There are only hours remaining before Apple's highly anticipated March 21 event, wherein the company is expected to unveil the 4-inch iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
iPhone SE
Previously known as the iPhone 6c or the iPhone 5se, the iPhone SE sees the return of the iPhone to a 4-inch body compared to the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus.
However, despite its smaller size, Apple did not compromise the smartphone's capabilities. Reports claim that the device will be powered by the A9 processor and M9 motion co-processor, which are the same ones used by the current flagship iPhones. The iPhone SE is also said to be packing a 12 MP rear-facing camera, support for Apple's mobile payment system, Apple Pay, and 4K video recording.
3D Touch, however, will not be included in the device, as it is said that Apple is reserving the feature to its flagship devices.
Rumored packaging for the smartphone, which was only recently leaked, seems to confirm Apple Pay and the device's name, along with 16 GB of on-board storage.
It is expected that the price of the iPhone SE, which takes inspirations from both the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6s in its design, will be within the $400 to $500 range. The device has the size of the iPhone 5s and the rounder corners and button placements of the iPhone 6s.
9.7-Inch iPad Pro
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro was expected to be different only by size from the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which was released last fall. The tablet is said to be powered by the A9X processor with 4 GB of RAM, which is the same for its bigger counterpart, along with features such as quad speakers and support for Apple Pencil and the Smart Connector.
However, reports have revealed that the 9.7-inch iPad Pro will be featuring a 12 MP rear-facing camera, which is an upgrade to the 8 MP camera of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The upcoming tablet is also said to be capable of recording 4K videos, similar to the iPhone SE.
Another report pegs the price of the Wi-Fi only 9.7-inch iPad Pro with 32 GB of memory at $599, with versions coming with larger storage and LTE connectivity also to be made available.
Live Streaming
For Apple fans who would like to watch the March 21 event online, Apple will be providing a live stream, which will begin at 10 a.m. PT or 1 p.m. EST. Because the live stream will use Apple's HTTP Live Streaming technology, only specific devices will be able to watch the event.
The supported devices are:
- iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch with Safari, running iOS 7.0 or later
- Mac with Safari 6.0.5 or later, running OS X 10.8.5 or later
- PC with Microsoft Edge, running Windows 10
- Apple TV second or third generation running software 6.2 or later
- Apple TV fourth generation
The Next Day
The day after the event, Apple will once again be in the spotlight for its March 22 hearing with the FBI in a California court over the issue involving encryption.
In addition to the products to be unveiled at the March 21 event, Apple CEO Tim Cook will likely take the stage to comment on the ongoing battle between the company and the authorities. Apple is being forced to create a backdoor into iOS encryption so that the FBI can retrieve information stored in the iPhone of one of the shooters in the San Bernardino incident in 2015.
