Tomorrow Apple has a live stream scheduled for their next online event. This one is called Hi, Speed. and it’s all but confirmed that we’ll be seeing the new iPhone 12 line of devices at the event. Aside from the obvious, I wanted to go over some predictions for what else I think Apple is going to show off tomorrow.
The time slot for the event is blocked off for two hours from 10AM PT until Noon, but as we saw with the Apple Watch/iPad event, the time blocked really means nothing. The event can, and probably will, be only an hour or so. Still, these are things I think (and in some cases just hope) that Apple will show off at their event.
HomePod Mini
The rumors have really been all over the place on this one. Some have suggested that we’ll see the HomePod Mini make an appearance tomorrow while others have said the device won’t be seen until next month at an event where Apple will also launch their first Macs containing their in-house processors.
I don’t know how I feel about a HomePod Mini in general for a few reasons. The first is cost — I’ve seen the rumored price for smaller smart speaker to be anywhere in the range of $99 up to $169. That latter is particularly bad, considering Best Buy frequently sells the HomePod at a reduced price of $199.
By that same token, as much as I love Apple Music, I really don’t think Siri is at a place where she deserves a dedicated piece of furniture in my home. Love of the Apple ecosystem aside, I still find Siri drops the ball way too frequently compared to Google’s Assistant for me to want to transition away from my Nest Home Mini for all of my smart speaker needs.
I know that Apple generally does charge a bit more than their competitors for a lot of products, but in the smart speaker space, I think Apple really needs to give a little. There needs to be a $50 or $60 HomePod to compete with Google and Amazon’s lower end offerings. True, the speaker quality isn’t going to be the absolute best, but it’s hard to justify a HomePod when the competition is often cheap enough to be an impulse buy. Besides: Google Assistant is still really good for getting answers to questions handsfree, unlike Siri.
New Apple TV
I don’t know that we see an updated Apple TV make it’s debut tomorrow, but one has to be coming. With Apple’s push of their Arcade service, I’m in the camp that believes that we’ll see an Apple TV that’s marketed as equal parts streaming box and game “console”.
I’ve really been a fan of Apple Arcade, especially recently. I’m not one who shies away from smartphone gaming (though I have a growing disdain for the freemium model) and I’ve been having a lot of fun with what Apple has had to offer. What I’ve enjoyed more than anything, though, is that we’re starting to see really high quality games hit the service day and date with consoles. In this case, I’m referring to Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, which has been a lot of fun to play. I’m also really looking forward to The Pathless, which hits the service next month.
AirPods Studio
I love my AirPods Pro with a passion. While I don’t personally enjoy over the ear audio solutions (outside of gaming headsets), I’m really curious to see what Apple has in store for that space. This desire to see Apple’s plans is definitely being pushed forward by the fact that the company stopped selling third-party audio peripherals in their stores recently.
I’ve kept up on the rumors for the so called AirPods Studio (not sure how I feel about the name) and I think that with everything the company has learned from the Beats line over the years, we’re in for a real treat with these. The take I most want to see? UrAvgConsumer.
AirTags
Literally right before I sat down to write this portion of the post, I saw a rumor on 9to5Mac that suggests that AirTags are going to be delayed until 2021. That’s a bummer.
I’ve debated picking up a few Tiles in the past (one for my wallet, one for my backpack, etc) but I’ve never made the jump. For the most part, I’m deep enough into the Apple ecosystem that I think I could see myself picking these up with a lot less debate. I’m not a sheep, just a fan.
Apple One and Fitness+ Release Dates
This is really the thing that I most want out of the next Apple event. Ever since the company showed off Apple One and Apple Fitness+, I’ve been comping at the bit to sign up. While I highly doubt that Apple Fitness+ launches tomorrow, I do think that we get, at the very least, a solid release date for the bundle service.
Even with everything that Apple has going on right now, I can’t help but think that there’s going to be some kind of Apple One bundle promotion that ties into buying an iPhone 12.
That about wraps it up for what I think Apple is going to show us tomorrow. Is there anything you think they’ll show that I didn’t mention? Let me know down in the comments!
Dan Stransky 