My Prediction Results for Apple's "Time Flies" Event

As has become my custom, with each Apple event I predict what I think Apple will unveil. You can read the recap that I posted about what was announced, but let us look at how I did with my predictions. Here is what I predicted.

Predictions

• New Apple Watch Bands – 100%
• Services Bundle – 95%
• Apple Watch Series 6 – 90%
• No New iPhones announced – 80%
• Apple Watch Series 5 staying around – 75%
• Apple Watch Series 6 SE – 60%
• Apple Watch Series 6 SE price of $179 – 50%
• New iPad Air – 60%
• New iPad Air has iPad Pro-inspired design – 60%
• All Apple Services included in bundle – 25%

New Apple Watch Bands – 100%

I guessed that Apple would release new Apple Watch bands, and boy did they ever. They have a whole bunch of new colors for existing bands including five new Sport Band colors, seven new Sport Loop color combinations, three new Nike Sport Band color combinations, and three new Nike Sport Loop color combinations. There are a slew of new Hermes bands and even a couple of new stainless steel colors, Gold Milanese and Graphite Milanese bands.

Along with the new color combinations, there are three new Apple Watch Band types. These are the Leather Link, the Solo Loop, and the Braided Solo Loop. The Leather Link is a new look to the Leather band. It takes the existing Leather band and adds in links, so it provides some texture to the band. The Solo Loop is a one-piece watch band that is designed to fit snugly, yet is flexible enough to be removable. The Braided Solo Loop is the same design as the Solo Loop, but it is made with 100% recycled yarn and silicone threads to create a comfortable band.

The Solo Loops come in 9 different sizes, 1 to 9 for the 40mm, and 4 to 12 for the 44mm watch. These are not compatible with the Series 3 or earlier Apple Watches. These are only compatible with the Series 4 and newer.

Services Bundle – 95%

Apple did announce a services bundle called "Apple One". Available later this fall, Apple One consists of three different tiers, "Individual", "Family", and "Premier". All three tiers include Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud. The amount of iCloud storage varies. It is 50GB for the Individual plan, 200GB for the family plan, and 2TB for the Premier plan. The Premier plan also includes Apple News+ and a brand new service, Apple Fitness+.

The Apple One bundle does allow you to purchase additional storage for iCloud on top of the included storage. Furthermore, it will support those who have a different iTunes account versus an iCloud account.

Apple Watch Series 6 – 90%

Apple did announce a new Apple Watch Series 6, which as a 2.5x brighter screen and a new Blood Oxygen sensor and accompanying app. The Apple Watch Series 6 does also have two new aluminum color options, Blue and PRODUCT(RED). These are being delivered into people's hands as of today.

No New iPhones announced – 80%

Apple did not announce any new iPhones at this event. Apple stated on their last earnings call that the iPhone would be a few weeks late, so it makes sense that there were no new iPhones announced at this event.

Apple Watch Series 5 staying around – 75%

I was wrong about this one, kinda, more on that in a minute. The Apple Watch Series 5 is no longer available for sale.

Apple Watch Series 6 SE – 60%

Apple did announce an Appel Watch SE. It is not a Series 6, but it does use the Series 5 internals. It does not have an always on screen, nor the blood oxygen sensor, but it does have a brighter screen and uses the same form factor as the Series 4 and newer, so it can support the new Apple Watch bands discussed above.

Apple Watch Series 6 SE price of $179 – 50%

Nope, the price of the Apple Watch SE starts at $279, not $179.

New iPad Air – 60%/New iPad Air has iPad Pro-inspired design – 60%

Apple announced a new iPad Air that does indeed have a designed inspired by the iPad Pro. It now has square sides, and the Touch ID sensor has been moved to the top button. This provides the ability to have smaller bezels, so the screen can now be larger at 10.9 inches instead of the previous 10.5-inch size. The new size also means that it can support the same Magic Keyboard as the 11-inch iPad Pros. With the redesign, it now supports the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil and charges in the same manner through magnets on the side of the iPad Air.

The iPad Air also comes with the A14 Bionic chip, so it has even faster performance. The A14 Bionic also includes a beefier neural engine for faster on-device machine learning and even better graphics.

The iPad Air comes in five colors, Silver, Space Gray, Rose Gold, Green, and Sky Blue, with the latter two being new. The new iPad Air is a bit more expensive than the last version. The new model starts at $599 for a 64GB Wifi-only model, and it will be available in October.

All Apple Services included in bundle – 25%

All of Apple's services have been included in a bundle, although it is the most expensive, they are still in the bundle.

Recap

Overall, not too bad on my predictions. I only missed 2 out of 10, so 80% correct. I'll take it. It will be interesting to see what the next event holds. Once that is announced I will do another prediction post, a recap of the event, and a recap of my predictions for that event. Before that series of posts though, I will have a review of the Apple Watch Series 6, which I just received, so look for that soon.