Apple are bucking the trend of the last 2 years, and are holding a Keynote before WWDC (which usually takes place in June) but watch what should we expect to see?

Watch

The Apple Watch was announced over 6 months ago and although Apple have released a unprecedented amount of information for a prerelease product, there is still lots we don’t know. Most significantly a release date and the price for anything but the base model.

Price and Availability

Tim Cook has already stated that the Apple Watch will be released sometime in April, but that would be nearly an entire month after this Keynote. The smart money would be on a US release on Friday the 20th of March, with the usual staggered rollout across the globe. One reason for the long wait between the Apple Watch’s announcement an shipping date could be down to Apple having to relayout the Apple Stores, with dedicated areas to try on the Apple Watch (maybe even by appointment).

The assumption is that the 38mm Sport is the Base Model, meaning it will be available for the previous stated starting price of $349. I would expect the 42mm model to cost a little more at around $379. The Sport Collection won’t be sold with anything other than the sports band, with a replacement sport band costing around $30.

The other 2 collections is were it gets interesting. The Apple Watch Collection (Stainless Steel) will cost anything between $499-$999 depending on the band you choose.

Then there is the Apple Watch Edition. Make no mistake, this thing is not going to be cheap. I’m guessing that this Collection will start at $4999, but Apple might not even mention it at his event to avoid “Apple’s new $5K Smart Watch” headlines and delay its release or at least its announcement.

Features

The Keynote will recap the features we saw is September’s Keynote, along with some new ones such as the companion app, notification centre ,transferring music etc. Naturally the Keynote will also feature demos from developers, showing off there WatchKit apps, most likely focusing on social network notifications and health apps.

There has been rumours of the watch only showing notifications when it is being worn, but it would be just as useful if it suppressed notifications on the rest of your Apple devices.

Battery Life

The Apple Watch will last all day for all but the heaviest of users … which will be probably be everyone on day one (prepare for the trolls and batterygate), but it will be another device that we will have to introduce to our daily charging ritual.

App Submissions

WatchKit has been stable throughout its beta so I wouldn’t expect any changes at this stage. Expect the GM of iOS 8.2 to be released after the Keynote alongside the ability to submit WatchKit apps

iPad Pro

The iPad Pro with its 12.9" display is coming, but expect it to be introduced in the fall alongside the rest of the iPads.

MacBook Air Retina

The MacBook Air, Apple’s most popular laptop and therefore computer, finds itself in the awkward position of not having a Retina Display, even though it’s bigger sibling has had the option for nearly 3 years. With that in mind the MacBook Air lineup is set to receive its first update in nearly a year, including a premium 12 inch version that has a Retina Display. I currently use a MacBook Air so hopefully the rumours about this model only having one port are false, and if so I might be making a couple of purchases come Monday…