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What we didn't get from Apple's March 9 event

On March 9, Apple let us know exactly when its new Watch line ships (April 24) and unveiled a superslim new MacBook called the MacBook. But what didn't it give us?

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
  • Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
David Carnoy
4 min read

Screenshot by Sarah Tew/CNET

With Apple's March 9 'Spring Forward' event now behind us, it's time to look back and take stock of what we did -- and, more importantly, didn't -- get from Apple.

As expected, that event mostly focused on the Watch , and we learned its ship (April 24) and massive price range -- from $349 to $17,000 in the US, £299 to £13,500 in the UK and AU$499 to AU$24,000 in Australia.

We also got a superslim new MacBook that has a Retina display, an all-new keyboard and trackpad and weighs in at a scant 2 pounds (see our full coverage of the new MacBook here ).

But there was plenty of rumored products in Apple's pipeline that didn't make an appearance. Here's our current scorecard of potential coming-soon products.

A 12.9-inch 'iPad Plus'

Rumor had it that Apple had a larger iPad in the works, but with demand so high for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple's suppliers just didn't have the bandwidth to produce that product. The jumbo iPad rumor persists, but Bloomberg, quoting anonymous sources, reported recently that, "Production of the 12.9-inch-screen iPad is now scheduled to start around September because of delays involving the supply of display panels."

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Will Apple finally release a new Apple TV? Dan Ackerman/CNET

New Apple TV box

We did get a bit of Apple TV news at the March 9 event. Apple dropped the price of Apple TV to $69 (£59 or AU$109) and announced HBO's standalone version of HBO Go -- now called HBO Now -- will hit Apple devices for US customers in April. iPhone, iPad and Apple TV owners will be able to subscribe to HBO Now to the tune of $14.99 per month -- free of any cable TV requirements -- and the service is exclusive to Apple devices for three months, which just happens to encompass the next season of "Game of Thrones."

But we didn't get any new hardware. Even if the world has given up on a full-blown Apple television, we've been waiting for a new Apple TV box for a while (it's been almost exactly three years since the hardware was updated ). It seems logical that Apple would add a gaming element to its list of features, if not a revised interface and even more apps, but so far neither a new box or a new controller has materialized. (The photo above is a "what if" mockup of the existing Apple TV box and an unrelated controller.)

9to5

recently reported that its sources told them that Apple was "finishing up work on a slimmer Apple TV set-top-box with a more capable and tactile remote control and a redesigned operating system bundled with an App Store." However, content roadblocks [deals with additional content providers] could push the new Apple TV's ship date till later this year.

Watch this: HBO announces exclusive partnership with Apple devices

New iPods

All of the iPods are getting long in the tooth. The iPod Nano seventh-gen and the fifth-gen iPod Touch were introduced in September of 2012. (The Touch got a price drop in June 2014.) The fourth-gen Shuffle debuted in September of 2010 and the Classic (last upgraded from 120GB to 160GB in September of 2009) was officially dropped from the line late last year. No new iPods were introduced today, and it's unclear if we'll see them updated later this year -- or at all. (The Apple Watch, after all, is supposed to be able to store some music.)

New Beats-based iTunes streaming music service

When Apple acquired Beats last year, it was expected that Beats streaming music service , which costs $9.99 a month, would be revamped and rolled out as an Apple-branded streaming service sooner rather than later. But that revamping is apparently still in the works. 9to5 Mac, citing the usual anonymous sources, reported that Apple, "plans to introduce the service, at least in beta form, at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early June."

Apple's new 12-inch MacBook has Force Touch trackpad and USB-C port (pictures)

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New networking devices

It's been well over a year since Apple's Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme were updated (June 2013), and AirPort Express was last updated in June 2012. With nothing new on March 9, it looks like Apple's in no rush to update these.

Apple head-mounted virtual reality display

With Sony and Samsung, among plenty of others, coming out with head-mounted VR contraptions, rumor has it that Apple is working on its own VR solution. Way back in December of 2013 it got a patent for a head-mounted goggle, and ever since then we've been expecting some news about a headmount that might be combined with an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus for a VR experience. Who knows when we'll get it, but the chatter about it will certainly continue.

Stay tuned for June 2015

With details on the Watch, lots of new Mac news, the unveiling of ResearchKit, and an Apple TV price cut, the March 9 event delivered a beefy portion of Apple news. But we'll get a second crack at all of the above-mentioned Apple announcements that didn't happen today in June, when Apple has its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

Apple Watch event: The latest from San Francisco (pictures)

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After that, if Apple follows its usual annual schedule, we'll get iPhone updates in September, and an iPad event in October.

In other words: there's plenty of time left for even more new Apple products in 2015. Stay tuned.