Joe Rossignol
Barring any surprises, Apple isn't expected to release any more new hardware until late 2024. However, Apple is rumored to have a slew of product announcements planned for the first half of next year, including an all-new smart home hub, the iPhone SE 4, the AirTag 2, updated iPad Air, iPad 11, and MacBook Air models.
Below, we'll summarize the rumors for all of these upcoming products.
Home Hub
Apple's all-new smart home hub is expected to debut as early as March.
The hub is expected to feature a 6-inch display that can be attached to a tabletop base with a speaker or mounted on a wall. The device is rumored to run a new “homeOS” operating system with a customizable widget-focused home screen and is expected to support both Siri and Apple Intelligence. Proximity sensors can detect how far away a person is and automatically adjust the size of widgets displayed on the screen.
The device will allow users to control HomeKit accessories, and it can also be used as a home security system by displaying camera footage. And thanks to the built-in camera, users will be able to make FaceTime video calls using the device.
The hub will compete with products like Google's Nest Hub and Amazon's Echo Show.
iPhone SE 4
According to multiple reports, Apple is planning to release the iPhone SE 4 in March.
The device is expected to have a similar design to the base iPhone 14, with rumored features including a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, a newer chip than the A15 Bionic in the current model, a USB-C port, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, 8GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, and the first Apple-designed 5G modem.
Apple has been rumored to be working on its own 5G modem for the iPhone since 2018, which would allow it to reduce and eventually eliminate its reliance on its current supplier, Qualcomm. It’s unclear whether Apple’s first 5G modem will have any consumer benefits over Qualcomm’s modems, such as faster cellular data speeds.
Apple announced the iPhone SE 3 during an online event in March 2022. The device looks similar to the iPhone 8, with legacy features like the Touch ID button, Lightning port, and thick bezels around the display. In the U.S., the iPhone SE currently starts at $429, but the new model could at least increase in price a little.
AirTag 2
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple plans to release a new AirTag in mid-2025.
The key new feature of the AirTag 2 is rumored to be an upgraded Ultra Wideband chip with improved location tracking. If so, the AirTag could be upgraded to the second-generation Ultra Wideband chip that debuted in all iPhone 15 models last year.
According to Gurman, the new AirTag could be more tamper-proof. He said the accessory’s built-in speaker would be harder to remove as an anti-stalking measure. He also expects the new AirTag to provide “better range,” which could allow the precision search feature to work at longer distances. No other design changes have been made.
The new AirTag will feature some integration with Apple’s Vision Pro headset, according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
The current AirTag was announced in April 2021.
New iPad Air models with new Magic Keyboard
Minor updates to the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models are expected in spring 2025.
It’s possible that the new chip will be one of the few upgrades the iPad Air will get, but it’s unclear whether Apple will give it an M3 chip or an M4 chip. While the M3 chip would be a logical choice, Apple is quickly moving away from chips built using TSMC’s first-generation 3nm process. So it’s possible that the iPad Air will get the same M4 chip found in the latest iPad Pro models. There’s precedent for this, as the iPad Pro and iPad Air both had the M1 chip for about six months in 2022.
An updated Magic Keyboard is also expected for both iPad Air models, and it should get some of the features introduced in the latest Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro. This means that potential features for the next version of the iPad Air accessory include a thinner and lighter design with an aluminum palm rest, a larger glass trackpad, and a row of function keys with shortcuts for things like display brightness and volume.
The current iPad Air models with the M2 chip were released in May of this year.
iPad 11
The entry-level iPad is also expected to get an update in the spring of 2025.
According to Gurman, the device will likely support Apple Intelligence. This suggests that the iPad 11 will get a newer A-series chip compared to the iPad 10 and an increase in RAM to 8GB. No major changes are expected to the design of the device.
Apple is set to release the iPad 10 in October 2022. It features the A14 Bionic chip.
New MacBook Air models
The next Macs to get the M4 chip are expected to be the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs, coming in spring 2025. No other major changes are expected for the laptops.
The current MacBook Air models were released in March of this year.
As of last month, all MacBook Air models now have 16GB of RAM, up from 8GB. There was no price increase associated with this change.
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