Apple Will ‘Loop You In’ During March 21st Keynote, iPhone SE And 9.7-inch iPad Pro Expected
Luckily, we already have a good idea about what will be announced in a little less than two weeks. The most high-profile launch will no doubt be the so-called iPhone SE, which will reportedly feature an updated iPhone 5s form-factor (including the 4-inch display) that has upgraded internals to bring the smartphone closer in line with the iPhone 6s an iPhone 6s Plus that were announced last fall.
That means that we’ll see an A9 processor, Touch ID with Apple Pay support, and support for Live Photos (a feature that has been reserved for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus). The cameras used in the iPhone 5s are expected to remain largely the same, although we expect Apple to work a little big of magic on them to keep them up to par with the current generation of smartphones in the Android camp.
Alleged iPhone 5SE (right) next to an iPhone 5s (left) [Image Source: onemorething.nl]
Also on tap for the March 21st keynote is a 9.7-inch version of the iPad Pro, which will effectively take the place of the iPad Air 2 in Apple’s tablet lineup. Don’t expect to see anything ground breaking with this device, however. If you’re already familiar with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, imagine all of the functionality of that tablet in a slightly smaller form-factor (complete with quad speakers, an A9X processor, and support for the Apple Pencil).
As we’ve previously reported, Apple will also release final version of iOS 9.3 along with watchOS 2.2 and tvOS 9.2. All three operating systems have been in beta (developer and public) since the beginning of 2016 and are largely bug free, which means that we should be seeing the Gold Master versions released to developers within the next week or so ahead of the public debut.
While Apple isn’t expected to announce a second generation Apple Watch at the keynote, do expect to see a few new bands including a Space Grey version of the Link Bracelet.
