Three Big Questions for Apple’s Event

A week and a half ago, I wrote about where I thought a theoretical iPhone SE would fit within Apple’s lineup and how it might be priced and positioned. As the day of the event finally arrives, I wanted to outline for Insiders three big questions I will be looking to have answered during the event because these will tell us a great deal about why Apple is announcing these particular new products now. The first two deal with some of the same subject matter as my earlier piece, while the third deals with the new iPad and its significance.

Note: all three of these questions make assumptions about products which haven’t been announced, based on credible reporting from sources with good histories. It’s always possible those assumptions turn out to be flawed, in which case the premise for the questions may be too.

Why launch the iPhone SE now?

As I wrote earlier, Apple clearly made a conscious decision to discontinue new 4-inch phones when it launched the iPhone 6 line. And yet, now we’re getting a new phone that shares many of the specs and features of the premium models at a smaller size. I speculated as to why this might be, but it will be very interesting to hear Apple talk through the reasoning. Why is Apple launching this phone now, given this seems to be a reversal of its earlier policy? Will it concede it underestimated how many people would insist on having a smaller device? Or, given the iPhone 5s has remained on sale, will they position this as an update of the iPhone 5s with updated innards?

Who is the iPhone SE for?

The second big question is who the iPhone SE is for. As I also mentioned in my previous piece, I suspect it’s for those in mature markets who want a smaller phone but who don’t need the latest and greatest, and perhaps would like to pay less. But how will Apple describe this target market? Apple has never competed or marketed its devices on price, but given this device will likely be priced $200 lower than its other new iPhones, it will have to explain that price differential somehow. I suspect we’ll see language about this being a great option for those who want new features like always on “Hey Siri”, Apple Pay, and a great camera, but prefer a smaller phone that’s easier to use with one hand. And while I don’t expect Apple to explain the March timing in detail, it may hint this device will be bought by those who don’t have to have the latest phone as soon as it comes out.

What happens to the iPad lineup when the Air goes Pro?

One of the other credible reports about Monday’s event is the iPad Air won’t be upgraded in the traditional fashion but will instead morph into a 9.7-inch iPad Pro. With past product lines, the “Pro” option (or its arguable iPhone equivalent, the Plus) has generally been inserted as an additional option on top of the existing lineup. In other words, it’s generally been an upward expansion of the line rather than a replacement of an existing product. That doesn’t seem likely to be the case here and that says something interesting about the iPad lineup as a whole. The situation before Monday’s announcement is there are three iPads with distinct names, two of which have names that refer largely to their size, and one of which is separated both by its size and functionality. As of Monday, we could have a situation where we have two Pro devices defined foremost by their functionality, plus one Mini of recent vintage, and then a set of older devices.

Remember that the 9.7-inch iPad is the original device in this product line, the one launched in 2010. The Mini was distinguished when it launched by its smaller size (and to some extent its price), but the 10-inch iPad remained the default option. Now, that looks set to change, which raises the broader question of what an iPad is now. With two of the three devices, including the best-selling mid-sized version, now branded as Pro, is that how we should think of the iPad going forward? As a high-powered device for people to do really serious work, one that justifies a price that starts at $600 and goes up significantly from there? In this version of the portfolio, the Mini becomes the low-end exception to the rule, rather than one of two mainstream options. That’s a subtle but important shift and an indicator of how Apple intends to evolve the iPad portfolio, if the reports are correct.

This makes sense in the context of both finding new buyers for the iPad (people looking for laptop replacements) and driving existing owners to buy new ones (because this iPad can do things their old one can’t). Both of these are important strategic objectives, but both also risk turning the iPad into something different and will also have implications for how past buyers think of them and think about replacing them. It’s possible to imagine a future scenario where Apple ends up releasing a sort of iPhone SE equivalent in the iPad line – the device for those who don’t want to move up to an iPad Pro but want a newish 10-inch tablet from Apple.

With all this said, I also think my two iPhone SE questions are interesting applied to the new iPad as well – why now, and for whom? I’ll be watching for answers and clues for those on Monday.