Apple’s first big fall event is happening on Tuesday, September 15th, but it may be much different than previous September events.
Let’s address the elephant in the room up front: it doesn’t seem like there will be new iPhones. Typically, Apple’s September events mark the arrival of Apple’s latest and greatest smartphones, but you shouldn’t expect to see them on Tuesday, according to The Verge’s editor-in-chief Nilay Patel and other well-connected journalists. And Apple has already said that the new iPhones won’t go on sale during their usual late-September timeframe.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t some interesting things to look forward to, though, since the Apple rumor mill has been as active as ever. The event’s “Time Flies” moniker suggests we’ll see Apple Watches at the very least. And because of gathering restrictions in place due to COVID-19, it seems likely Tuesday’s event will be another slickly produced video presentation, similar to what Apple put together for June’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
Read on to learn more about what we’re expecting during the show.
Apple Watch Series 6 and a new low-end Apple Watch
There aren’t a lot of rumors about the next flagship Apple Watch, but in addition to that “Time Flies” moniker, we do have another strong hint that a new Apple Watch could be making its debut. Developer Guilherme Rambo discovered that the metadata for the YouTube page for the event contained the phrase “Series 6,” which would seem to hint that we can expect to see a successor to the Apple Watch Series 5.
As for what that so-called Series 6 Watch might actually bring to your wrist, references to blood oxygen monitoring were found in code snippets of an early version of iOS 14, obtained by 9to5Mac, so that could be the banner feature. And we already know that watchOS 7 will have native sleep tracking, more customizations to watchfaces, and a rebranded Activity app called “Fitness.” But Apple hasn’t committed to a release date beyond “this fall.” Perhaps that firmware update will be available on the newest Apple Watch when it launches.
Bloomberg has corroborated that a follow-up to the Series 5 is on the way, but it also reported that Apple may release a new lower-end Apple Watch to replace the $199 Series 3. It’s unclear exactly how that device may differ from the rumored Series 6 or what it might be called. (Perhaps Apple Watch SE?)
A redesigned iPad Air with iPad Pro-like bezels
The iPad Air might get a redesign with an edge-to-edge screen like the iPad Pros, reports Bloomberg. That would be a significant design change from the current Air, which currently sports thick top and bottom bezels, and a button for Touch ID.
If you want to get an idea of what that new iPad Air could look like, a rumored manual of the device may have leaked on social media, revealing the new design and features that might be coming to the new device.
That apparent manual says that Touch ID has moved onto the power button on top of the iPad Air. If that’s true, the new tablet would be the iPad with biometrics built into the power button.
It appears that the iPad Air could adopt the iPad Pro’s gesture-based navigation system, as shown in diagrams in the manual. The manual also shows a Smart Connector on the back of the iPad Air, like the one on an iPad Pro, so perhaps it will be able to connect to accessories designed for the 11-inch iPad Pro.
The current generation iPad Air starts at $499, but it’s unclear if Apple plans to keep the iPad Air at that same price.
The possible release of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14
Apple usually releases its newest version of iOS alongside iPhones in September, but since we aren’t expecting new phones at Tuesday’s event, it’s hard to predict exactly what Apple’s plans are for rolling out iOS 14. The update is set to bring a new home screen with widgets, a redesigned Siri interface, system-wide picture-in-picture, the ability to set default email and browser apps, and more. iPadOS 14 will get some of those updates as well as improved handwriting recognition and rebuilt search. The rumored arrival of the new iPad Air could mean that Apple announces the release of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 for all, but we’ll have to wait and see.
We could see new hardware and new subscription bundles
Apple isn’t just rumored to be working on new iPhones, Apple Watches, and iPads. There are apparently a smaller and more affordable HomePod along with new over-ear headphones in the pipeline for this fall, according to Bloomberg. Perhaps they’ll show up at the event. Apple is also working on a competitor to Tile’s location tracking tags called AirTags, Bloomberg reported. In fact, Nikkei says they may already be in production, which could indicate an imminent release.
And strings for an “Apple One” bundle have shown up in code for an Apple Music app for Android, according to 9to5Google, suggesting Apple may be close to launching its rumored range of subscription bundles, which were detailed by Bloomberg in August.
If you’re looking forward to updates on Apple’s plans for an ARM-based Mac or further details about macOS Big Sur, though, you might have to keep waiting. Rumors aren’t pointing toward Apple sharing anything about the Mac on Tuesday.
We just won’t know what Apple plans to release until the event itself, which kicks off at 1PM ET on Tuesday, September 15th. We’ll be covering the whole thing right here at The Verge.
Correction September 13th 1:57PM ET: The article originally misstated that the iPad Air would be the first Apple device with biometrics on the power button, instead of the first iOS/iPadOS. The power button on some MacBooks have had TouchID for some time. The Verge regrets the error.
