Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that Apple will launch a new product on Wednesday, January 19. The most likely release is the much-anticipated iPhone SE 4, but there are a few other possibilities. Here’s everything you need to know.
iPhone SE 4
The iPhone SE 4 has been rumored for over two years, and it’s going to be a massive upgrade to Apple’s most affordable iPhone model. The revamp will include an all-new design inspired by the iPhone 14, along with major internal performance improvements and an upgraded camera.
- Revamped design that ditches the Home button with a notch and Face ID
- A18 chip with 8GB of RAM
- Apple Intelligence
- 6.1-inch OLED display
- Face ID instead of Touch ID
- 48MP rear camera
- 12MP front-facing camera
- USB-C instead of Lightning for charging
According to Bloomberg, the iPhone SE 4 is almost certainly the product Apple will announce next Wednesday. I’m pretty excited to see this thing actually hit the market, and I think it has a shot at being a big success if Apple gets the pricing right.
Wildcard: M4 MacBook Air
The M4 MacBook Air will offer a handful of upgrades over the M3 version. The big change, of course, will be the faster performance and better efficiency offered by the M4 chip. Perhaps most notably, this should lead to an increase in battery life as well.
The M4 chip will also unlock a higher top RAM configuration of 32GB for the MacBook Air. For comparison, the M3 MacBook Air tops out at 24GB.
Another big change: the M4 MacBook Air will support two external displays even when its lid is open. Currently, the M3 MacBook Air only supports two external displays when its lid is closed.
The M4 MacBook Air is expected to launch soon, with supply dwindling at Apple retail stores. Whether or not that happens next week or later this spring remains to be seen.
Wildcard: iPad updates
Apple is working on two updates to the iPad lineup. First, there’s the iPad 11, a new model of its most affordable iPad. The iPad 11 will feature faster performance with Apple’s A17 Pro chip paired with 8GB of RAM. That’s a significant boost from the iPad 10, which is powered by the A14 Bionic chip and 4GB of RAM. These upgrades will enable Apple Intelligence support on Apple’s cheapest iPad.
Additionally, Apple is working on a new version of the iPad Air. This will just be a basic spec bump update, with a performance boost from the M2 chip to the M3 chip.
Wildcard: ‘HomePad’ smart display
There’s a brand new product expected to join Apple’s lineup this year. As 9to5Mac reported last September, Apple is working on a new smart home command center with a square display and an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence support.
Bloomberg has also extensively reported on this product. According to Mark Gurman, the device will feature a 7-inch display and be “about the size of two iPhones side by side, with a thick edge around the display.”
The device’s design is centered around being attached to a wall and will be available in silver and black color options. Bloomberg also reports that there will be “bases with additional speakers that can be placed in the kitchen, on a nightstand or on a desk.”
While Apple was initially targeting a March release for the new smart display product, more recent reporting suggests the device will ship later than anticipated.
New software betas
Last but not least, we’re still waiting for Apple to release the next round of software betas for all of its platforms. iOS 18.4 is expected to bring multiple new Apple Intelligence features, including Siri with personal context, on-screen awareness, and in-app actions.
- Personal Context Understanding: With the on-device semantic index provided by Apple Intelligence, Siri can understand emails, messages, photos, calendar events, files, and more. It can provide answers to questions that are personal to you. For example, when you say, “What was that movie that Jamie told me I should check out?” Siri will dig up the message from last week. And when you’re filling out a form and say, “Add my passport number here,” Siri can extract the number from a saved photo of your passport and drop it in.
- On-screen Awareness: Siri will be able to understand and take action with things on your screen. So when a friend texts you recommending a new coffee shop in the neighborhood, you can simply say, “How long would it take me to walk there from home?” and Siri will understand just what you mean.
- In-App Actions: Siri can take hundreds of new actions on your behalf in both first- and third-party apps. The next time you’re editing photos, you’ll be able to say, “Make this photo warmer,” and Siri will make adjustments using the Photos app. Siri can also take actions across apps. So after you’re done editing that photo, say, “Add this to my ratatouille recipe note,” and Siri will seamlessly transition from the Photos app to complete the task.
Bloomberg reports that the first iOS 18.4 beta will be released as soon as sometime next week. In addition to iOS 18.4, Apple will likely release iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, tvOS 18.4, and watchOS 11.4.
Wrap up
I’d bet on next week focusing on the new iPhone SE 4. This is a hotly-anticipated addition to Apple’s product lineup that will put Apple Intelligence at a much lower price point. Most 9to5Mac readers who care about the latest and greatest hardware might think it’s a boring announcement, but it’s a key market for Apple.
Based on last year’s schedule, we’re overdue for the release of the first iOS 18.4 beta. Whether or not that materializes next week remains to be seen.
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