Apple just announced an April 20 product event where it’s expected to announce new versions of the iPad Pro, AirTags tracking devices and more. The event will start at 1 p.m. ET.
Apple could use the event to continue riding the boost iPads have seen during the pandemic. In January, Apple reported $8.44 billion in iPad revenue for its fiscal first quarter, up 41% year over year. The new iPad Pros are expected to pack Apple’s newest and fastest processor and may include a new type of screen that uses mini LED technology to produce better images for things like watching movies and viewing photos.
It’s a digital event, which means it will be streamed online instead of held in person, due to the ongoing Covid pandemic. Last year, Apple refreshed the iPad Pro in March, when it also introduced the Magic Keyboard, which makes it feel more like a laptop. It announced its second-generation AirPods in March 2019, so it’s possible those get refreshed, too.
Apple has long been rumored to launch AirTags, a product similar to Tile that you can attach to items, like keys, or place in a bag, and track them using Apple’s Find My software built into iPads and iPhones. Apple has been testing a way to track these devices in its beta software for iPhones.
But Apple could use the event to introduce any number of new products. Other devices that may be refreshed include iMacs, which haven’t been updated to its new M1 processor.
Apple’s AirPods are the best-selling headphones in the world. It makes sense to refresh them to keep the momentum going as competitors introduce similar products, often at lower prices. However, top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in March that new AirPods may not be released until the third quarter of this year.
And finally, the Apple TV is long overdue for an update. The Apple TV 4K, the current model, came out in 2017, but even that was a minor update from the version that came out in 2015. Bloomberg said in December that Apple is planning an update with a new remote, an updated processor and a “gaming focus.”
