Ready to Glow: iPhone, Apple Watch, and everything else to expect at Apple’s event

Fall can be relied upon for a few things: baseball playoffs, the changing of the leaves, the emergence of pumpkin spice, and, of course, new iPhones.

This year Apple is holding its annual special event on the rare Monday (probably to avoid conflicting with a presidential debate on Tuesday) and the company is expected to make a number of announcements.

In the past, Apple’s phone events have varied from those at which it felt like we’d heard rumors about everything going in, to those where it seems like we knew nothing at all. This year feels somewhere in the middle: the rumors are out there, but there’s enough of an “is that it?” feeling that it’s hard not to imagine Apple having something else up its sleeve.

In advance of the “It’s Glowtime” presentation next week, here’s a rundown of what to expect (and not) when the video starts rolling.

Sweet 16

A new iPhone is, of course, the most sure thing you could expect from a September Apple event. The smartphone still makes up the lion’s share of the company’s revenue, so it’s not about to stop putting a new one out every single year. As usual, expect iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max options in the same physical sizes as last year’s models.

While the iPhone 16 line is not expected to sport a radically different look than its predecessor, it will boast a few new tricks. In addition to last year’s Action button making the jump from the Pro to the standard iPhone models, there’s rumored to be a dedicated “Capture” button designed for instant access to the camera–possibly with additional features like touch-sensitive zoom control and the ability to half-press the button for focusing. The camera bump on the back is also expected to change on the standard models, with two vertically aligned lenses that can provide better support for spatial images when shooting in landscape orientation.

There are also the usual improvements to processors, with the A18 expected to make its debut across the line, unlike last year when the iPhone 15 Pro got the A17 Pro chip and the iPhone 15 the A16. Apple is also thought to be upping the RAM across the board to better support Apple Intelligence features (more on which in a moment) with 8GB being the new standard.

There are also some smaller under-the-hood changes said to be in the works, including stacked battery technology for longer battery life, the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard, and slightly larger screens on the Pro models (without a change in the chassis size). Plus, striking new color options for the iPhone 16–including green, blue, and pink–plus new rose-gold and decidedly brown “bronze” titanium finish for the iPhone Pro models. Learn more about the iPhone 16 possible features.

All in all, it feels like a modest upgrade for the year, which means that much of the time will probably be spent talking about…software.

Intelligence agency

Apple often devotes a significant chunk of its iPhone announcement event talking about software announcements, and this year will likely be no different. The company took the wraps off its iOS 18 update back in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference, but as that event is primarily focused on developers, Apple will surely take the opportunity to show off all the features to the broader audience that tunes in to see the new iPhone.

The star of iOS 18 is undoubtedly Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI-powered features that the company is rolling out across its various platforms, including text rewriting and proofreading tools, automatic summaries, and an improved Siri experience.

But one complicating factor is that the first of those features are currently part of the beta for iOS 18’s first update, iOS 18.1, and thus probably won’t be available until after the new iPhones ship. Some of the features will take longer yet: Many of the Siri improvements aren’t expected to arrive until next year. Still, don’t expect that to stop Apple from talking about them, especially if they consider these capabilities to be their best chance to sell new phones: Notably, the only existing phones that will be able to run Apple Intelligence are the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, so the iPhone 16 line will expand those options greatly.

Apple also often has at least one or two new software enhancements that it ties to its latest hardware—what that will look like this year, we don’t know, but if that Capture button rumor is to be believed, I wouldn’t bet against some new camera features.

Watch your ears

While the iPhone event is mainly about the iPhone, it’s often not the only announcement that we get at these events: some of the company’s iPhone-adjacent products are likely to get their moments in the sun.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the unveiling of the Apple Watch (though it didn’t ship until early the following year) and Apple will probably take the wraps off its Series 10 version of the smartwatch. Rumors have both sizes getting slightly larger displays and a thinner design, as well as a revamped magnetic attachment system for watchbands, which could be contentious, as it would be the first time older bands don’t work with the new watches. Though the company has also been hard at work on new health sensors for the wearable, it’s run into challenges that have slowed it down–including a patent dispute that means this year’s models won’t have the previously available blood oxygen measurement system–so it may be kind of a sparse year for Apple Watch health features.

New versions of AirPods might also be waiting in the wings this year, with two versions of AirPods 4 aiming to replace both the AirPods 3 and the still-on-sale AirPods 2. The higher-end version would feature active noise cancelation, previously only available on AirPods Pro, as well as better audio performance using the same H2 chip also found in the Pro. The lower-end model might eschew the noise cancellation and some of the other features in favor of appealing to a broader market with a cheaper price tag.

One thing not to expect? New Macs. Though the company has reportedly been preparing to unleash several computers powered by the same M4 processor found in its most recent iPad Pro, those aren’t thought to be showing up in September, but rather at another event in October. But hey, it’s always good to have something to look forward to.