Apple is holding an occasion on September 9, the corporate stated in an invite to the press Tuesday, the place it’ll seemingly announce the iPhone 17 and new Apple Watches, amongst different potential new units.
Apple hardly ever shares particulars about future merchandise earlier than saying them, however the firm has been introducing new iPhones in September since 2012. The invitation contains the tagline “Awe dropping.”
Apple’s September occasion, which is able to happen on the firm’s Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, is largely thought of the tech big’s most vital second of the yr. There is anticipation for a brand new iPhone, Apple’s greatest income driver, however solely time will inform if shoppers resolve it’s price shelling out for the most recent mannequin at a time when purse strings are tight. Meanwhile, Wall Street will look to the bulletins as a barometer for whether or not Apple is nonetheless an innovator, particularly within the age of AI.
The stakes are particularly excessive this yr after Apple delayed a significant improve to its Siri digital helper, one that will have helped deliver it up to velocity with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Investors cheered Apple’s July earnings outcomes on robust iPhone gross sales regardless of its AI setbacks.
But Apple framed final yr’s iPhone 16 as being “built for Apple Intelligence,” an strategy it may proceed in 2025 as rivals like Google ramp up their own AI efforts.
This yr, Apple is betting that it could actually woo shoppers with an excellent slim iPhone, in accordance to Bloomberg. The firm is anticipated to launch a brand new mannequin that’s primarily the MacBook Air of iPhone: a lot sleeker, however probably on the expense of battery life and the digital camera, the report says.
Giving the iPhone a brand new look may probably reinvigorate curiosity in smartphones at a time when most individuals solely improve out of necessity, as information from market analysis agency Consumer Intelligence Research Partners reveals. While nearly each different smartphone maker has launched foldable telephones that bend in half, the iPhone’s look hasn’t modified a lot in years.
Apple’s makes an attempt to entice consumers with iPhones in several sizes have largely fallen flat. Apple scrapped the iPhone Mini from its lineup after simply two generations. And the bigger iPhone 16 Plus solely accounted for 5-10% of Apple’s shipments as of July 2024, in accordance to TF International Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst recognized for his Apple product forecasts. He additionally predicts Apple will retire the Plus mannequin from its iPhone lineup in 2025.
Besides a brand new, sleeker variant, Apple is anticipated to announce an ordinary model of the iPhone 17 alongside new Pro fashions. Apple usually upgrades its customary fashions with new processors and incremental enhancements to the digital camera and battery life. Compared to the usual, the Pro fashions provide extra superior cameras, larger screens, barely extra highly effective processors and a titanium-built design.
The splashy occasion comes as Apple continues to navigate the influence of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. CEO Tim Cook told analysts in July that he expects Apple to incur $1.1 billion in tariff-related prices throughout the September quarter.
Apple shifted manufacturing of most of its US-bound iPhones to India to scale back reliance on China, the beating coronary heart of its smartphone manufacturing operations. And though tariffs on most Indian items are set to double to 50% on Wednesday, smartphones are one of many exemptions.
Trump has additionally hinted that Apple wouldn’t be topic to the upcoming 100% tariffs on semiconductors. The president has stated firms which have dedicated to constructing within the US wouldn’t face a cost. Apple stated earlier this month it would invest $600 billion in increasing its US operations, which incorporates making a home provide chain for its chips.
Clarification: An up to date model of this story clarified when the tariff on Indian imports goes into impact.