refreshed and colorful 2022 MacBook Air, however, seems unlikely, with the leaker claiming a launch date of “between the second and third quarters.”
As with all leaks, this should be taken with a pinch of salt. And even if these claims are correct at the time of writing, things can change. As a cautionary tale, the usually accurate Jon Prosser was so sure we’d see an Apple event on March 23 this year that he pledged to shave his eyebrows if he was wrong. He was, and his brow, duly suffered as a result.
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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.