iPhone SE 3 and new iPad Air spotted in official documents, get your wallets ready

It's expected that there will be an Apple spring event in 2022, with some big-name product updates – and now we have the strongest hint yet that these things are coming over the horizon.

New iPhone and iPad models have appeared in the Eurasian Economic Commission database, and were noted by Concomac (via MacRumors). The products are given model numbers rather than explicit names, but some of them run iOS 15 and some of them run iPadOS 15, so certain conclusions are easy to draw here. 

The rumoured iPhone SE 3 with 5G makes sense as the phone model – Apple launches its main iPhones in the autumn, and only the iPhone SE models appear earlier in the year – while the iPad Air is the iPad model that's been waiting the longest time since its last update.

The 10.2-inch iPad and iPad mini were both refreshed late last year, so they won't appear. However, the iPad Pro might get a bump at this event: it was released in spring 2021, and there are are lots of iPad models listed in the EEC's documents, which could indicate more iPads are coming than just the Air.

The new iPad Air is expected to feature the Apple A15 chip, optional 5G and a new Centre Stage front camera, just like the iPad mini (2021).

What about the MacBook Air and iMac Pro?

The products I'm actually most excited to see from the next Apple Event are the rumoured thinner and lighter MacBook Air, and the larger iMac that's set to feature the M1 Pro and M1 Max high-end chips from the new MacBook Pro (2021) models.

Alas, these products haven't been spotted in any filings so far, but that doesn't mean they're not part of the plans.

As MacRumors notes, filings from the EEC have given the game away for Apple launches in the past, but certainly not every time, and certainly not for every product. And with the Apple event expected to be held in March or April, there's plenty of time to sit and stew still.