Apple’s hype season has officially begun

Just in time to build up the late-summer Apple product refresh hype, news of a big collection of product upgrades has magically appeared as Cupertino puts the finishing touches to its iPhone keynote event invite.

To help Apple fans monitor the impact of the latest leaks on their blood oxygen levels, the company also helpfully reintroduced some support for oxygen tracking  at about the same time the latest leaks appeared. The speculation follows tantalizing promises from Apple CEO Tim Cook who in early August told an all-hands Apple employee meeting that he’d “never felt so much excitement’ about the products the company has planned.

“The product pipeline, which I can’t talk about — it’s amazing, guys. It’s amazing,” Cook said. “Some of it you’ll see soon, some of it will come later, but there’s a lot to see.”

So, what’s with the latest speculation?

Chips with everything

If the code is correct, Apple is about to breathe new life into numerous products with chip upgrades to make them more powerful. It also plans to introduce brand new product families, though the schedule for many of the following products is likely to extend into 2026. There’s exciting news across Apple’s product range:

iPods: Apple’s plotting a new iPad mini with the same high-end A19 Pro chip you’ll find inside iPhone 17 Pro models. Also, as it seeks to broaden its market to guard against economic unpredictability, Apple plans a spring launch for a new low-cost iPad equipped with an A18 chip, a big upgrade from the A16 inside the current entry-level model.

Vision Pro: As expected, Apple will put an M5 chip inside the Vision Pro.

Home: Apple’s new HomePod mini will hold an updated S-series chip, while Apple TV gains an A17 Pro processor — a substantial boost beyond the current A15 Bionic chip. It will likely need this power for those sofa-based Apple Intelligence interactions. It might also need this for the smart home it plans, including a Ring-competing security camera with movement and person detection, and its first attempts at home robotics. 

Mac: Not only do we now expect the first M5 Mac models and also a $599 MacBook, but the latest news claims Apple intends introducing a next-generation Studio Display 2. Code-named J427, this isn’t expected to debut until 2026. But the introduction of a new A19 Pro internal processor should make it capable of accurately handling modern and future video and audio codecs.

iPhone: In a chime of loud synchronicity, all these new product speculations come just in time to raise the temperature as Apple prepares to introduce the first of its new iPhone 17 range. They’re expected to bring more memory than ever, double the entry-level storage for a small price increase, and 8x optical zoom (on Pro models). Expect iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models.

Apple Watch: Expect a third-generation Apple Watch Ultra, with a faster chip, larger display and 5G (including satellite messaging support); Apple Watch Series 11 gets a processor upgrade and the first Apple Watch SE upgrade since 2022.

AirPods and AirTags: Apple is also preparing upgrades to AirPods Pro and AirTags. The latter are expected to be more accurate and operate at longer range, while AirPods Pro 3 promise improved noise cancellation and advanced sleep and hearing health features.

Is that all there is?

This extensive collection of rumored product upgrades seems to provide a good glimpse at the next 12 months of planned introductions, but there are some things missing from the list. Apple will no doubt introduce new Macs and iPad Pro models during this time, even as it will at last introduce the contextually aware Apple Intelligence it promised us at WWDC last year.

The latter introduction will probably create opportunity for additional Apple products and services, including the company’s take on a digital health coach, integration between those health services and the company’s existing products, and the opportunity to develop additional solutions, such as health assistant robotics.

Even further out, we know Apple hopes to introduce glasses equipped with visionOS as well as its first-ever folding iPhone.

Apple clearly has a lot to talk about.

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