Apple says a new device launch is imminent, though its exact shape remains unclear.
“Get ready to meet the newest member of the family,” CEO Tim Cook posted on X Thursday (Feb. 13). “Wednesday, February 19.”
Get ready to meet the newest member of the family.
Wednesday, February 19. #AppleLaunch pic.twitter.com/0ML0NfMedu
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 13, 2025
Included with the post was a six-second animated clip of a shimmering Apple logo, with a circle around the logo — similar to the iPhone home button — slowly fading.
While it’s not known what product the company plans to launch, a report last week from Bloomberg News said Apple was readying a low-end iPhone version for sometime this month. The news outlet noted in a report Thursday that the company’s stores were running out of iPhone SE models — its entry-level phone — another sign the new device is on the way.
The report also argued that the animation is another clue to the new device. If this new product is a phone that looks more like the iPhone 14 than the SE, the disappearing home button would make sense.
According to Bloomberg, the new model will also include Apple Intelligence — the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) suite — and the A18 chip featured in the iPhone 16.
It will also be the first Apple device with an in-house cellular modem chip, rather than components from Qualcomm. Bloomberg said the company aims to bring that chip to a new slimmer iPhone this autumn, with an upgraded version included in iPhone Pro models next year.
The news follows reports from earlier this week that Apple was exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robots for smart home applications.
The company’s research is weighing a range of possible robotic systems, from simple ones to complex humanoids, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a post on X.
Kuo wrote the products were in the early proof-of-concept (POC) stage at Apple and that mass production of any potential Apple robots would likely not begin until at least 2028.
Kuo added that POC is “Apple’s testing ground” and that several projects — such as the Apple Car — have never advanced past that stage.
“While the industry debates the merits of humanoid vs. non-humanoid design, supply chain checks indicate Apple cares more about how users build perception with robots than their physical appearance (so Apple uses anthropomorphic instead of humanoid), implying sensing hardware and software serve as the core technologies,” Kuo wrote.
