The first half of 2025 is set to be a busy one for Apple. Here’s all of the rumors so far, including the iPhone SE 4, M4 Ultra in a Mac Pro, and more!
Apple started off its Apple Silicon transition in the middle of a global pandemic, so those first couple of years were out of balance. As we enter 2025, a pattern has emerged along with a ton of the usual rumors.
It doesn’t seem like there will be many surprises in 2025 as Apple bumps chipsets and releases updated versions of old products, but there’s at least one device that could surprise us early in the year.
Here’s how the rumors have laid out 2025 so far. Timing is still a question, as Apple could always shove out most of these products at a single event in March and the rest in June, but for now, it seems they may be spread out a bit.
January to February: potential for M4 MacBook Air
A rumor in late December 2024 suggests that Apple won’t be taking its week-of-releases approach with its spring 2025 product lineup. Instead, the M4 MacBook Air will usher in the new year on its own.
The timing of this product is unknown other than being first, so given Apple’s previous release patterns, it is expected to be a January or February release. The M4 MacBook Air will be released with a 13-inch and 15-inch model similar to the M3 generation released in March 2024.
Apple is at least testing the unannounced M4 MacBook Air models thanks to code discovered suggesting as much. The leak also showed evidence of the new models coming with ultra-wide webcams with Center Stage support.
Outside of the webcam change, there’s not much else expected beyond what the M4 provides like Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. The M4 has shown a 25% performance boost compared to the M3.
Apple is likely to keep the pricing structure identical, with the base model offering a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $1,099. Upgrades will likely max out with 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage for $2,099.
March: iPad and iPhone SE 4
If Apple makes it all the way to March without a new product announcement, then the M4 MacBook Air will likely arrive in early March. If that’s the case, the following products will arrive in April or May, but for the sake of this article, let’s assume we’re on time for a March release.
Up next would be the iPhone SE 4 and new iPad updates. We’ve already dug deep into the potential affordable Apple Intelligence powerhouse that iPhone SE 4 could be, not to mention the 48MP camera and OLED display, so let’s dive into the iPads.
The base model iPad, officially called the 10.9-inch iPad, hasn’t been updated since 2022. Rumors suggest Apple won’t do much with this product other than add an Apple Intelligence-compatible chipset, perhaps the A18.
However, there is a bit of a curveball with the iPad 11 — there may be two models. These models are represented by codes J481 and J482, and these could signify cellular and non-cellular models, or it could mean different sizes in the base model for the first time.
There have been rumors about an updated iPad Air with M4 ever since Apple put M2 in the product in May 2024. While it seems somewhat implausible that Apple would both short cycle the iPad Air and render parts of the M4 iPad Pro product line redundant, it isn’t totally unheard of.
Apple has previously seen some overlap between the iPad Air and iPad Pro when it was transitioning the products to M-series chipsets, but both upgrades came at a more reasonable pace. The only reason Apple would introduce M4 in iPad Air so soon is if the rumored M5 iPad Pro is actually coming in the second half of 2025.
Nothing else would change with the new iPad Air beyond the M4 chipset and what that brings to the device.
April to May: iOS 18.4 and a potential Home Hub
Our timeline for Apple’s first half of 2025 is speculation, of course, so we could see any of the previously mentioned hardware as late as April or May. Otherwise, it could be a quiet lead-up to WWDC beyond final operating system updates in the iOS 18 cycle.
Rumors have previously indicated that the so-called Apple Home Hub could arrive in the first half of 2025, but one reliable source pushed that back to the second half of the year. If it is still due in the first half, it could be announced at any time through WWDC in June.
The initial Home Hub release would be a basic monitor with features and design similar but distinct from an iPad. The square-ish sub-10-inch OLED display would be carried around the home and placed on stands to display information, video, photos, or widgets.
The Home Hub could be revealed early in 2025, then the expensive AI-driven robotic arm stand could arrive later in 2025, which would meet both rumors’ release windows. New HomePods and an Apple TV could also arrive any time in 2025, perhaps alongside the new Home Hub, and they all would have Apple-designed Wi-Fi chips.
Apple Intelligence is expected to get its final big feature release prior to WWDC in June. The iOS 18.4 and other parallel operating system updates will introduce app intent frameworks that will give Siri and Apple Intelligence much more context for requests.
Recall WWDC 2024 when Apple first announced its AI initiatives and showcased an example where the user asks when their mother needs to be picked up from the airport. Siri was able to answer by gathering information from an email, a calendar event, and text conversations.
Developers have been able to build for the new app intent system since iOS 18.2 was in beta in November. That said, it may be some time before users notice a drastic difference in their experience with Apple Intelligence.
June: WWDC 2025
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference used to be almost exclusively used for software and operating system announcements. That has changed in recent years as Mac Studio, Mac Pro, and select other products are revealed during the event.
WWDC 2025 will reveal iOS 19 and the rest of the new updates, but we’re not getting into that here. All signs point to M4 Ultra, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro arriving in June during the event.
M4 Max has proven to be quite the powerhouse, so hopes are high for M4 Ultra. There is a very high chance Apple will change very little about the Mac Studio and Mac Pro beyond the new chipset.
Some still hope for new uses like proprietary graphics cards for the PCI-E slots in Mac Pro, or perhaps a miniaturized Mac Pro redesign. However, rumors haven’t suggested anything like that for 2025.
Second half of 2025: iPhone 17, M5, and more
Even after a packed first half of 2025, Apple will continue its fast pace of product releases through to the end of the year. The iPhone 17 and Apple Watch Series 11 upgrades will occur in September, followed by M5 Mac updates through the fall.
The Home Hub is a bit of a wild card for 2025, but it isn’t the only product facing a potential reveal in the year. Apple Vision Pro has a slim chance of getting some kind of update or preview for what’s next.
Either Apple could quietly re-release the same headset with M5 for late 2025 or early 2026, or it could announce the lower-priced model for the same window. It is unclear even with the available rumors what Apple intends to do, but we expect Apple Vision Pro to remain a product in the lineup through to early 2026.
Stay tuned to AppleInsider as more rumors, leaks, and analysis come in to shine some light into Apple’s busy 2025. It could be one of the most dense product release cycles yet.