Apple seems on track for late March/April iPhone SE event

iPhone 13 is coming and this is how to watch the show

If I could credibly claim not to be someone who reads Apple tea leaves to predict the future, I would do so. It would not be true. But I wanted to point to what could be a bigger slice of evidence to suggest the iPhone SE 3 will appear in April, and possibly earlier.

Big trouble in little Eurasia

Veteran Apple watchers monitor a regulatory database of electronic devices held and maintained by the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). They do so because they know that electronic product makers such as Apple are required to file imminent product releases that use encryption there.

It means that when a new Apple filing appears in the database, you can usually assume that something is on the way. So it is of great interest that Apple has just registered new iPhone model numbers, with a batch of new iPad numbers also listed by Consomac.

• iPhone Model Numbers: A2595, A2783, and A2784.
• iPad Model Numbers: A2436, A2696, A2759, A2437, A2591, A2757, A2761, and A2766.

What’s coming with the new iPhone?

The iPhone SE 3 is expected to boast two big improvements in comparison with the existing two-year-old device: It will boast a brand new A14 processor and will also support 5G.

The new iPads are expected to include an iPad Air 5 with a powerful A15 chip and 12MP front camera and the addition of 5G support. Of course, the addition of 5G could be a game changer for the device and its use in some scenarios.

I am curious that Consomac also states: “Surprisingly, some of iPad’s references had already been published last May, without marketing since.”

I do wonder if this hints that Apple may have delayed some of these new iPads, and speculate if this reflected a need to make components available for iPhone production, as was briefly rumored in 2021.

That original iPhone SE was great

What sort of time scale?

As a very estimated rule of thumb, Apple products listed on the EEC database usually appear 10-14 weeks later.

• For example, in early August 2021 new Mac model numbers appeared and the machines themselves were introduced in mid-October, around 10 weeks later.
• In mid-June ‘21, new iPhone filings appeared while the products were introduced 14-weeks later in mid-September.

If we take these as a guide – and why not, given all of this is speculation – then we’re looking at a potential launch window around the very last week of March or the first three weeks of April. This chimes with existing speculation around a March/April launch. Just in time to boost Apple’s sometimes slow FY Q3 sales. We’ll see how this speculation flows.

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