The Apple Beat: Apple to fill out product size gap in today’s announcement

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

An Apple Special Event in March is a little unusual but given the fact that the company omitted an October launch even (traditionally reserved for iPad and Mac refreshes) to host a packed September event to usher in a new AppleTV, iPhone 6S, iPad Pro and some new Apple Watch variants.

September's Special Event feels like a long time ago, and Apple must feel it needs to get back on the news cycle with products and not controversies. While CEO Tim Cook and the entire company have been on heavy news rotation by being caught in the centre of the FBI iPhone discussion (a topic that’s landed Tim Cook on the cover of Time to discuss privacy instead of revolutionary new products and technologies), the time is ripe for Apple to make some noise on the product end.

Aiming for a more exclusive venue at their HQ in Cupertino inside the Town Hall auditorium that sits 350 guests, Apple will live stream the event so that everyone can peep into the proceedings virtually.

This event has had the least amount of secrecy surrounding it and various news outlets have already listed down the products and topics that are certain to be focused on. In a nutshell, we’re seeing Apple try to fill out the size gap in its various product lines.

A new iPad

The 9.7-inch version of the iPad has been the company’s most popular tablet but Apple passed on revising the iPad Air last year because it wanted to focus on the large, powerful and expensive iPad Pro. While that tablet received mixed reviews, it was mostly praised for having excellent peripherals like the Apple Pencil as well as a new Smart Connector for keyboard cases which does not require fussing about with Bluetooth.

It will be interesting to see whether the new middle sized iPad will fall under iPad Pro or retain the iPad Air nomenclature. This may not matter much but it will sure dictate the pricing. An iPad Pro will definitely demand a higher price as well as be geared towards enterprise. I like the iPad Pro but would love something smaller with the same capabilities and I am sure many other mobile workers will jump on a 9.7-inch variant of the company’s best tablet device.

A smaller iPhone is the perfect fit for 60 per cent of users

By not offering a smaller iPhone variant, Apple has left a lot of money on the table. In Apple’s earnings call on Jan. 26, CEO Tim Cook revealed that 60 per cent of iPhone owners from before September 2014—have not upgraded to Apple’s larger phones. The reason here is possibly because some are locked into contracts or can't afford to splurge on a new smartphone in cycles. Most likely, the reason is that they like the smaller form factor, and since iOS is great at making new features available on older hardware many key features can be had on older phones.

The 4-inch iPhone, whatever they choose to call it, just makes sense at this point. Apple has long avoided an entry-level version of its most popular product by smartly discounting older versions to continue to thin inventory for an extra year. It broke with tradition with the iPhone 5C, which was cheaper and had the guts of the iPhone 5 but didn’t really fit a size requirement since it had the same 4-inch form factor as the more premium iPhone 5S.

With the iPhone 6 covering both a medium and large size (the iPhone 6S is 4.7-inches, the iPhone 6S Plus is 5.5-inches) there's room for something smaller. Both of these are still too large for many users and many iPhone 5 and even iPhone 4S users have held on to their ‘just the right size’ devices. For many iPhone owners, the latest specs, camera features and OS gimmicks are secondary to having a device that’s sized for their needs.

Apple, which for years only sold the iPhone in one size, is shifting its strategy to suit the rest of the smartphone industry. In order to keep some users loyal, it will have an entirely new iPhone that brings all the desired features to a smaller size. As for cheaper? Let's not get ahead of ourselves, this is Apple we're talking about, so pricing will be similar to what we've seen in the past.

More Apple Watch reveals

The Apple Watch is entering its second year and the company has spent a lot of money marketing their wearable which is offered in a variety of sizes, finishes and with multitudinous band options. I expect some new OS functionality for Apple Watch and at least the announcements of some new partnerships (similar to the Hermes edition).

Apple does have a number of Macs to update, especially since competing Windows PCs and 2-in-1’s are already selling devices with Intel Skylake powered processors. Skylake has been somewhat a problematic bit of silicon to tame (just read up on all the Surface 4 and Surface Book issues) so it seems Apple wisely decided to sit out being among the first to feature new processors but the time is ripe to unveil something new.

The 12-inch MacBook was revealed a year ago and has since been widely emulated by PC makers, I’d be very surprised if we don’t see a refresh and one with at least two USB Type-C ports this time around.

More than predictions, these are my educated guesses of where Apple is headed after today’s announcements and I’m looking forward to some surprises given the amount of buzz this launch has generated among the tech starved multitudes.