While the coronavirus pandemic is far from over, its impact on the tech industry as a whole has been greatly reduced in the last year or so, allowing giants like Apple to (more or less) return to normal in terms of device production and event scheduling.
Unlike the iPhone 12 family, 2021's iPhone 13 lineup is widely expected to both be announced and commercially released "on time." That means you may not have to wait longer than a few more weeks to order and actually receive Cupertino's fastest, prettiest, most feature-packed, and colorful handsets yet.
But Apple has a bunch of other products in the pipeline as well, and while a few of the most exciting ones look set to keep prospective buyers waiting until 2022, there are still plenty more essentially guaranteed to see daylight by the end of this year.
That begs the obvious question of when might the company find time to unveil and release the Apple Watch Series 7, AirPods 3, iPad 9, iPad mini 6, and a new generation of upgraded MacBook Pros (presumably ahead of the holiday season), and the answer (at least according to Digitimes) is next month.
Wake me up when September... begins
That's right, the notoriously hit-and-miss Taiwanese publication predicts in a new paywalled report (brought to our attention by the folks over at MacRumors) that Apple will "host a series of product launch conferences in September" most likely dedicated to each and every one of the aforementioned devices.
Although we never expected the company to announce all that stuff at once, which would have been pretty bonkers, holding a "series" of different events in the space of less than a month almost sounds even crazier.
The Apple Watch SE and Series 6 were the only protagonists of the September 2020 event
Obviously, these are virtual events we're talking about here, so the logistics and everything else shouldn't be a problem. The "problem" is the public may not get enough time to digest all of these launches and Apple may have trouble garnering interest around every new product if there's a "big" event scheduled once every few days or so.
Of course, some of the upcoming devices are inherently more interesting than others, so just because there are six or seven major products in the pipeline, that doesn't necessarily mean Apple plans to host six or seven different launch events.
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The sixth-gen iPad mini, ninth-gen "regular" iPad, redesigned 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and even the third-gen non-Pro AirPods, for instance, could be announced together, leaving the iPhone 13 quartet and Apple Watch Series 7 as the potential protagonists of separate September events.
Then again, these are all assumptions and unfounded rumors for the time being, which means you shouldn't rule out the possibility of seeing at least a couple of those products break cover in October or even November.
Expect stronger iPads... sooner or later
Ironically, the focal point of today's Digitimes report could have easily gone unnoticed, anticipating a significant boost in global iPad shipments this year prompted in no small part by a non-Pro, non-Air, and non-mini new tablet rumored to bring just two modest upgrades to the table compared to last year's 10.2-inch model.
Much like its forerunners (both affordable and expensive), this entry-level iPad variant is tipped to rock a premium aluminum construction that could nonetheless be improved in the relatively near future.
Apple's otherwise stunning 2021 iPad Pro 12.9 is made from aluminum rather than titanium
Similar to next year's iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, a number of unspecified iPad models should adopt a "titanium-based metal chassis", although it's not yet clear if the move will be possible as early as 2022 due to the high production costs associated with such an upgrade.
Titanium, mind you, is a more robust material than both aluminum and stainless steel, having been used in the past for luxury Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch editions. As such, we should probably expect the iPad Pro family to integrate it first in a bid for extra durability sometime in the next couple of years or so.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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