Macworld readers decode Apple’s ‘Spring Loaded’ invite

If there’s anything Macworld readers love more than an Apple event, it’s the Apple event invitation. We can’t just sit back and let the event unfold in front of us. Oh no, we have to spend hours and hours before the event going over every little pixel of the graphic Apple uses, and dissect each and every syllable of the tag line. Hey, we can’t help ourselves! We’re fanboys…err, we’re enthusiasts.

In case you’ve been knocked out for a bit by a covid vaccine [me raising my hand], here’s some background. Apple is having an online event on April 20 and invites were sent out earlier this week. The invite had the graphic and tag line pictured above: a colorful “line-art” interpretation of the Apple logo, and the words, “Spring Loaded.” (If you want to see it on Apple’s site, visit Apple Events.)

Since we had a few days before the next episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the search for Easter eggs and hidden messages in the invitation kicked into high gear. Many of you posted your thoughts on Macworld’s Twitter and Facebook feeds, and we thought we’d highlight some of them here. Here’s what you think is hidden in the Spring Loaded invitation.

No. 3 Pencil

You’ve heard of and used number 2 pencils, but have you ever used a number 3 pencil? It uses hard graphite that makes lighter lines and feels grindy when you write. Hopefully, the third generation of Apple Pencil won’t be like that.

I feel like new Apple pencils could be released due to this unique Apple logo that looks like its hand-drawn— Kathan Sheth (@kathansheth04) April 15, 2021
It looks like there will be new Apple Pencil and Airpods.— Neal Dean  (@iAm_Neal) April 15, 2021
Ummmm new stylus? 🤷‍♂️— Chris Clark | Big Ideas – Small Dogs (@chriskclark) April 15, 2021
Apple pencil writing on an iPad or on iPhone.— Mansoor Khoso (@KhosoMansoor) April 14, 2021
Colored Apple Pencil— Mario Bo (@MarioBo) April 16, 2021iPad for the new Apple Pencil

If there’s a new Pencil, then there needs to be a new iPad. While Apple released new consumer iPads last fall, the Pro lineup got a minor update in 2020 and we think we’ll see Pro updates on Tuesday.

Clearly says ice!!! Which as we all know stands for i(Pad), c(omputer) e(xpected) 😂😂😂 – the fact that it’s in cursive and ‘joined up’ is cuz they’re coming at the same event obviously!! Can’t believe no one is talking about this!! pic.twitter.com/T8tU8dTh6K— Ian Thomson (@ianth0ms0n) April 14, 2021
The style of the Apple logo could mean that a new iPad is coming, but otherwise no.— David Jiang (@DJTechYT) April 14, 2021
iLed 👉 iPad with mini LED screen pic.twitter.com/L29TQ9f8Zg— BossTech (@BossTech88) April 15, 2021
Probably the new iPad or Mac wallpaper, the centers part looks like el, there were about 5 of those lines in total, can indicate to 5 products— RB_Lakshya (@LakshyaDua5) April 14, 2021
Drawn with apple pencil suggesting iPads and the colour scheme of the Coloured apple logo from Macintosh times.— Krupal Tandel (@krewcifer) April 14, 2021iMacs: The color comeback

The rollout of Apple silicon has been successful, and we’re anxiously awaiting the next phase. But apparently, you want more than a fast, efficient system on a chip in the next iMac. You want to go beyond the black and gray exterior. You want Apple to draw inspiration from the original iMac.

https://t.co/IjLBoNl6cY— Appley (@AppleyPro) April 14, 2021
New iMac pic.twitter.com/wGHH4vYbin— Sami (Teknolojist) (@samonite) April 15, 2021
New colorful iMacs?— 𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓭 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽 🦋 (@RReinaldOliv18) April 15, 2021
Og colorful iMac colors. And ipad air colors— Firas SRG ❁ – 🍏Applelife4123🍏🔥Kung-Fu is Life🔥 (@f1r4ss) April 14, 2021
The new iMac by hints of the Apple logo stroke for Spring 2021 similar 'Hello' on the first Mactonish computer— Koya cute (@quan_koya) April 15, 2021
Coloured iMac?— José Miguel Lessa (@Interstelar) April 14, 2021
New iMac in different colors— noalias (@noalias) April 15, 2021AirPods, AirTags, and a…Duo Dock?

Readers also think Apple could unveil new AirPods and the long-rumored AirTags tracking devices. But then some of you had other ideas on what Apple could release.

this ring looks like a ring on a keychain where you can put the airtags pic.twitter.com/eG5ZDlvYyU— Lukas (@lukluckey) April 15, 2021
The new iPhone case colours maybe— Rishadd (@rishaddranjith) April 15, 2021
I see iPhone SE— Kamel Madi (@KamelMadi13) April 14, 2021
A slinky— Dr. Abdullah X Ali (@theaxali) April 14, 2021
PLEASE be Apple Glasses!— D (@dpickett58) April 14, 2021
Part of me wants to believe it is longer charging cords.And ones that don’t fray at the ends after 8 or 9 months. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/wjSZfEKa7W— Jo(an) Major Ciolino 🍸 (@JoanCiolino) April 14, 2021
An… “e”… hmm maybe the eMac is coming back!? pic.twitter.com/sCNf9DWFJa— Joe (@JoeRemix) April 15, 2021
Tire marks from Apple car.— PolyglotDeveloper (@SrDevBert) April 15, 2021
Duo Dock 2. Duh. pic.twitter.com/yRaj65NWI9— Jack Wellborn (@JackWellborn) April 14, 2021Under the influence

Many of you noticed that Spring Loaded is happening on April 20—4/20, a day celebrated by cannabis culture. Based on your responses on social media, a lot of you have already gotten a head start on the 4/20 festivities. We try to actually respond to your postings with a comment, but sometimes we’re left scratching our heads and resort to a simple “like”.

Well, it is on420 so finally know that Apple has been smoking some stuff lately.— Craig Taylor (@AskCraigTaylor) April 15, 2021
It's a long way for indoctrinated good news to be digested but turns smelly in the end from hopes invested. #appleevent #applesystem #intestines— MikeyMouse (@mikeyvoon) April 14, 2021
If you turn it upside down and squint a little while looking through a Coke bottle you can almost see Satan.— Chris Bucky Barnes (@ChrisBarnesTech) April 14, 2021
If you look at it upside down long enough it starts to look like a question mark. So, it probably means “What new toys are we releasing?” Or “Why are we having this event?”— Michael O'Donnell (@mikeod12345) April 14, 2021
Looks like a bunch of EEEEEEEEEEE s what i see overlapping each other— rileybusse (@rileybusse91) April 15, 2021
Y'all are buying internet explorer?— tech junkie (@_jimisola) April 14, 2021Facebook

Enough, already

You know, we could go on and on about the invitation for hours. I didn’t even touch upon the theory that the colored strokes are patterned after the “hello” in the original Macintosh ad. But it’s getting out of hand, and at some point, you just gotta stop.

But seriously… what a waste of time. They'll announce what they announce when they announce it.— Chris Bucky Barnes (@ChrisBarnesTech) April 14, 2021One more thing

Before we leave you be (there’s a special episode of Mythic Quest we need to get to!), one last thing. Last week, we took a poll on your pick for the next Apple CEO, and some of you took issue with “Zombie Steve Jobs” as one of the choices. Some thought it was in bad taste and we granted that. But then this showed up in our Twitter feed, which just goes to show, taste is in the mouth of the beholder. Or something like that.

Steve Jobs has been resurrected and will take back the reigns….— Dimitrios T (@thejwalker666) April 16, 2021If you haven’t yet, follow the Macworld social media feeds on Twitter and Facebook and join in on the fun. You might even see your posting in a future article.