Despite acknowledging that this year’s iPhone launches will be delayed by a few weeks relative to their traditional late September street dates, Apple isn’t stopping the hype train from leaving the station this month. The company announced today that a media event will indeed take place on September 15, roughly a week after its typical iPhone and Apple Watch debuts, setting the stage for new devices to arrive in October.
Like the company’s WWDC20 developers’ conference, this event will be virtual rather than in-person, and livestreamed online for immediate viewing across the globe. The stream will start at 10 a.m. Pacific Time (1 p.m. Eastern) on Apple.com for viewing through browsers, as well as the TV apps on iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS devices.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 12 family, including two flagship-class iPhone 12 sizes and two premium-class iPhone 12 Pro models, variously differentiated with extra cameras, steel bodies, and faster 5G cellular technologies. The new iPhones may see limited or staggered availability due to COVID-19-related production challenges, but are expected to become widely available in time for the holidays.
The Apple Watch Series 6 will also likely be shown off at the event, including sensor and battery improvements, while other devices — a redesigned iPad Air, a new Apple TV 4K+, and a Apple Silicon-powered Mac computer — are wildcards, as are a host of accessories ranging from AirTag object trackers to AirPods Studio headphones. Some products could be held for a subsequent event in October, or not released at all this year.
Apple today debuted a limited-time Twitter “hashflag” campaign for the event with a blue Apple logo. As the campaign is titled “Apple Event 2020,” rather than “September Event,” this could well be the only media event of the season.
The event will also likely confirm the release dates for iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS 14, watchOS 7, and macOS Big Sur, operating systems that were formally introduced at WWDC in June. Last year, Apple offered firm release dates for everything except macOS Catalina, which ultimately lagged the others by several weeks.
