Apple could announce two new devices this Tuesday

UPDATE: A tweet from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that he wouldn’t get too excited about a possible announcement from Apple this coming week. Instead, Gurman expects an upcoming virtual event this month for the 5G iPhone 12 series and the Apple Watch Series 6.

A post on Reddit (via AppleInsider) allegedly gives us a reason to expect the Apple iPad Air 4 to be unveiled as soon as this Tuesday, September 8th. The post shows a couple of listings for cases being offered by Amazon Germany. Screenshots from the latter site show the protective accessories produced by manufacturers such as ZtotopCase and TiMOVO for the “iPad Air 4 2020.”

Redesigned Apple iPad Air 4 could borrow its design from the iPad Pro

Interestingly, the render of the tablet shown with the listing includes the rumored design changes for the fourth-generation iPad Air. The tablet will reportedly take on a new look that resembles that of the iPad Pro. You might recall that recently we showed you illustrations from a leaked instructions guide published for the tablet that showed a similar change in the design of the upcoming slate. For example, the Touch ID/Home button is gone allowing Apple to reduce the size of the bezels. So where did Apple supposedly hide Touch ID on the fourth-generation iPad Air? It could be found in the slate’s power button, a location that TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple will employ for the 2021 iPhone SE Plus.

The iPad Air 4 is also expected to support the second-generation Apple Pencil and feature a Type-C charging port instead of the proprietary Lightning system. The tablet could come to market sporting a 10.8-inch display, powered by some variant of the 7nm A13 Bionic chipset. Apple might equip the device with the same 3GB of memory found in the previous generation model or give it a bump to 4GB. The tablet will most likely come out of the box with iPadOS 14 under the hood.

Twitter tipster Jon Prosser disseminated a tweet earlier today stating that Apple’s press release is scheduled for Tuesday at 9 am EDT, although he notes that the time is not locked in until the press is briefed. He also expects to see Apple introduce the Apple Watch Series 6 on Tuesday as well. With native Sleep Tracking coming to watchOS 7, we should see this long-awaited feature on the next Apple timepiece right out of the box.

The wearable will also start delivering improved Gym Stats with participating gyms developing either an iPhone app or an Apple Watch app so that members can track their progress. The gyms that decide to join the program will have to accept Apple Pay and develop a rewards program. Additionally, the workout gear found in the gym must be compatible with Apple’s GymKit API for tracking workouts. Lastly, users will have to opt-in since Apple is loath to gather information about your workouts without permission; it’s this whole privacy thingy, you know. Gyms that are partnering with Apple include: “Orange Theory, Crunch Fitness, YMCA, and Basecamp Fitness.”

The case sizes available with the Apple Watch Series 6 are rumored to include 40mm and 44mm. That would be a slight increase from the 38mm and 42mm sizes offered with the Apple Watch Series 5. As for new health features, there is the annual rumor about the device offering a glucometer. This is a tool that insulin-dependent diabetics use to measure their blood sugar to determine how large an injection of insulin they need to take. We also expect Apple to include a pulse oximeter with the Series 6 watch. This measures the saturation of oxygen in a user’s red blood cells and can provide an early warning of a major health issue, including COVID-19, to Apple Watch users. The FDA will have had to sign off on this for the feature to be available out of the box. And lastly, we could see a longer-lasting battery included with the Apple Watch Series 6.

Check-in often to see whether Apple has indeed introduced some new devices.