Apple has sent out invitations to a press event next Tuesday, 8 March 2022. Taglined “Peek performance”, this is the much-anticipated spring event which could see the announcement of important updates to the company’s iPhone, iPad and Mac lines.
“Please join us for a special Apple Event broadcasting from Apple Park,” the invitation reads, giving little away as usual.
It’s scheduled to begin at 10am local time (PST) on 8 March, which translates to 6pm UK time.
The event that wasn’t – then was again
Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman predicted the exact date of this event almost a month ago, but there was confusion and dismay among Apple pundits yesterday when the expected invites didn’t arrive. Apple usually sends these out a week ahead of time.
The lack of invites on 1 March, coupled with the timing of iOS updates, led many observers – including some on this very website – to conclude that the prediction was erroneous. Rival pundit Jon Prosser, indeed, went to far as to post an awkward-looking photo of Gurman’s face on Twitter.
Guess who’s looking awkward now? Not Mark Gurman.
What to expect next Tuesday
We’ve believed for a while that Apple’s spring 2022 event would feature the third-gen iPhone SE and the new iPad Air.
But the teaser tagline and artwork prompt some other thoughts. The odd 3D effect produced by the colours in the Apple logo suggest something to do with AR – as usual, Apple embedded an AR easter egg in the invite – and some optimists will be hoping for a mixed-reality headset. We don’t think that’ll be here for a while yet.
The “performance” part of the tagline, however (assuming we’re going to discount the “peek” part as simply referring to the first sighting of exciting new products), suggests some sort of souped-up processor. This could mean the M2 Mac chip, or another device with an A15. Or it could refer to 5G connectivity, or a new iMac with the M1 Pro and Max chips.
There are lots of possibilities. To find out what Apple’s got in store, join us here on Macworld where we’ll cover all the announcements as they happen.
Author: David Price, Editor
David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.