Apple Sets Sept 10 For Product Unveiling

Apple Inc. is planning to hold its biggest product launch event of the year on Sept. 10, when the company will unveil the latest iPhones, watches and AirPods, according to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the situation.

Though the timing hasn’t yet been announced, the company is making preparations for that date, which falls on a Tuesday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. The unveiling will be followed by the phones going on sale Sept. 20, in line with Apple’s typical approach in recent years.

The launch is a critical one for Apple, which has suffered sluggish sales of its smartphones and wearable devices in recent quarters. A Sept. 20 release of the new iPhone 16 would mean some of the device’s revenue is recorded in the current period — Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter — when the company expects sales to grow about 5% from a year earlier.

A bigger chunk of sales will come the following quarter, which coincides with the holiday season. Analysts have predicted that revenue will climb 7% to $128.4 billion in that period.

The iPhone 16 will have larger screens on its Pro models and new camera features, such as a dedicated button for snapping photos. The company also is rolling out a suite of artificial intelligence tools called Apple Intelligence. Overall, though, the phones won’t be vastly different than last year’s models.

Apple’s wearable devices, meanwhile, are due for bigger changes. The Apple Watch Series 10 models will be thinner but include larger screens. And Apple is revamping its AirPods lineup with new low-end and mid-tier versions. For the first time, the company will offer noise cancellation on its mid-level AirPods, and the entry-level model is getting updated for the first time since 2019.

The company is also planning to begin transitioning its Macs over to M4 processors later this year, but Mac updates typically don’t arrive until about a month after the annual iPhone launch.