Apple set for March unveiling of new iPhone SE and iPad Air with 5G support

We’ve previously touched on the rumours circulating around claiming that Apple are set to launch a new iPhone SE this year with upgraded hardware under the hood. It seems though that we’re closer to the new iPhone SE launch than we first thought, as word on the street is that Cupertino is targeting a launch date either on or near the 8 of March for both the refreshed iPhone SE and a new iPad Air.

This information comes courtesy of Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who also pointed out that this would be Apple’s first major event since the new MacBook Pro dropped last October. Anticipated to be another virtual presentation, the March event will be headlined by the new iPhone SE. As we’ve covered before though this year’s iPhone SE won’t see any major redesigns or changes. Instead, it’ll be using the same body as the current iPhone SE from 2020, which in turn uses the same design that 2017’s iPhone 8 uses.

The big changes for the upcoming iPhone SE will likely take place under the hood, with a newer, faster processor along with 5G connectivity. Elsewhere though, we can expect the same 4.7-inch, HD+ Retina IPS display with a Touch ID home button. Incidentally, there’s also been rumours that Apple will be calling this year’s iPhone SE the iPhone SE+ to differentiate it from 2020’s model. While typically the ‘Plus’ moniker refers to a larger display size in Apple’s product stack, this time it seems that it’s more like the ‘S’ in the iPhone 6S. Besides, the ‘Plus’ naming scheme for larger displays appears to have since been dropped, with Apple’s larger iPhones now using the ‘Max’ nomenclature instead. As for pricing, we don’t expect it to change much from the current RM1,999 starting price of the 2020 iPhone SE, meaning that it should also be Apple’s cheapest 5G-enabled device.

Meanwhile in the tablet department, Apple appears to be using the March launch event to also debut its new iPad Air. Just like the iPhone SE, the iPad Air refresh will likely reuse the same design as the current iPad Air from 2020; this means a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with a 2360 x 1640p resolution, a Touch ID sensor on its power button and the single 12MP main camera on the back of the device. However, you can expect a newer chip under the hood along with 5G support. Right now, only the latest iPad Pro and iPad Mini tablets support 5G, with the 2020 iPad Air limited to just 4G connectivity.

Overall, it’s set to be a bumper year for Apple in terms of product releases. Not only are we looking at the new iPad Air and iPhone SE, but we’re also expecting them to launch a new iMac and Mac Pro desktop, a revamped MacBook Air and more MacBook Pro options. This is of course on top of the upcoming iPhone 14 lineup as well as new Apple Watch and AirPods too. There’s good reason to be excited if you’re a fan of their products, but we’ll have to wait just a bit longer to see them in action.

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