Apple, Inc.
What Happened: Apple has planned the iPhone launch event for Sept. 12, according to the invite shared by Greg Joswiak, the company's senior vice president of marketing, on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He captioned the invite as "Wonder awaits" and posted it with the hashtag #AppleEvent.
The event's tagline is "Wonderlust."
The itinerary provided on the Apple Event page shows that the launch will kickstart at 1 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast from the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. Since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the company has been using pre-recorded videos to launch its iPhone.
The event will be streamed on Apple.com and on the Apple TV app. The company may also host limited members from the media to watch the presentation in person.
What To Expect: Apple is expected to unveil four variants of the iPhone: the iPhone 15 (6.1 inches), iPhone 15 Plus (6.7 inches), iPhone 15 Pro (6.1 inches) and iPhone 15 Pro Max (6.1 inches).
Prominent Apple leaker and Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman said that with the iPhone 15, the tech giant will move another step toward having a "truly all-screen" iPhone with no borders around the display and no cutouts for cameras or sensors.
The standard iPhone 15 model will replace the notch for the Dynamic Island, and the Pro and Pro Max displays will be made using a new tech called low-injection pressure over-molding or LIPO, he said. The new process will shrink the border size around the display to 1.5 millimeters compared to 2.2 millimeters on current iPhones.
Gurman expects the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models to get the biggest updates since the device added 5G capability three years ago. The iPhone 15 series will likely get the A16 chip that was previously part of the Pro versions, have major camera upgrades and come with a USB-C instead of the lightning connector, enabling faster data transfer speeds for those who still sync with a cable, he said.
For the Pro models, Gurman expects a new design partly made of stronger, lighter and more premium titanium. They will likely retain the frosted glass back of the prior few phones, but the edges connecting the side and front will likely be less sharp than before. The Apple specialist said the new Pro models will move to a 3-nanometer chip that is noticeably snappier.
Gurman also modeled minor price increases across all four variants. At the very least, the Pro models could be pricier in the U.S., given the move to titanium and the costlier camera system, he said.
Apple Watch: Apple is also expected to launch the next iterations of its Apple Watch. The Apple Watch Series 8 and a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra may also drop in at the event.
Apple shares have underperformed the rest of the mega-cap tech stocks this year. The tech giant's shares are up over 41% year-to-date compared to Nvidia's 233% gain and Meta Platform's 146% jump.
At last check Tuesday, Apple stock rose 2.16% to $184.10, according to Benzinga Pro data.
