Surprise Apple hardware launch rumoured for next week – what could be in store?
Apple’s busy season of hardware launches may not be over, according to an internal memo purportedly sent to the company’s service providers.
MacRumors has obtained a memo informing the service providers that changes to the AppleCare warranty program are coming next Tuesday.
The memo advises the technicians they should prepare for “new product SKUs, new/updated product descriptions, and new/updated product pricing,” the site reports. The changes are coming at 5:30am Pacific Time on December 8, which could mean announcements that day, if recent precedent is anything to go by.
Today’s report points out, for example, the service providers received a similar memo ahead of the iPhone 12 launch back in October.
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While Apple has not scheduled another public event, it could be the company plans to announce some new hardware via a press release, as it does from time-to-time when less significant product updates are due. For example, a new MacBook Pro was revealed in this manner in May, while the second generation AirPods also had a low key debut in March of last year.
But what could Apple have left after just announcing the first Apple Silicon M1-based MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, since the new platform was announced at WWDC in the summer? Apple also refreshed its entire iPhone 12 line back in October, while the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE arrived in September, alongside new iPad and iPad Air models.
It’s possible we could see some more M1 Mac computers, although it’s difficult to imagine Apple would have left them out of the November launch. Recent rumours have suggested an Apple TV 4K could be in-line for a refresh, while products missing from recent launch events include the rumoured AirTags trackers and AiPods Studio headphones. Perhaps Apple plans to launch them before the end of the year.