“Time flies.” – Keynote Thoughts and Predictions

It’s September which means it is time for an Apple Keynote! Unlike every Apple September Keynote since 2012, this Keynote is not expected to see any iPhones unveiled at it, but there still should still be a lot to see.

Apple Watch

Apple is set to unveil the Apple Watch Series 6, which will maintain the 40mm and 44mm designs introduced with the Series 4, and the always on display introduced in the Series 5. The Series 6 is set to gain a blood oxygen sensor, leaning into both the health and fitness aspects that have made the Apple Watch so popular, and unlike the Series 5 it is also set to get a small albeit minor speed boost.

In addition to the Series 6, Apple is also set to unveil a low cost Apple Watch model, which is currently being occupied by the Series 3 in the lineup. Although the new low cost model will use the internals of the Series 4, it will get a bit of rebranded akin to the iPhone SE, so it isn’t considered the old watch in the lineup.

iPad Air

The iPad Air is set to get a redesign to match the iPad Pro’s thinner squared off bezels and curved display. Unlike iPad Pro, the iPad Air is not set to get Face ID support, instead offering Touch ID through the sleep/wake button. This revision to Touch ID will more than likely make its way across to this iPhone’s this year, which will be particularly beneficial with us all wearing Face Masks at the moment.

In addition to the chassis and screen update, the iPad Air is also set to make the switch to USB-C, reiterating that the iPad is a viable platform to get work done on.

Apple One

Now that a lot of people’s free year of Apple TV+ is coming to an end next month, Apple is set to announce an Apple Subscription bundle consisting of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News and Apple Arcade for one monthly fee. Naturally you would expect that the bundle comes with a discount in addition to the convince of one monthly bill, but I would still expect Apple One to be around $25 per month but we can hope for less!

iOS 14

Although there are no new iPhones being unveiled at this event, watchOS 7 which will ship pre installed on Apple Watch Series 6 will require iOS 14. This means for the first time ever we will see a major version of iOS released without a new iPhone (give or take a couple of days anyway). I would expect iOS 14 to get its release date announced for next week, without any additional functionality from what we have already seen in the betas.

Apple Tags

Apple’s UWB and Bluetooth emitting tags have been a rumour for over a year now, but it looks like we are finally going to see them get unveiled. Competitors to the Apple Tag are priced in the $20 - $35 range, so one would imagine that Apple will sell a 3 pack for $99.