After months of bad news, Apple is finally ready to hit back.
On Tuesday morning, Apple is set to unveil its new line of iPhones, as well as new Apple Watches and other products.
The fresh goods can’t come soon enough for Apple, which has seen its iPhone sales decline for three consecutive quarters. That decline, along with worries about iPhone’s future prospects in China amid tensions with the U.S., have erased hundreds of billions of dollars in Apple’s market cap this summer.
For Apple CEO Tim Cook and his leadership team, Tuesday’s live-streamed launch event will be a chance to build up buzz ahead of the all-important holiday shopping season.
Apple is expected to release four new phones in its iPhone line: the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max, according to Bloomberg. The former two are the base models with the 15 Plus being larger, which is in line with Apple’s previous products. The real emphasis however is expected on the high-end Pro models, which Apple hopes will entice customers to dig deeper into their wallets and pay more for a new phone.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives expects the two Pro models to come with a $100 price hike, which will be the first increase since Apple debuted the iPhone 12 in 2020. The higher price tag means Apple can increase its revenue without selling as many phones.
To justify the higher price tag, the Pro and Pro Max will reportedly receive a new chip—the A17—with faster processing power, more memory, and battery life enhancements, according to Bloomberg. The Pro Max will also reportedly come with lens upgrades that double previous phones’ zoom capabilities. Both of the Pro models are also expected to have titanium edges rather than stainless steel, reducing overall weight. And in place of the ring/mute switch, the phones are expected to sport a new “action button” that triggers a series of functions, including turning the flashlight on and silencing the phone.
The newest iPhone launch could spark a “mini super-cycle,” in which a large chunk of consumers decide it’s time to upgrade to a new smartphone, according to Wedbush’s Ives. One-quarter of Apple’s 1.2 billion global iPhone users haven’t upgraded their device in four years, Ives wrote in a note to investors. This surpasses Apple’s own claim its iPhones have a three-year life span.
But while Apple rivals, including Samsung and Google, are rolling out foldable phones with bending screens that expand and provide more surface area, Apple is not changing the basic shape or form of its iPhones.
One big iPhone change that is coming—and which consumers may, or may not, welcome—is a new charging port. In accordance with new European regulations, the newest iPhones will ditch Apple’s proprietary Lightning port and launch with the USB-C charging port used by Android products and newer MacBooks, according to CNBC. It will mark the second time Apple has changed its charging technology, and will mean that many consumers will have to replace the cables currently plugged into outlets throughout their homes and offices.
New AirPods will reportedly also incorporate this new charging port. The AirPods won’t have any other major changes in hardware, but updated software will automatically mute and unmute audio when it detects a third party is trying to speak to the AirPods user, according to Bloomberg.
At the Sept. 12 event, Apple is also expected to announce two updated watch models: the Series 9 and the Ultra, which premiered last year. Both will look the same as their predecessor models, but they will be equipped with new chips that herald processing speed advances and improved location tracking capabilities, Bloomberg reported. All new products will go on sale on Sept. 22, with preorders available as early as Sept. 15, according to Forbes.
In addition to its product line upgrades, Apple could announce new iOS 17 software. Expected updates include autocorrect improvements, a new journaling app, a digital business card swapping feature, and the ability to download road maps for navigation while offline, CNBC reported. Apple will likely clarify when its software will become available during its event, but Forbes expects an iOS 17 release on Sept. 18 or Sept. 19.
Coins2Day will be covering Tuesday’s Apple launch event live, so check back at the Coins2Day home page for all the news.