New HomePod, iMac, Budget iPads Are Coming Later This Year

Despite the lockdowns, quarantines, and shelter-in-place orders, work still has to be done. This is especially true for physical products that have a limited window of opportunity to get out the door. That's harder to do when you very secretive company like Apple that is known for keeping things under tight wraps, or at least as much as they can. The global pandemic has forced Apple to yield some ground and, in doing so, may have also yielded some clues to its upcoming products.

A lot of jobs in the past weeks have proven to actually be doable at home despite employers' past claims. Admittedly, that's easy enough when that work only involves digital files or paper at most. When work involves testing hardware or even software on such hardware, however, things are a tad more complicated.

Apple has long been notorious for its secrecy, though leaks have been coming in greater frequency and accuracy in the past years. With many restrictions on travel and businesses around the world, however, the company has had no choice but to let some employees take their work home with them, including some devices.

Bloomberg reports that some of those include Apple's line up for the later part of the year. We already expect new MacBooks and new iPhones as part of the company's lineup but those are hardly the only ones in store for Apple fans. There are also cheaper non-Pro iPads as well as a new iMac.

The biggest news might be a new HomePod, Apple's more or less silent smart speaker. Late and more expensive than its rivals, the Apple speaker was off to a rough start but had its fair share of faithful fans. There definitely has been little talk about a successor until now. Whether these new devices come this year largely depends on how quickly Apple and the rest of the world can recover once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.