Coming at Apple's March 21st event: 4-inch iPhone SE, 9.7-inch iPad Pro & new Apple Watch models
If Apple's most recent hardware events were about going bigger (larger iPhones, a jumbo iPad, and a new Apple TV), Apple's March 21st event is about going smaller.
Context & Ripple Effects
This closes out a rumor arc that ran through early 2016: January reporting had Apple debuting an iPad Air 3 alongside the iPhone 5se the week of March 14, and February reporting pegged the event itself for March 15. What actually shipped shifted on both counts — the date slipped to March 21, and the tablet became a 9.7-inch iPad Pro rather than an Air successor.
The framing matters: after a stretch of going bigger (larger iPhones, the jumbo iPad Pro, a new Apple TV), this event is Apple going smaller — a compact phone, a compact Pro tablet, and refreshed Watches. The follow-up coverage confirms the bet landed: the iPhone SE launched at $399 with iPhone 6S-class internals, Apple Pay, and no 3D Touch.
First-order effects
- Buyers of small phones get a flagship-spec option at $399 for 16GB — 6S-class silicon, a 12MP camera, and Apple Pay in a 4-inch body — rather than last year's internals in a small chassis.
- Apple's own tablet lineup is restructured on stage: the 9.7-inch iPad Pro takes the slot the rumored Air 3 was expected to fill, putting Pro branding and pricing into the compact tier.
Second-order effects
- Android vendors competing in the sub-4.7-inch segment now face a small iPhone with current-generation performance at a mid-range price, squeezing their differentiation to price alone.
- Pushing Pro branding downmarket pressures Apple's own iPad Air positioning — the compact Pro either absorbs Air demand or forces a clearer price/spec separation between the two lines.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, March becomes a recurring mid-cycle refresh slot for Apple's smaller devices — six years later the same month carried a 5G iPhone SE and an iPad Air — turning spring launches into a standing second pillar beside the fall iPhone cycle.
The trend: Apple is institutionalizing March as a mid-cycle hardware refresh window for its smaller devices, with the iPhone SE line as its anchor product.