Insider Mark Gurman: Apple stores preparing for product updates next week
Next week, Apple stores will receive an update to "merchandising and marketing materials," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Here's What We Know
While Gurman did not specify whether the updates are related to new product announcements, he noted that it comes at a time when Apple traditionally releases its annual Black Unity collection for the Apple Watch. For the past four years, the company has announced the Black Unity campaign in late January, unveiling a new Apple Watch band, watch face, and iPhone wallpaper inspired by the colours of the pan-African flag.
Apple Stores are doing merchandise/floor marketing updates next week. This is around the time Apple rolls out new Unity Apple Watch bands/watch faces. More Apple news tomorrow in Power On. https://t.co/PAutSy4Fow
- Mark Gurman (@markgurman) 25 January 2025
Recently, it was discovered that the code for the upcoming tvOS 18.3 update for Apple TV contains a reference to UNITY25, which could indicate that the Black Unity campaign will continue in 2025. If this is the case, Apple is likely to make a corresponding announcement next week.
It is not yet known whether anything else will be announced besides the new Black Unity bracelet. New MacBook Airs with the M4 chip and new Powerbeats Pro 2 are also expected, but Gurman did not mention any other new products in his post.
Also, iOS 18.3, macOS 15.3, and other software updates are expected to be released next week after more than a month of beta testing.
According to statistics provided by Apple, the new operating system is installed on 76% of iPhones released over the past four years. These figures are the first official data on the adoption rate of iOS 18 since its release in September last year. For comparison, iOS 17 was installed on 76% of iPhones in the last four years by 5 February 2024, and on 66% of all iPhones in total.
Source: @markgurman
