As in past years, this September brings a great amount of speculation and anticipation towards the annual Apple product unveiling. Today’s September 12th Apple Special Event (that you can stream live from the Apple website at 1pm Eastern time) is even more momentous as it marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and it is also the first public event to be held at the Steve Jobs Theater at the new Apple Park corporate campus in Cupertino, California.
What can we expect from Apple and Tim Cook this year? As usual, the rumor mill has been churning and there have been some accidental information leaks directly from Apple about what will be revealed at today’s event. Here is what we think we know …
Year upon year, the iPhone has been Apple’s most successful product and according to recent leaks and contrary to initial expectations, there will be THREE (not two) new iPhone models announced today. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will probably have incremental upgrades to the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models. The new model designs are expected to be similar to the current iPhones with LCD displays and a physical home button with TouchID capability. They also might be slightly larger than the current generation of iPhones and it is rumored they may encase Apple’s next-generation processor, A10X or A11.
The talk about town, however, is all about the third new iPhone that is to be announced today. The model will probably be called the iPhone X and will have an edge to edge screen with no bezel and it is strongly suggested that the iconic iPhone home button will be removed. The larger screens will boast a high-quality OLED display giving it more accurate colors and image uniformity. Rumors have been spreading that face recognition will be used to unlock the new phone model. If the face-recognition leak rings true, then expect better depth sensors for Augmented Reality and increased security measures. The phone may be encased in special high-end materials and it will also don a high-end price – the iPhone X model has been rumored to cost USD 1000 or more. It has been reported that this luxury product will be available in limited quantities with only 10,000 manufactured per day.
It is also rumored that a new Apple Watch (most probably called Apple Watch Series 3) will utilize an embedded LTE eSIM to untether it from its phone link. This LTE connectivity would be solely to improve data transmission, not to make phone calls. The use of Skype, FaceTime, and other VOIP platforms via the new model has not been ruled out. If true, this would bring about a new portability to the product, if Apple has been successful in extending its battery life. Besides this, you might be able to purchase the new Apple Watch in some new colors and at a lower price point.
Expectations are high that a new version of AppleTV will be launched with the capability to stream hi-res 4K videos. The new product (Apple TV 4K?) will house Apple’s new powerful processor, the A10X or A11, along with 3GB of RAM. The probability of this product being launched today has increased as stories fly that Apple has been speaking to studio executives about gaining rights to stream 4K videos.
Apple’s newest mobile operating system, iOS 11, is likely to be officially launched to consumers today as the beta version has been available to developers for some time. Most noteworthy is the launch of the AR Kit in iOS 11 – this kit is comprised of developer tools for creating augmented reality apps – interactive tools that overlay virtual objects in the real world. This development would bring about new advanced and exciting applications.
Besides the aforementioned products and developments, there have been rumors of design changes and improved battery life in AirPods, not to mention new animated 3D emojis. Also, as we were only just introduced to HomePod – Apple’s smart home speaker – at their previous developer’s conference, it is safe to say that more details will be given today about this product.
The anticipation builds as the hour draws closer – what do you think of our Apple Special Event predictions?