According to a new report from Bloomberg‘s Apple expert Mark Gurman, Apple will hold a grand total of three special events this autumn, as the company works to get through its enormous backlog of high-profile unreleased new products.
First up will be an event in September where the new iPhone models will be unveiled: most likely these will be called the iPhone 13 handsets, with a standard, mini, Pro and Pro Max edition in various sizes, although they may yet be branded as iPhone 12s if Apple is feeling superstitious. At the same event, Apple may also showcase its third-generation AirPods and the Apple Watch Series 7.
(The updated version of the AirPods Pro, meanwhile, probably won’t be with us until 2022.)
In October, there will be an event where we will see new models of iPad – very likely including the iPad mini 6, possibly with an A15 chip – and various updates to Apple’s services.
The services category, which includes recent subscription services such as Apple Music, Apple Arcade, TV+ and News+, along with more established players such as iTunes and iCloud, is an important plank in the company’s current strategy. In its Q3 2021 earnings call Apple announced that services was the second biggest revenue generator, surpassing Macs, iPads and wearables to bring in $17.5bn, up from $13.2bn in Q3 2020.
Finally, Apple will unveil new Macs at an event in November. Among other things, new models of MacBook Pro in 14in and 16in screen sizes are said to be on the cards.
In view of the ongoing pandemic, these will all be pre-recorded, ‘virtual’ events in the same style as recent Apple events rather than in-person events with a live audience. We think this is a good thing, on the whole, although Apple will no doubt be keen to go back to live events when conditions are right.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation (using DeepL) and additional reporting by David Price.