The Morning After: What to expect from Apple’s new launch this week

Last week, Apple’s Tim Cook teed up a new product for launch on February 19 — that’s tomorrow. Cook’s tweet also included an animated image of a shimmering Apple logo, which made a lot of us assume the reveal could be for a second-generation AirTag. It’s been rumored for a while that Apple would introduce a second-gen tracker sometime this year, and the original AirTag landed almost four years ago. So there are plenty of tech upgrades the tracker could benefit from.

Rumors suggest the next AirTag may feature a more tamper-proof speaker to reduce stalking and an improved Ultra-Wideband chip with up to 3x longer tracking range. However, would the CEO of Apple tweet (and hype up) a mere accessory? Probably not. Following a barrage of leaks and rumors, a next-gen iPhone SE seems more likely.

This upgraded entry-level basic iPhone may appear with a design closer to the iPhone 14. That means appearing with a notch, so no Dynamic Island, no home button. It’ll likely make the shift to USB-C and probably have enough power to run all those Apple Intelligence features too. (In the past, while SE iPhones have had humble screens and hardware, Apple typically packs them with chips on par with the latest iPhones.)

It could also be a wildcard: Apple’s rumored smart display is meant to arrive sometime this year too. Having said all that, there isn’t really an Apple device as shiny as an AirTag. We’ll find out tomorrow. Hopefully alongside some more tech news because it’s been a quiet few days.

— Mat Smith

Get this delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!


The biggest tech stories you missed


Arm is reportedly planning to reveal its own processor this year, with Meta as the main customer. The chip would be a CPU designed for data center servers and customizable for clients.

Last month, Arm’s parent company, Softbank, announced the Stargate project, a partnership with OpenAI to build up to $500 billion worth of AI infrastructure. Arm, along with Microsoft and NVIDIA, is a key technology partner for the project. Arm’s chip could now play a role in all of that.

Continue reading.


TMA
Engadget

It’s become a depressing trend from recent Samsung hardware: solid, capable devices that lack a strong enough reason to upgrade — or get excited, even. The Galaxy Watch 7 is a capable companion for Samsung phones, with great hooks into Samsung’s Health app, reliable activity tracking and zippy performance. The always-on display hits battery life hard, however, so we were tasked with recharging (or even topping up) the device more often than we’d like.

Continue reading.


This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121854699.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121854699.html?src=rss
Created 1mo | Feb 18, 2025, 2:10:19 PM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

iOS 18.4 is available now with new emoji, Apple News+ Food and priority notifications

Apple has released iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4 and vision

Mar 31, 2025, 8:20:18 PM | Engadget
Alexa+ is out, but missing a lot of features Amazon demoed last month

If there’s one thing you can count on with AI tools is that they’ll launch without most of the promised features. It happened with

Mar 31, 2025, 8:20:17 PM | Engadget
WD's 1TB C50 Xbox storage card is 30 percent off in the Amazon Spring Sale

The only real way to increase the storage of an Xbox Series X/S is to use a specialized expansion card. Luckily, a really good one is heavily discounted right now. The WD 1TB C40 storage card

Mar 31, 2025, 8:20:16 PM | Engadget
Substack updated its app to make it even more like TikTok

Substack is taking one more step towards becoming an all-in-one social media / creator platform by adding a vertical video feed to its app. Technically, the new TikTok-style feed is a redesign of t

Mar 31, 2025, 8:20:16 PM | Engadget
ChatGPT gained one million new users in an hour today

OpenAI has been

Mar 31, 2025, 8:20:15 PM | Engadget