Will the iPhone 14 arrive sooner than we thought?
David Phelan
Apple’s next special event is just days away, if the latest report is correct, and will take place on Wednesday, September 7.
That’s according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who just reported the date he thinks is correct. To be fair, he wasn’t the first to predict this date. Last week, Max Weinbach floated the idea that the event would be on September 7th, not September 13th as previously suggested. This meant that the likely release date of the next iPhones could also be brought forward, not to mention a range of three Apple Watch models and perhaps the next AirPods Pro.
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The possibility that the event could take place in the week starting September 5 had been discounted, because the launch is usually a week later. And anyway, Monday September 5th is a public holiday, so flying in staff and press from around the world on a bank holiday for an event on Tuesday September 6th seemed unlikely.
Unless the event is virtual and not in person. Gurman believes the event is being taped, so a virtual event is likely.
Moving the date of the event (virtual or in-person) to a Wednesday, while not unprecedented, is unusual. But holding an in-person event on Wednesday, September 7 would solve the problem of moving staff and guests on a public holiday.
But a virtual event? I understand the thinking behind this, and at the end of the day, Apple is very cautious about how it holds its events when Covid isn’t so far in the rearview mirror.
Still, I think Gurman is wrong when he says, “The company intends to stream the event online, rather than hold an in-person meeting, continuing an approach it took at the start of the pandemic “.
In June, Apple hosted a wildly successful hybrid event, with a pre-recorded presentation on a large video screen at Apple Park for hundreds of developers, select guests and press.
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If that was possible, why not run a hybrid event now with a smaller guest list, since it’s likely that no developers were invited?
That event kicked off with a live appearance by Tim Cook and Craig Federighi hosting the main broadcast, and it worked well. My guess, and it’s nothing more than that, is that this is the format Apple will follow this September when it announces its new iPhones and more.
Of course, we won’t know until the invites go out, and until they do, Apple may opt for a virtual-only event, which I think it would only consider if there’s a sudden spike in Covid transmissions in California. If that happens, then you have your pre-recorded note up your sleeve.
So what does all this mean?
Whether the event is live or virtual, assuming it happens on Wednesday September 7th at 10am Pacific, the shiny new iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods Pro will go on sale on Friday September 16th, I believe.
Stay tuned for more details as they come out.
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