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The next special Apple event is revealed.
The invites have been sent out and the next Apple special event is confirmed. It’ll be next Tuesday, September 14 at 10AM Pacific. It’s the date and time that I, and plenty of wiser people, had been predicting and, luckily, we got it right.
Of course, Apple never gives much away when it sends out invites to the press. Indeed, before last year, the press were just thrilled to be asked as the invites were like gold dust.
This year, like last, the event is virtual-only, so the time represents when anyone can tune in to see the recording. We can expect a video event with exceptional production values, sweeping drone shots and multiple Apple locations (real and imaginary).
The benefit of a virtual event is that I’m not this second scrambling to find a flight to San Francisco.
So, what do we know, and what can we deduce?
The invite is never accidental
It always has clues, even if some of the guesses pundits come up with can be rather over-excitable, shall we say?
The wording is of the less remarkable variety. I mean, I like it, California Streaming is a nice pun and helpfully reminds me that I’m watching virtually, in case in the heat of it I start the search for a flight again.
But what else?
Speed is key
Well, streaming is one of the most data-heavy things you can do on your phone, so I think there’s an emphasis on speed, and perhaps reinforcing the rumor that the next iPhone will have the fastest 5G speeds in more countries than before.
Oh, and you stream music from the iPhone to AirPods, don’t you, so earbuds may feature, I’d suggest.
Sharp focus
Check out how gleamingly sharp is the landscape in the distance, as though you’re looking through a camera lens. Or am I being fanciful? Here’s the thing: often these invites are abstract or just restricted to colors and shapes. This is picture-perfect. I think it can only indicate there’s going to be a BIG emphasis on the photographic capabilities of the next iPhone.
The colors on the invite
These are often very revealing, showing the direction of travel for those who make decisions about the colors of products.
This year’s invite is elegant and subdued in its colors, with a dusty pink, dark grays and a faintly neon blue. There were rumors of a rose gold iPhone 13 Pro and this may be a foreshadowing of that. And the bright blue that outlines the bottom half of the Apple logo would make a brilliant iPhone 13 or Apple Watch color.
The event is going to see the announcement of the next iPhone
We know this because last year Apple’s Luca Maestri warned in the summer that that Fall’s iPhone would be a few weeks late. No such warning was issued this year, so it’s 100% safe to say that the iPhone will be the big reveal at the September event this year.
Unless there’s ANOTHER September event, right?
True, but I’ll stick my neck out and say categorically there’s not going to be another September event. Apple won’t want to spoil the excitement of the run-up to the next iPhone going on sale on, I believe, Friday, September 24 and that only leaves one week after that. Even so, it would still leave the iPhone running late and that’s not what we’ve been told and anyway all reports say it’s ahead of, not behind, schedule.
There could be another iPhone first
Yes, if all the phones expected (mini, regular, Pro and Pro Max) materialize, this could be the highest number of phones to go on sale on the same day. Last year, four were announced but the release was staggered. The previous highest number was three, when the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max hit stores simultaneously in September 2019.
What’s the iPhone called?
Well, it would have been lovely if Apple had put the words lucky or unlucky in the blurb. Then we’d have known for sure it was going to be iPhone 13 we were about to welcome.
None the less, I think that will be the name, not iPhone 12s.
What else?
Last year, Apple’s invite included the words Time Flies, so we knew Apple Watch was not only on the menu but in fact the main item. We don’t have such a helpful clue this time around.
And given there have been plenty of rumors saying the next Apple Watch is having production issues which may lead to delays, should we deduce that there’s no watch coming yet? I don’t think so. I believe the announcement will be made and onsale date set but it may be that initial supplies will be constrained.
So, I think Apple Watch Series 7 will be announced, but no new Apple Watch SE. There could be a wild-card extra Watch (after all, last year’s SE was expected to surface months later, not with the Series 6 last year) but I don’t think so. This year, the focus will be on a new design and I suspect there may not even be an Apple Watch Edition, just as there wasn’t alongside Apple Watch Series 4, the last big design change.
How about AirPods 3?
This is a tougher call, as the new entry-level earbuds have been predicted for some months now, each promised release date proving wrong. Except, as mentioned above, you do stream music from your iPhone to your earbuds.
I’m pretty confident we’ll see AirPods 3 at the event. Three products seems the right amount for a keynote, though it’s true Apple could manage with just two, as the iPhone inevitably takes a lot of time to reveal in its four manifestations.
Not long now until everything is revealed, colors, features, products and all.