Spring is in the air, and like it has done four of the last five years, the Apple has finally announced it’s Spring Event – It’s Show Time. Here’s all my earlier predictions and the rumors about what’s going to show up at the event.

Services

As I mentioned last time, I think the biggest area of focus at the event will be on Apple’s new services – namely the news and video service.

News Service

For the News service, I would expect a pretty quick launch after the event. I’m not really too sure about what will excite people about this service, but rolling in magazines and news into one subscription service could reslly help boost the bottom line. Like always though, it’s going to depend on the narrative.

Apple has been negotiating with Newspaper and Magazines alike, and from the sound of it, Apple has been very bullish on the percentage each outlet will get. The reports and rumors are saying that Apple is only going to offer 50% of the monthly service to the publishers that are signed on.

The good news for everyone is that there won’t be a new app, as this service will be rolled into the Apple News App, which should also be getting a new icon.

I’d wager that this will be the first of the service that will actually hit users phones. I think for the most part, everything is ready to go except for some deals with holdout publishers. If this is a successful venture, I’d say those hold outs won’t last long. However, I don’t really see this as an exciting enhancement. I don’t know what to expect here in terms of numbers and buy-in just yet.

Video Streaming

I imagine that the new Video Streaming service will be the start of the show. It’s in the title of the event after all.

It’s no secret that Apple has been working on getting a video service rolling out. They want to compete with Netflix and steal some of that money. Reportedly, there has been turmoil behind the scenes though. I think that Apple has many shows that will be of good to great quality (better than Planet of the Apps and Carplay Karokee). Will it be enough to get people to add on another subscription service?

I think Apple truly has a lot of work here to win people over. If it is free as was suggested late last year, it’s a no brainer. It will just be there. If it is asking people to pay for it, the shows will have to really sell the system. While we know broadly what the shows are about, we don’t really know much else besides the people involved and the money thrown at the project.

Both of those are pretty considerable though.

It will also help if Apple has something up its sleeve with legacy content. If we get access to shows we can’t get elsewhere, that would make me consider dropping something else.

I’m going to interested in how they present this to the customer.

I would expect celebrities like Jennifer Anniston and Oprah to be in attendance. I would also ready myself for some trailers of the content.

Don’t expect to launch anytime soon though. I would guess that we are at least a few months out from the launch of this service.

Hardware?

With movie and tv stars in attendance, many pundits have theorized that there won’t be any mention of new hardware.

I’m going to go the other way. I think they will introduce some updated products and make the celebs sit through the demos and everything. What better way to watch the new streaming service or read a magazine than on a new iPad or iPad Mini? Still, I could be wrong and they could use a press release to announce everything else.

Here’s what I’m guessing though.

AirPower

It really feels like I’m beating a dead horse at this point. I’ve guessed that AirPower would show up at the last three Apple Events and that we would get a press release. None of those have come to pass, but the rumors are picking up steam. I think AirPower is imminent.

It has been so long since Apple announced the product that I think they will want to talk about it again. They will want to brag about how tough it was to engineer and how they have the best in the world. They won’t miss a chance like this to get the word out.

AirPods 2

If AirPower comes out, AirPods 2 will surely make it out as well. The intrepid folks at MacRumors have dug through the latest betas and found references to AirPods 2. One of the major things they’ve found is being able to set up “Hey Siri” on the AirPods.

So I would assume that Hey Siri and wireless charging will be the headlining feature of a new set of AirPods. Hopefully, they have also tacked on more battery as well. The battery on the old one last a while, but my pair has started to run down faster and faster.

iPads

Rumors of a new iPad and iPad Mini have been circling for a while. I wouldn’t expect new designs like the iPad Pros, but just a spec bump. Faster chips, better battery, more advanced camera, and maybe better Wifi signals. If we’re lucky, maybe a bump in the lowest storage space.

The goal is to price them low, so hopefully, the Mini will finally drop in price. I wouldn’t expect the normal sized iPad to drop at all.

Macs?

I doubt we will see anything on the Mac front, as much as I want it. I’m dying for a new iMac, but there haven’t been many rumors.

Also, the MacBook hasn’t been updated in quite some time either, but I don’t see it happening here.

Wrap up

That’s all that I see happening. I could be way off base, but I think in the next couple of weeks, we will see all of these come to pass either on stage or in a press release.

I’m really hoping for AirPower and AirPods 2. If I’m being greedy, a new iMac as well.

I’ll try out the new services once they come back and try to give you a run down on if any of it is worth your time. Until then, check back and stay tuned.

If you like my content, please feel free to spread it to your friends. I’d love for this to get big enough that I actually start getting invited to these events, but I can’t do that without you!