Apple Allegedly Pencils In March 15th For iPad Air 3 And 4-inch iPhone 5se Unveil
Gorman indicates that his sources have pegged Apple’s next keynote for March 15th, during which the folks from Cupertino are expected to make two major product announcements. The first will be the long-rumored iPhone 5se, while the second will be the iPad Air 3.
The iPhone 5se is expected to retain the same 4-inch screen size and resolution of 2013’s iPhone 5s, but will include updated internals to appeal to folks that aren’t took keen on the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus. The iPhone 5se is expected to be powered by a downclocked A9 processor and will incorporate Touch ID support and NFC capabilities to enable Apple Pay. Both the front- and rear-facing cameras are expected to be carryovers from the iPhone 5s (which isn’t exactly a bad thing, as the 5s has an excellent rear camera).
The iPhone 5se is expected to be offered in 16GB and 64GB models with pricing starting at $450 off-contract.
Apple will also announce the iPad Air 3, which is expected to nab some features from its larger iPad Pro sibling. The 9.7-inch tablet should feature quad speakers and a Smart Connector on the side for powering and connecting to “smart” accessories. For those of you that absolutely must take pictures with your tablets — usually in the most annoying ways possible — Apple will reportedly include an LED flash for the rear camera.
It remains to be seen if the updated iPad Air 3 will help turn around Apple’s fortunes in the tablet market. The company reported that for fiscal Q1 2016, iPad sales were down a whopping 25 percent year-over-year.
Apple is also expected to make some rather low-key announcements for the Apple Watch. According to Gurman, Apple is releasing “an entirely new band line made of a new material” along with a Space Black version of the incredibly cook Milanese Loop.
