Apple is preparing to announce new products within the month, with the devices believed to be new models of the iPad.
The pending announcement of updated iPad models was supported by reports that the new tablets were spotted being tested in the wild.
New iPads To Be Unveiled Next Week?
According to a Mac Rumors report, supply chain analysts claim that Apple will be revealing new products later in March, with the likely date to fall between March 20 and March 24. The information is said to be coming from the own sources of the analysts and not from other reports, which adds more credibility to the claims.
The research firm that is the source of Mac Rumors, however, did disclose the products that Apple is expected to soon unveil. However, recent rumors point to the likely possibility that the company will soon launch a 10.5-inch iPad Pro, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, a 9.7-inch tablet to replace the iPad Air 2, and a 7.9-inch iPad that could be the iPad mini 5.
Apple, however, has not yet sent out media invitations for the claimed announcement of the new tablets between March 20 and March 24. Previously, Apple released invitations almost two weeks before announcement events.
There is still the possibility that Apple will send out invites, albeit uncharacteristically late, for an event that will be held next week. There is also the chance that Apple will not be holding an announcement event and will instead reveal the new iPad models through a simple press release. Of course, there is also the possibility that the Mac Rumors report of an Apple announcement between March 20 and March 24 will turn out to be false, with the event to be held instead sometime in April.
New iPad Models Spotted In The Wild
Whenever Apple would be announcing its new devices, the chance that they are new iPad models was made even more likely when new models of the tablet were spotted in the wild.
The new iPad devices were not physically seen, however. Fiksu, a mobile marketing firm, was able to spot the new iPad models being tested through its tracking and attribution SDK. Thousands of mobile apps use Fiksu's SDK, and it seems that Apple engineers have installed some of the apps while trying out the new iPad models.
The raw data gathered by Fiksu shows four different iPad models, though that does not necessarily mean that there will be four new iPad models announced. The company noted that it saw the same number of new models being tested before Apple unveiled the last two iPad Pro models.
The new iPad models were seen being used in the greater San Francisco Bay area, including Apple's home base of Cupertino. Another clue that spotted devices are the new iPad models is the fact that they are running the latest beta version for the iOS, namely iOS 10.3, and even the unreleased next major update, iOS 11.
The combination of the Mac Rumors report and the discovery of new iPad models being tested could mean that Apple is gearing up to unveil them soon, despite previous rumors that the new models will be delayed until May or June.
