BazzaRama

Yesterday Apple announced the date of their first fall event where the new lineup of iPhones and Apple Watches are expected to be revealed. Mark your calendars for 10:00 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, or go to the Apple website and click/tap on the “Add to calendar” button in the event announcement section at the top of the home page (that will only be there until event day, at the latest). While there you can enjoy about 30 seconds of entertainment by clicking/tapping around on the animated Apple logo to change its look.

The pre-recorded event will be viewable on Apple’s website, on YouTube (where there is already a placeholder with it’s own reminder mechanism), in the TV app on any iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV hardware, or many smart TVs. It will be available to stream almost immediately after the live transmission.

So, what is Apple expected to announce? I will briefly breakdown what the tech news pundits and rumor site consensus is—based on the historical record of previous September events—into three categories.

For Sure (probably)

• Updates to the iPhone lineup to include iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air that replaces the plus and mini sizes on the consumer end of the line. You can check any number of sites for details on these. One of my favorites is MacRumors. The design of the Pro models is getting a refresh with a new camera system and exterior mesa that extends across the entire width of the device. There may also be more vibrant color choices across the line.
• New models of the Apple Watch line with a Series 11 and Ultra 3. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is rumored to have satellite connectivity. The industrial design of the watches is expected to be similar if not identical to the existing Series 10 and Ultra 2.
• The third generation of AirPods Pro with a refined design, improved noise cancellation, better sound, and possibly a new heart rate tracking feature.
• Whether they will be very prominent in the presentation, there will most certainly be new accessories, specifically cases in new colors for the whole line of iPhones 17. There’s a rumored new case material to replace last year’s Fine Woven leather replacement that will be called “Tech Woven.” All cases, Tech Woven and silicon, are rumored to have a cutouts for attaching a lanyard, strap, or some other bauble. Also, new watchbands.
• Release dates and pricing for all announced products and the new operating systems that will be powering them. It would not surprise me at all if there will be a segment of the presentation devoted to iOS 26 and watchOS 26.

Maybe (probably not)

• The Home Pod mini is long in the tooth and while I don’t think it’s likely, Apple could sneak in an update along with new AirPods Pro since they share a common audio listening purpose (one at home and one on the go).
• The iPad and iPad mini are about halfway through their average lifecycles between updates. The iPad Pro models are closer to end of cycle. Even though there have been substantial rumors of new iPads, specifically the pro models, I don’t expect any announcements at the September event.
• The same goes for Macs. Most of the line of Macintosh computers are in the early stages of their average lifecycles between updates. The MacBook Pro being the exception as it approaches the end of it’s average cycle. But Apple rarely mixes iPad and Mac announcements with iPhones and watches. If there are new ones coming in 2025, Apple will most likely have another event in October or November.

Not Likely (no way)

Since Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) back in June, and their announcement that all the operating systems were getting a major design refresh (Liquid Glass) and numbering scheme (the year, as in “26,” instead of incrementally adding one to last year’s version number), I have been wondering if they might do something similar for the iPhone hardware line. After all, they don’t number anything else in the same way. Yes, they refer to series by number for the Apple Watch, and generations of other products, like AirPods. But the other major product line models are just distinguished by descriptive suffixes. There is the iPad, the iPad mini, the iPad Air, and the iPad Pro. None of them have numbers in their names. The “fine print” of their respective model information may indicate a generation or a season/year of release, but no number. It’s the same with the Mac (iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, Mac Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro). So I think it might simplify things and bring the iPhone into alignment with other products to drop the number (17 in this case) and just have iPhone, iPhone Air, iPhone Pro, and iPhone Pro Max. The generation or year of release could be in the “fine print” as it is for iPads and Macs. I think there is already going to be some confusion with an iPhone 17 running iOS 26. “Wait, I’m going from iOS 18 to iOS 26? What happened to 19 through 25?” If they don’t change the naming scheme we could get to the iPhone 26 hardware in 2034 that will run iOS 35.

As much as I would like this to happen, I seriously doubt it. Not this year, anyway.