Apple's store is going offline — and might come back with new stuff
Get ready for something new out of Cupertino.
Rumors of new Apple releases coming this month have us anxiously awaiting official updates, but the company hasn't announced a launch event for the press like it usually does for new products.
We've heard something is happening before the end of March -- we just don't know what's dropping or when to expect it.
It looks like we might have an answer to one of those questions. Apple just gave notice that its online store will go offline for maintenance early Tuesday morning -- and when it comes back up, we have a feeling there might just be some new iProducts ready for order.
The Apple site's System Status page was updated with a note warning users of the upcoming maintenance, which will shut the site down from 3 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. ET.
The page was first spotted by MacRumors, which noted the company typically issues press releases right around the time the store is set to come back online. That could make a surprise announcement all the more likely -- why else would the site need to shut down for five-and-a-half hours?.
Exactly what might be coming tomorrow morning isn't exactly clear -- but the rumor mill offers quite a few possibilities.
It might be a jacked-up 128 GB version of the iPhone SE, or even a slick red iPhone 7 to add a splash of pigment (and consumer interest) in the incumbent line as the world preps for the iPhone 8 launch in September.
There's also word of impending updates to the iPad Pro line. Last month, Japanese blog Macotakara claimed Apple has four new machines in the works, measuring in at 12.9, 10.5, 9.7 and 7.9 inches. This might be the more likely of the new releases, if Apple is keeping to form -- the company last updated its iPad line exactly a year ago from tomorrow's date.
We reached out to Apple for comment about the site maintenance, and will update the story upon receiving a response.
This could all be rumor-fueled speculation -- the site might just need a tune-up, and Apple would be remiss to leave its fans in the lurch for such a long chunk of time. But that's no fun, and there's been too much chatter to dismiss the possibility of new releases just because the company isn't giving the press a front row seat for once. Either way, we'll see what's coming tomorrow morning.
Brett Williams is a Tech Reporter at Mashable. He writes about tech news, trends and other tangentially related topics with a particular interest in wearables and exercise tech. Prior to Mashable, he wrote for Inked Magazine and Thrillist. Brett's work has also appeared on Fusion and AskMen, to name a few. You can follow Brett on Twitter @bdwilliams910.
