Updated 09/05/19: Added additional more information about what me might see in the September 10 event.
Apple doesn’t often participate in big industry-wide events like CES or E3. The most valuable company in the world holds its own events, thank you very much. Several times a year, Apple invites the press and industry professionals out to a theater to hear all about its latest products and services. Apple calls these “Special Events,” and streams them online to its millions of fans.
There’s also WWDC, Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, a multi-day event in the middle of the year focused on sessions for developers, helping them make the most out of the latest Apple tools and products. It kicks off with a big keynote that serves to announce new products (typically the latest versions of iOS and macOS, as well as a few hardware products).
Apple usually announces the exact dates of its special events only a couple weeks in advance, but it tends to hold events at similar times from one year to the next. Here’s a list of the remaining events we expect Apple to hold in 2019, and what we expect it to announce there.
iPhone Special Event: September 10, 2019
Apple’s next big event will take place at Apple Park on Tuesday, September 10, according to invitations it sent to select media outlets on August 29. The invitation’s tagline reads, “By innovation only.”
Let’s hope Apple lives up to the promises implied by such a tagline.
Apple is widely expected to debut a trio of new iPhones this year, following the pattern of last year. One may be a more affordable mid-sized option similar to the iPhone XR, possibly named the iPhone 11. Two higher-end models, one small and one large just like the iPhone XS and XS Max, could carry the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max names. The phones are rumored to have new camera modules with an additional wide-angle camera, no more 3D touch, and a speedy new A13 processor.
Since its introduction in 2014, Apple has always revealed the new Apple Watch at its September event, too. The first Apple Watch was available the following year (2015), but every other model went on sale in the September in which it was announced. Apple is rumored to be working on adding sleep tracking to Apple Watch, which we could see unveiled at this event.
The September event isn’t just for new iPhones. That’s where Apple always announces the new Apple Watch, too.
There are no reliable rumors that would lead us to believe that Apple would stray from this pattern in 2019. So expect new iPhones and a new Apple Watch at September’s event.
Apple has two new services set to launch later this year, too: Apple Arcade and Apple TV+. The September event is where we will probably get our first real good look at the initial content lineup for each, along with pricing and perhaps an exact launch date.
There has been reliable evidence reported showing that Apple plans to introduce bluetooth tracking tags similar to Tile. It would make sense to introduce them at this event. Those could be a rumored “One more thing…” introduction, or Apple could have something else up its sleeve. Some evidence of an updated Apple TV has also been found, which could be unveiled at this event or at an event later in the year.
Final event of the year: October 2019?
Apple often, but not always, holds one last event for the year in the second half of October.
It’s an opportunity for the company to reveal a few products that will ship before the holidays without crowding them into the September event or WWDC, both of which tend to be packed.
The products announced in October can be anything. In 2018, it was a new MacBook Air, a new Mac mini, and all new iPad Pro. In 2016, it was a MacBook Pro. In 2014, we got several new iPads and the 5K iMac.
The hottest rumor for products to be revealed this year, apart from the new iPhones and Apple Watch, is a newly-designed 16-inch MacBook Pro. We might also expect a new generation of AirPods, and there are old rumors of high-end over-the-ear headphones as well.
If Apple has an updated Apple TV on the way as rumored, it could be unveiled at either the September 10 event or this potential October event.
Apple sells more products than ever before, and October is approaching quickly. We’ll have a better picture of whether or not the company will hold an October event, and what it might announce there, as 2019 rolls on.