Shop E Store This is a rumored replay. 9to5 mac A quick summary of the latest Apple product rumors with analysis and commentary. Today: The new iPad is here, along with more interesting iOS Invites apps and more. Here are this week’s Apple rumors:
New iPad and iPhone SE 4 to be released ‘by April’
This week, rumors that the new iPad and iPhone SE 4 would be released as early as January were widely misunderstood. Mark Garman quickly refuted this idea, offering his own projected schedule in the process.
He said the new iPad and iPhone SE 4 will arrive by April, shortly before the release of iOS 18.4.
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This rumor mostly confirms what we already expected, but it also includes the possibility of an iPad Air.
The next iPhone SE 4 and the new base iPad were always rumored to be released around March. However, Garman referred to “iPad” in the plural in his post, likely referring to the upcoming M3 iPad Air.
Garman previously said the new iPad Air would debut “at about the same time” as the iPhone SE 4, but since he only got the M2 Air last May, he personally doesn’t expect the M3 to arrive until April at the earliest. I didn’t expect a revised version to appear. Probably May or June. Such releases may still fall within the “approximately contemporaneous” window.
But now it looks like the new iPad Air could debut in March alongside the revamped base iPad and iPhone SE.
Invite apps under development at Apple
this week’s me 9to5 mac My colleague Filipe Esposito exclusively reported on signs that Apple is developing a new “Invites” app.
In the latest iOS 18.3 beta, code was discovered that indicates work in progress on the app. This may be a standalone app or integrated into other parts of iOS, such as iMessage.
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Little is known about this potential app. But my first thought is that this sounds more like a new feature set than a full-fledged app.
There’s no doubt that Apple will introduce an upgraded invitation system to its Calendar app. Additionally, you can create APIs that are used by other built-in iOS apps and third-party calendars.
For example, Fantastical offers a great system for managing calendar invites, polling invitees for availability, and sharing available schedules with others. Apple’s Calendar app may also use similar upgrades, all of which could be covered by Invites.
iPhone 17 Pro design changes
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Apple plans to make design changes not only to the iPhone 17 Air, but also to the 17 Pro line.
The latest on this front: Weibo leaker Fixed-focus Digital has shared that the iPhone 17 Pro will use a “slope instead of a step” for the connection between the back shell and the body.
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This leak is a translation and doesn’t seem to be completely clear anyway, so it’s difficult to read deeply.
It looks like the iPhone 17 Pro may return to a more curved side design. All models starting with iPhone 12 use flatter sides.
This may go hand in hand with the move to aluminum frames, as reported elsewhere.
Personally, I like the curved sides of the iPhone. However, as the size of the iPhone has increased recently, I am worried that the curved sides will have a negative effect on the grip.
What do you think of this week’s Apple rumors? Let us know in the comments.
