It’s official! Apple to hold annual event for new iPhone series, more on 14 Sept

The company announced the event on its websites and in invitations to media, but like every Apple launch since 2020, this one will be streamed online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said the event, which features the tag line “California Streaming,” will take place at 10 a.m. Pacific time next Tuesday. 

Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, tweeted, “We’re California Streaming on September 14th. See you real soon”

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant has been readying four new iPhones, as well as Apple Watches with larger screens. Apple has also been working on revamped entry-level AirPods earbuds and new MacBook Pros. Apple typically holds multiple launches in the fall, so not every new device for 2021 may appear next week. Last year, Apple held three events across two months. 

Since 2013, Apple has delivered new iPhones around September like clockwork. The tech giant, which launched a redesigned iPhone with 5G connectivity last year, is not expected to make radical changes this year, with most analysts pointing to small technical updates to the phone’s processor and camera system.

“Upgrades rates peaked in 2021 on 5G, we expect upgrade rates to moderate but still drive high volumes in 2022,” J.P.Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote in a note, adding that he still expects a record year thanks to higher sales of the lower priced iPhone SE.

The new line of smartphones are expected to expand the Portrait mode feature to video and also have higher-quality video recording format, according to a Bloomberg report.

The Portrait mode uses the phone’s depth sensor to focus on faces while blurring the background, allowing amateur photographers to produce high-quality snaps.

Apple was not immediately able to comment beyond the invitation sent to the media.

The mid-September launch results in a sales surge in the last week of Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter as millions of avid shoppers snap up the newly releases iPhones.

Last year, however, the event got delayed by a month because of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning opening-weekend iPhone sales were not included in fourth-quarter results.

The event also helps Wall Street analysts model their sales projections for the holiday shopping season in Western markets, typically Apple’s largest sales quarter.

Known for its splashy phone launches packed with hundreds of journalists at its sprawling campus in Cupertino, California, Apple has turned to virtual events since last year because of the pandemic.