Apple is expected to reveal a variety of new iPhones, a 4K Apple TV and possibly even two Apple Watches in just a few days.
As always, there have been a significant number of reports, leaks and analysts pontificating about what we can expect from the company’s September 12th press conference.
MobileSyrup has parsed through all the information currently circulating about Apple’s upcoming keynote, in an effort to give you a better idea of what we’re set to get a glimpse of at what will be one of the biggest tech events of the past few years.
It’s also worth noting that this is the first event set to be held at Apple’s new spaceship-shaped Cupertino campus. We know this thanks to the tagline, “let’s meet at our place,” included in the invite Apple sent to journalists. Keep in mind that Apple has a company wide policy of not commenting on rumour and speculation, so there’s no way for MobileSyrup to confirm the accuracy of the below information.
iPhone X/iPhone Pro
While Apple is expected to reveal a variety of products at its upcoming keynote, the device most people are anticipating is the complete overhaul of the iPhone’s design, a device that’s currently rumoured to be called either the iPhone X or possibly even the iPhone Pro (sticking with Apple’s iPad Pro naming convention).
The phone is expected to feature an edge-to-edge screen that’s similar to the Essential Phone’s display. The iPhone X will also be the first Apple smartphone to feature an OLED display, offering users a device that utilizes less power and provides darker blacks. Most of the current information we have about the redesigned iPhone stems from a HomePod firmware leak Apple accidentally released to developers back in early August.
This leak even gave us what is likely our first glimpse at the phone’s bezel-less design (seen above), with a rumoured resolution of 1125 x 2436 pixels.
I can confirm reports that HomePod’s firmware reveals the existence of upcoming iPhone’s infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit and elsewhere pic.twitter.com/yLsgCx7OTZ
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) July 31, 2017
Other rumours indicate that the iPhone X’s front camera will feature 3D sensing technology, allowing users to take photos that can be manipulated in post production, as well as the fact that the company will nix Touch ID in favour of proprietary facial recognition technology that’s tipped to be called Face ID. It seems like despite the company’s best efforts, Apple was not able to get Touch ID to work within the iPhone’s screen in order to accommodate the device’s new bezel-less display.
The iPhone’s rear camera will also be oriented vertically as opposed to horizontally like with the iPhone 7 Plus. Moreover, we’re expecting Apple to finally add wireless charging to the iPhone X, as well as the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
Finally, we’re also expecting this new, 10th-anniversary edition of the iPhone to be rather pricey, likely coming in at somewhere around $999 USD. This means that at least in the Canadian market, the iPhone X will be pushing the luxury tech device price barrier, possibly hitting a price point as high as $1,400 CAD.
Pre-orders for the iPhone X are expected to start on September 15th, with shipments going out on September 22nd.
Apple Watch Series 3
Last year, we got our hands on the Apple Watch Series 2 and a revamped Series 1 smartwatch, and this year, it’s expected we’ll finally get a revamped Apple Watch Series 3 that’s likely to feature standalone LTE connectivity.
The Series 3 Apple Watch is set to run watchOS 4, which Apple showed off in June. LTE connectivity means that the Apple Watch will be able to go untethered from the iPhone, giving the wearable a new level of portability and usability. Some questions surrounding that new Apple Watch still remain, however, particularly whether the watch’s design will be altered significantly, and also if the tech giant has found a solution to the battery life problems consistent LTE connectivity will cause for the wearable.
Also, check out our predictions for what we hope to see in the next version of Apple’s smartwatch.
iPhone 8/iPhone 8 Plus
While some rumours indicate that the iPhone 8 Plus may not exist, it’s possible that Apple could launch three phones in September: the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X.
Very little is known about the less exciting, more iterative update to Apple’s iPhone line beyond the fact that it will be a minor update to the current iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
This version of the iPhone will be significantly cheaper than the upcoming iPhone X and will likely be much easier to find on store shelves. It’s also expected that despite consumer backlash, neither the iPhone 8 model nor the iPhone X will feature a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
One thing that’s still unclear, is whether or not only the iPhone 8 Plus will feature a dual shooter, with some rumours indicating that the smaller iPhone 8 will also have a dual-lens camera.
Finally, just like the iPhone X, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will run iOS 11. For more information on some of the new features and changes made in iOS 11, check out our coverage of the beta version of the operating system.
Apple TV 4K 5th Gen
Both pic.twitter.com/bsuxptLWd1
— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) August 5, 2017
With Apple’s set-top box platform lagging behind the competition, particularly against what Roku and Google offer, it’s likely that the tech giant will finally release a long-awaited update to its television platform.
This new, 5th Generation Apple TV will support 4K and high-dynamic range playback — both Dolby Vision and HDR 10 — though it will also likely adopt the same sleek black box form factor as its predecessor.
tvOS 11 Beta 7 contains some HDR assets for model J105A 😇 pic.twitter.com/IH2XdDfrrW
— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) August 21, 2017
While many Apple TV users would likely prefer Apple ditch the contextual, touch sensitive Siri Remote in favour of a controller that features more physical buttons and is less finicky, it’s likely that the tech giant intends to stay the course with the input device’s design.
Hardware wise, it’s likely that Apple will add a 128GB Apple TV offering, though the company could offer a 256GB option as well. The device will also likely come equipped with Apple’s more recent A10 Fusion processor, rather than the current aging A8 chip, with was launched with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus back in 2014.
References to a 4K HDR compatible Apple TV were also uncovered in the leaked HomePod code. Adding further fuel to the rumour fire surrounding the potential 4K Apple TV is the fact that certain films sold through iTunes have started listing “4K, HDR” in users’ purchase history, though the listing seems region-specific at this time.
Finally, the new Apple TV will also utilize the latest version of Apple’s set-top box operating system, tvOS 11.
Everything else
…I don't know that there's much else to say about HomePod other than this. From what I can tell it's just all of iOS on a device sans screen
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) July 28, 2017
We’ll likely hear more about Apple’s upcoming HomePod, which was originally revealed at WWDC 2017, and possibly even additional information about Canadian availability. We will almost certainly hear more about HomePod’s smart home/HomeKit functionality, given that so little was said about the device at WWDC.
It’s likely that HomePod’s release is still multiple months away and that the tech giant plans to hold a specific keynote focused on the device given its release marks Apple entering into an entirely new product category. We will probably learn more about how tightly integrated Siri will be with the HomePod.
Given all the products Apple is set to introduce at its September 12th keynote, it’s likely that the company’s suite of new software, particularly macOS High Sierra and tvOS 11, will only be briefly mentioned during the press conference. We may also catch a quick glimpse of augmented reality apps that utilize Apple’s ARKit development platform, though the tech giant did hold a specific press briefing a few weeks ago that highlighted its AR efforts.
We’ll be on the ground at Apple’s upcoming keynote bringing you all the Canadian news directly from the show floor.
Update 09/09/17: A near final version of iPhone 8 firmware has leaked online, revealing additional information about the upcoming smartphone, including 3D ‘Animoji,’ slightly revamped AirPods, Face ID and the phone’s contextual status bar.
This firmware also indicates that the iPhone 8 will actually be called the iPhone X, with the two iterative updates to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus being called the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. This story has been updated to reflect this information.
Source: Twitter – Steve Troughton-Smith, Guilherme Rambo
