If tech news is feeling a little repeaty, with new phones and gadgets arriving in a seemingly endless stream over the last few weeks, know that it’s not Groundhog Day. But it is almost time for yet another Apple event where new hardware will show up.
At an event at its company headquarters next week, Apple will unveil the iPhone 16, as well as the next Apple Watch and (most likely) some AirPods. But like most tech events these days, much of the presentation is likely to revolve around artificial intelligence.
The promotional image for next Monday’s event is an Apple logo wrapped in a colorful glow with all the shades commonly used for Siri, Apple’s digital assistant. (Tagline: “It’s Glowtime.”) This may be a hint that Siri is getting yet another (ahem) glow-up or, more likely, that Apple will delve deeper into the Apple Intelligence features it showed off at WWDC this summer. With Apple just now getting into its AI era, Siri and Apple Intelligence are likely to be a huge part of the event.
The announcement will stream live on Monday September 9 at 10 am PDT, 1 pm ET, and 6 pm BST. Watch it right here on this page, or on Apple’s website, YouTube page, or by launching Apple TV+ on an Apple TV. (You don’t need to be a subscriber to watch the video on Apple TV+.)
Here’s what to expect from Apple, based on rumors, leaked information, and what we know from covering every iPhone launch since the first.
iPhones Galore
Like every Apple event this time of year, the main thing to expect is new iPhones. In this case, these will be the iPhones 16. According to leaks around the blogosphere (mostly thanks to Bloomberg’s Apple leaker supreme, Mark Gurman) the new iPhones are expected to be largely the same as the devices in the recent past. Expect a base model, along with the more expensive and feature-rich iPhones 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max.
The biggest new feature, according to the rumors, appears to be a new type of photo button on the Pro models that acts like the shutter button on a dedicated digital camera. Press the button down slightly to focus on your subject, then press all the way to take the photo.
All the new iPhone 16 models should also have the action button, a feature that lets you easily access shortcuts to apps like the camera, flashlight, music playback, and other apps you can set the button to activate. Currently, the action button is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro models.
