At the start of the year, we're anticipating two things: an Apple Spring Event, and the weather improving. And one of these might actually happen in a reasonably predictable timescale!
We expect that that the Apple Spring Event will happen in March or April 2022, and there are lots of juicy new products you're like to see there, which we'll run through in this guide.
Apple's settled into something of a rhythm with its Apple Events lately, so this year we'd expect to see the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8 launch in September and maybe more Macs in the final months of the year. And there's traditionally been a spring event, and that looks very likely to continue in 2022. Here's everything you need to know.
The iPhone SE with 5G is very likely to appear at an Apple Spring Event, but it's said to keep the design shown above.
iPhone SE 3 with 5G
We know it's coming. We just don't know exactly when, but spring seems like an obvious time to launch it – not least because the growing number of leaks indicate that a release is imminent, and previous iPhone SE models have come in spring.
The 2022 iPhone SE 3 5G is expected to look much the same as the outgoing iPhone SE, but this time out it gets a 5G radio for much faster mobile internet. It's likely to get a new processor too, and if those rumours are correct the 2022 model is likely to remain a real contender in the best cheap phones category.
The next Apple Spring Event is strongly rumoured to bring us an update to the iPad Air.
New iPad Air (2022)
The iPad Air (2020) is a wonderful thing – it's the tablet I bought with my own money and it's our pick of the best tablets for most people – but it's feeling a little dated now that the latest 6th generation iPad mini has a more up-to-date processor.
We don't expect it to get the same M-series processor as the iPad Pro 12.9 inch
Apple isn't going to let its mid-range tablet leapfrog its flagship – but a more advanced A-series processor is almost guaranteed. The A15 Bionic seems likely: that's the processor in the iPhone 13.
A boost to 5G for the Wi-Fi+Cellular model looks likely too, and it will certainly have a new Centre Stage front camera, just like all the other iPads now have.
The bigger iMac is expected at the Apple Spring Event, and it's the product we're most excited about.
iMac Pro (or iMac 27-inch, 2022)
Here's another one we know is coming, and we're praying that Apple doesn't change its naming conventions to make this the iMac Max. What we're calling the iMac Pro is set to feature the M1 Pro and M1 Max processor options of the awesome new MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch (2021), plus a 27-inch display. You might assume it'll have a more sober colour selection than the fun 24-inch iMac (2021), though rumours are mixed on that front.
As for a full-on Mac Pro with Apple processors, we don't think that's likely to appear until much later in 2022 – at the earliest.
The Apple Spring Event feels a bit early for AirPods Pro 2, but it's far from impossible that we'll see them.
AirPods Pro 2, maybe
We're hoping that the AirPods Pro 2 show up at Apple's Spring Event. This is definitely way more of an outside best, since reports so far indicate a late 2022 launch, but we'd love it to pay off.
The updates to the AirPods (3rd generation) and rival devices mean the AirPods Pro look a little old-fashioned already because the market is so fast-moving. However, the current AirPods Pro only just got a small update to add MagSafe wireless charging at the end of 2021, so a new version this early seems unlikely. But we can't wait to hear the rumoured higher-quality wireless streaming.
The main reason this one looks unlikely is that if they were in production for a launch soon, we'd have expected more leaks by now. In this case, no news is bad news.
