Spring Loaded: Apple announces April 20 event

Apple will host its first product unveiling event in more than five months, the company announced Tuesday. Invitations that went out this morning state that the event will take place at 10:00 am PST on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.

Many people didn't learn about this event from the invitation that went out this morning. Rather, they learned hours before when Siri began answering the question "Hey Siri, when is Apple's next event?" with "The special event is on Tuesday, April 20, at Apple Park in Cupertino, CA. You can get all the details at Apple.com."

As has become the custom, the event has a tagline: "Spring Loaded." The taglines usually harbor subtle clues about what products might be updated or how, as well as the general theme of the event.

It has become something of a tradition in recent years for Apple's spring product events to be iPad-focused, and multiple reports and leaks over the past few months have indicated that a refreshed iPad Pro is imminent. Rumors have claimed it will have a new processor that provides performance in line with the M1 chip that shipped in Macs late last year, and they've said that at least the larger, 12.9-inch model will feature Mini LED technology, which offers better contrast than the LCD displays found in prior iPads.

It's possible that Apple will finally announce AirTags, its augmented reality-focused Tile competitor. The company could also introduce one or more new Apple Silicon-equipped Macs. Late last year, the low-end MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini were updated, but Apple has committed to bringing its custom-designed silicon to the entire line within the next year and a half, and reports have said we can, sometime this year, expect Apple Silicon versions of the higher-end MacBook Pro models and the iMac, as well as a redesigned Apple Silicon MacBook Air.

As always, Ars will be covering the event next week. We'll share the updates as they come in.

Listing image by Apple