Apple announces ‘Spring Loaded’ special event for April 20

All eyes were on March for Apple’s expected special event, but that didn’t pan out. But here’s the company today, swooping in and giving us something to look forward to (before WWDC).

As expected with today’s earlier rumor cropping up, Apple has confirmed that they will be hosting a special, virtual event on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. The special event is “Spring Loaded” to take place at Apple Park on that date. As is par for the course, Apple will be streaming it so anyone who’s interested can watch the events as they unfold.

We’ll be covering the event as usual, too, bringing you all the latest updates. Things kick off at 10:00 AM PDT/1:00 PM PDT.

What to expect

That’s a little bit up-in-the-air at this point. There’s always room for Apple to retool an event, changing what’s expected to be announced and saving it for a later event. However, as it stands right now, there’s definitely one item expected to be unveiled.

The new iPad Pro.

This new high-end tablet is expected to feature a mini-LED display. There should be two sizes to choose from, an 11-inch model and a 12.9-inch variant. Each one will supposedly feature the new display technology, despite supply shortages.

What’s more, the new tablets are believed to adopt 5G wireless connectivity as well, just like Apple’s iPhone 12 lineup last year. The new iPad Pro should also feature the upgraded A14X processor under the hood, which is said to be similar in speeds as Apple’s M1 processor for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

Maybe a new iPad mini

There’s also a rumor going around that Apple may introduce an “iPad mini Pro”, which could feature a 8.7-inch “full screen” display. This would mean the new, smaller iPad would shrink the bezels just like the iPad Pro and new iPad Air, and drop the physical Home button as well. There’s also a rumor saying Apple may keep the same form factor the current iPad mini has right now, but adopt a mini-LED display, rather than the LCD it uses now.

There’s more on the horizon, too. That includes a refreshed AirPods 3, the oft-rumored AirTags, redesigned iMac, and much, much more.

It’s possible Apple’s first event of 2021 is a doozy.