Apple is planning a media event for next month, during which it will unveil a new iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch bands, according to reports.
9to5mac's Mark Gurman, who has a good track record of reporting accurate leaks, cites anonymous sources as saying a date is set for Tuesday March 15. The primary purpose of the event would be to unveil a new, smaller iPhone that keeps some of the features of later models but reverts to the form factor and design of the iPhone 5s, he says.
Believed to be called the iPhone 5se (for '5 special edition' or '5s enhanced'), the phone with a 4-inch screen would be significantly smaller than the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s or 5.5-inch 6s Plus, but would supposedly keep the A9 processor, improved camera and Apple Pay capabilities of those phones. Some new features, including 3D Touch, are less likely to make the backwards leap.
Gurman believes the 5se would replace the 5s — which Apple still sells — and retain its retail price, which in Australia is $749 for the 16GB version and $829 for the 32GB. The iPhone 6s Plus currently starts at $1229.
The event would reportedly also see the introduction of the iPad Air 3, which is tipped to roll the upgrades of the iPad Pro — a beefy quartet of speakers, Smart Connector and Apple Pencil support — into the familiar 10-inch form factor. New bands and software for the Apple Watch are likely as well.
The March event would be Apple's first since its September 2015 conference, where it unveiled the iPad Pro, new Apple TV and the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
