If tech news is feeling a little repeaty, with new phones and gadgets arriving in a seemingly endless stream over the last few weeks, know that it’s not Groundhog Day. But it is almost time for yet another Apple event where new hardware will show up.
At an event at its company headquarters next week, Apple will unveil the iPhone 16, as well as the next Apple Watch and (most likely) some AirPods. But like most tech events these days, much of the presentation is likely to revolve around artificial intelligence.
The promotional image for next Monday’s event is an Apple logo wrapped in a colorful glow with all the shades commonly used for Siri, Apple’s digital assistant. (Tagline: “It’s Glowtime.”) This may be a hint that Siri is getting yet another (ahem) glow-up or, more likely, that Apple will delve deeper into the Apple Intelligence features it showed off at WWDC this summer. With Apple just now getting into its AI era, Siri and Apple Intelligence are likely to be a huge part of the event.
The announcement will stream live on Monday September 9 at 10 am PDT, 1 pm ET, and 6 pm BST. Watch it right here on this page, or on Apple’s website, YouTube page, or by launching Apple TV+ on an Apple TV. (You don’t need to be a subscriber to watch the video on Apple TV+.)
Here’s what to expect from Apple, based on rumors, leaked information, and what we know from covering every iPhone launch since the first.
iPhones Galore
Like every Apple event this time of year, the main thing to expect is new iPhones. In this case, these will be the iPhones 16. According to leaks around the blogosphere (mostly thanks to Bloomberg’s Apple leaker supreme, Mark Gurman) the new iPhones are expected to be largely the same as the devices in the recent past. Expect a base model, along with the more expensive and feature-rich iPhones 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max.
The biggest new feature, according to the rumors, appears to be a new type of photo button on the Pro models that acts like the shutter button on a dedicated digital camera. Press the button down slightly to focus on your subject, then press all the way to take the photo.
All the new iPhone 16 models should also have the action button, a feature that lets you easily access shortcuts to apps like the camera, flashlight, music playback, and other apps you can set the button to activate. Currently, the action button is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro models.
To go with those new iPhones, we’ll probably also see some new headphones. There has been some indication in the rumor mill that new AirPods models will make their debut next week.
Lil’ Watch, Lil’ Mac
Apple may also be showing off some revamps of its Apple Watch, including a cheaper version made out of plastic—or at least some material less expensive than the Apple Watch’s typical aluminum—that may primarily be aimed at kids.
Apple is also likely to release an even dinkier version of its desktop computer, the Mac Mini, which will likely come with Apple’s new M4 chip. There may be some teases for the next round of MacBooks as well, but we typically see new MacBooks later in the year
AI, Obviously
It wouldn’t be a product announcement in 2024 without a bunch of eyebrow-raising AI demos onstage.
Apple has long been known for taking its time introducing new features and product categories after other device manufacturers have thrown themselves into whatever the new thing is; the company prefers a strategy of quality over immediacy. That is certainly the case with Apple’s AI offerings, which the company touted at its WWDC event in June—well after rivals like Google, Samsung, and Microsoft had been stuffing their devices with generative AI features.
Apple is positioning its Apple Intelligence tech as more of a feature than a product itself in an effort to appeal to customers who just want AI features that work rather than trying out a bunch of different chatbots. These AI features work on iPad and Mac computers, but on the iPhone they’re limited to the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models. It is expected that Apple Intelligence will be available across the iPhone 16 lineup. Still, while Apple Intelligence is out in iOS18 as a beta release now, all the new AI features won’t be fully rolled out until 2025. That won’t stop the company from hyping up all the features it plans to bring to iOS though.
Since 2020, Apple’s event have had been pre-recorded keynote announcements, so unless there’s some technical snafu with the projector screen, there likely won’t be many moments where AI demonstrations go awry, like during Google’s Pixel launch less than a month ago when a live demo of the company’s Gemini assistant didn’t understand some prompts.
No matter what Apple announces, its event will likely be a slick, seamless presentation. Maybe in a perfect world, Apple’s AI features will turn out to run just as smoothly.