Apple has long made cryptic event invitations a hallmark of its new product announcements, and for good reason. They send press and fans into a frenzy, prompting endless scrutiny of nonsensical details. See that line? It’s wavy, but not too wavy, which means there’s a new iPad. Or maybe a television. The logo is blue, so clearly the iPod is coming back.
But this time, a month ahead of the launch of its most important new product since the iPad, Apple didn’t hide much. “Spring Forward” isn’t just a reminder that this weekend is Daylight Savings Time (though it is—set your clocks), it’s a clear indication that most of what we’re going to hear about on Monday in San Francisco is the Apple Watch.
Yes, we already got a good look at Apple’s entry into the wearables scrum last September. But there are plenty of specifics—including, crucially, how much it will cost you—left to reveal. More importantly, the Apple Watch probably won’t be all that Tim Cook and Friends have ready to introduce to the public.
The event starts at 10AM PT on Monday, March 9th, and we’ll be there to cover it live. Here’s what to expect.
Why the Watch?
At the Apple Watch debut last September, CEO Tim Cook and VP Kevin Lynch left us with lots of unanswered questions. One in particular: why does this thing exist?
Expect many, many attempts to answer that on Monday. We should hear about clever functionality, like how the the Apple Watch can unlock your hotel room and your car. Apple execs will likely show off myriad health-tracking features, as well as the “Power Reserve” mode that strips the device’s functionality down to being just a watch—and might save you from having to charge it twice a day. Tim Cook will probably show eagerness about using it to buy food at Panera, because Tim Cook apparently loves using Apple Pay to buy food at Panera.
Apple will then detail many apps the Watch has ready to go, before ceding the stage to a parade of developers. They’ll talk about the apps they’re building, the ways they’re taking advantage of the unique hardware and interface, and how haptic feedback is going to shake humanity to its very core. We’ll probably hear from game-makers, news organizations, health-care companies, fitness brands, and a couple of indie developers making clever new tools. Then Cook will talk release dates, and finally reveal just how preposterously expensive that Apple Watch Edition is going to be.
The Apple Watch necessitates a bunch of other updates from Apple, too, so expect to hear about the next versions of Siri and Apple Pay—and get comfy for the inevitable onslaught of statistics about how wildly successful Apple’s payment service has already been. (And probably no mention of its recent security issues.)
The Apple Watch alone would be enough to fill your average 90-minute Apple event. But if rumors and history are any indication, there may be much more in store.
A Redesigned, Retina MacBook Air
Apple has to release a super-high-res MacBook Air eventually, right? Its thin-and-light lineup is starting to look a little outdated. Apple needs a cheaper, lighter, pixel-dense laptop that’s somewhere between a tablet and an ultra-powerful gaming machine, which many of its competitors have offered for a long time now. It might come Monday: the Wall Street Journal has reported that a 12-inch Retina MacBook will be in stores in just a few months. It might be called Air, it might be called Pro, and it might have almost no ports or connectors whatsoever.
Part of what would enable a laptop like that is Intel’s new Broadwell processors, the ultra-efficient chips that have already made their way into laptops all over the industry. There’s a good chance they’ll eventually wind up in Apple’s other laptops as well. The existing MacBooks Air and Pro probably won’t see giant overhauls, just the standard annual spec bump—and maybe some crazy battery-life stats thanks to Broadwell. This is always true before an Apple gala, but seriously: don’t buy a laptop until after Monday’s event.
An Apple TV Update?
No, Apple’s not building a television. (Man, that would be great, though.) It is, however, deep in discussions with major networks and studios about expanding the offerings of its existing set-top box. One such deal it could potentially talk about on Monday is Apple TV as a launch partner for HBO’s standalone subscription service, which will reportedly be called “HBO Now.” According to those same reports, HBO Now will launch in April, and will cost $15 per month—we might hear about it explicitly, or just learn about Apple TV upgrades ready to support these partnerships. That would be exciting news for cord cutters; there’s also something perfectly fitting about Apple snagging the rights for a service that will launch with the new season of Game of Thrones.
The Apple TV hardware itself is due for an upgrade, too. Some are guessing we’ll see a slimmer, more powerful box, and maybe even 4K support. Those updates will come at some point, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see them next week. And this might just be wishful thinking on my part, but can Apple please update that hideous text interface already?
Beats Built In?
It was nearly a year ago that Apple announced it was buying Beats for $3.2 billion. We’ve been waiting since then to see what comes of Beats Music, the streaming service that will presumably be folded into iTunes Radio to offer legitimate competition to Pandora and Spotify. It’s far from guaranteed, but this event could see that announcement—and who knows? Maybe we’ll get some new headphones, too. Anything to replace those horrible EarPods that come with your iPhone.
As ever, there are also a couple of potential wild cards. Will Apple finally talk more about HomeKit, after a year of relative silence? Will it offer a glimpse at the next version of iOS, or update us on the progress of the new Photos app for OS X? Will there be a huge iPad??!!? (There won’t be a huge iPad.)
Whatever else is on the docket, though, the Apple Watch will be the story. Apple has a lot of convincing left to do before it ships its first wearable next month. It needs to help people understand what this device does, what problems it solves, and how it’s going to fit into our lives. In September, it showed us what it made. Now it’s time to tell us why.
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