Here's everything Apple is rumoured to be launching in 2017

Apple is notoriously secretive.

Advertisement

The California technology giant almost never speaks about upcoming products before officially announcing them. Journalists who ask about rumours and reports might get told "no comment" — if they're lucky enough to get a response.

But for all its mystery, Apple can't stem every leak. Reports and speculation inevitably swirl in the run-up to rumoured launches, while many of its products are released on a regular annual schedule.

macbook pro finger pointing new hand
Neat. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach

We're now five months into 2017, but there are still some pretty big launches expected from Apple — including an eagerly anticipated 10th-anniversary iPhone and the first new major hardware product it has unveiled in years.

Here they are:

Advertisement

A Siri smart speaker

Google Home
Google Home, the artificially intelligent smart speaker from Apple's rival. Google

Apple has unveiled only one major new hardware product since Tim Cook become CEO in 2011: the Apple Watch. But that may be about to change.

Apple is rumoured to be developing a smart speaker with its artificially intelligent assistant, Siri, built in. Smart speakers and virtual assistants are all the rage in tech — Amazon has the Echo, while Google has Google Home.

Reports have said it could come with a screen, emphasise sound quality, and use facial recognition.

Ming-Chi Kuo, a reliable Apple analyst, has said it could be announced in June, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, and start selling in the second half of 2017. Kuo says it could be a premium product, going for more than the Amazon Echo.

Advertisement

The iPhone 8

iPhone 8 function area
A mock-up of how the iPhone 8 might look, based on purported leaks. Benjamin Geskin for iDropNews

This is the big one.

2017 is 10 years since the launch of the first iPhone, and Apple is believed to have big plans to mark the occasion.

The iPhone 8 is expected to come with an almost edge-to-edge screen without a physical home button, a juiced-up camera with some augmented-reality functionality, and a glossy, iPhone 4-esque glass back, among other features. But it won't come cheap — rumours suggest it will be $1,000 or more.

It could be difficult to get your hands on — there have been multiple reports that because of manufacturing difficulties, its commercial release might be delayed months past the traditional September iPhone launch. And even when it hits stores, it may still be hard to find.

But that's not the only iPhone launch to come.

Advertisement

The iPhone 7S and 7S Plus

iPhone 7 and iphone 7 plus
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Alongside the iPhone 8, it looks like there will be an iPhone 7S, too. It would be an incremental update of 2016's iPhone 7, like S releases in previous years.

It's less exciting, but it is expected to be cheaper than the iPhone 8 and launch as normal after the September announcement event.

An improved MacBook Pro

macbook pro
The Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro's keyboard. Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

In 2016, Apple unveiled a revamped MacBook Pro that replaced the laptop's function keys with a Touch Bar touchscreen. An updated version with better specs is expected to be revealed in June, at WWDC.

Advertisement

A juiced-up MacBook

apples newest macbook is a taste of the future
Apple

Similarly, according to Bloomberg, Apple is expected to announce a new MacBook at WWDC, with more of a focus on performance instead of battery life.

Even the MacBook Air might get a boost

MacBook Air ip6
Flickr/Alejandro Pinto

Bloomberg is also reporting that Apple has "considered" releasing an updated version of the MacBook Air, despite the aging nature of the laptop. But this one isn't certain.

Advertisement

A new iMac

apple imac
Apple

In April, Apple announced that new iMacs geared toward so-called pro users were coming in 2017. There's no word on specifications yet or a launch date — just that they're coming "this year."

A third-generation Apple Watch

Apple Watch
REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

Apple launched the first Watch in April 2015, following it up with the Series 2 in September 2016, 18 months later. There have been reports that Apple plans to release the third this autumn, which would settle the new-ish product into a more regular yearly release cycle.

Advertisement

A 4K Apple TV

apple tv
Apple

Apple reportedly is working on a refresh of Apple TV, its TV-top box, with 4K ultra-HD capabilities. It may be released this year, but it's unclear when.

Advertisement

And finally, some notes

Tim Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

• In April, Apple did something highly unusual: It invited a select group of journalists to its headquarters to discuss an unannounced product, the next Mac Pro. The company has long neglected its professional-workstation line, but it has promised something new and exciting is coming — but not until 2018.

• This doesn't include any products released under Beats, the headphone brand Apple acquired in 2014 for $3 billion.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook has been spotted wearing a prototype glucose tracker around Apple's campus and has discussed it with students, according to a CNBC report. Apple's increasingly interested in the health tech space, but there's no word yet on when any commercial version might launch.

• The Mac Mini, Apple's lower-end desktop computer, is long overdue for an update — the last release was in October 2014, according to MacRumors' analysis. That said, there's little in the way of hard evidence of a new one coming in 2017.

"The Mac Mini is an important product in our lineup, and we weren't bringing it up because it's more of a mix of consumer with some pro use," exec Phil Schiller said earlier this year. "The Mac Mini remains a product in our lineup, but nothing more to say about it today."

• This list also does not include any apps or software updates Apple may push out this year.

Apple
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.