Apple's iPhone 16 launch event is September 9, and it makes sense
The big Apple event is one day earlier than expected, but it allows Apple to control the news cycle and avoid sharing the spotlight with US politics
🍎 Apple will reveal the rumored iPhone 16 and AirPods 4 in two weeks
📆 One day earlier than expected, but steers clear of the US politics
📱 Four new iPhones expected – iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro & 16 Pro Max
⌚ Expect an Apple Watch 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 too
🎧 AirPods 4 and another affordable set of AirPods may also show up
Apple’s iPhone 16 launch event is Monday, September 9 at 10am PT and will take place at the company’s Apple Park, according to an official press invite sent out today. This is one day earlier than expected, but I’ll explain why this makes sense.
First, this doesn’t change the fact that the iPhone 16 release date is likely to be Friday, September 20, 2024 (and one week before expected PS5 Pro pre-orders). Apple always releases new devices the Friday of the following week (iPhone 16 pre-orders should be one Friday sooner).
Second, it won’t just be the iPhone 16. Besides revealing four phones, Tim Cook and company are likely to show us the Apple Watch 10, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and AirPods 4, one of two new AirPods. We’re also expected to see new Apple software move from beta to its final form, including iOS 18 and visionOS 2 for Apple Vision Pro.
Of course, Apple Intelligence will be the centerpiece of this year’s iPhone 16 event. Apple spent much of WWDC touting its version of AI to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft CoPilot, and Google’s Gemini Advanced.
When it comes to hardware leaks, you can see the new iPhone 16 colors from the titanium iPhone 16 Pro lineup. We’ll see on September 9 if the Bronze iPhone 16 Pro color leak is actually real.
The new iPhone 16 date actually makes sense
It dawned on me over the weekend that if Apple stuck to the rumored (and natural) Tuesday, September 10 launch event date, it would ride a wave of press for the day, but run into a hard stop that night with the Presidential debate on ABC. That would hog the spotlight on the night of September 10.
Instead, Apple is shifting the iPhone 16 launch date to September 9, giving everyone more than 24 hours to focus on whether or not to upgrade to its new smartphone or opt for the recently launched and tempting Google Pixel 9 Pro XL.
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