Stephen Shankland/CNET
The iPhone 14 (or whatever Apple decides to call it) is still early in its development cycle, and a number of leaks doing the rounds should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Just look at all the iPhone 13 rumors that turned out to be false: One of the biggest ones was the return of Touch ID, which didn’t turn out to be true. We didn’t see a portless iPhone on sale in 2021 either, or an iPhone with an always-on display. Gossip so far says the iPhone 14 could sport a notchless display and a 48-megapixel camera for the Pro models. But, we’ll have to wait to see if that becomes reality.
Release date iPhone rumors, however, can usually be taken more seriously. To be clear, there’s been no release date buzz yet. But the company is likely to hold its annual fall iPhone event in September 2022, as it does nearly every year, with releases coming shortly thereafter.
Read more: Biggest iPhone 14 design rumors: Apple could finally ditch the notch in 2022
Apple tends to unveil its new iPhones either on the first or second Tuesday of September. This year, the iPhone 13 series officially made its debut on Tuesday, Sept. 14, followed by preorders on Friday, Sept. 17 and eventually the phones went on sale Sept. 24. For the next year’s iPhone 14, that means Apple could hold its fall event either on Sept. 6 or Sept. 13. Since iPhones usually go up for preorder on the Fridays of the same week, I’d expect that to happen next year on Sept. 9 or Sept. 16.
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iPhone release dates are usually a week and a half after Apple’s announcements. Apple sometimes stagger launch dates for specific models, especially when introducing a new design or size, so it’s possible the iPhone 14 lineup will have more than one release date.
There’s also another theory from a few years ago, when CNET took a deep dive into the Apple event timeline and emerged with a compelling Labor Day hypothesis. Based on the 2022 calendar, the Labor Day rule would put the September Apple event (and unveiling of the iPhone 14) on Sept. 7, with a Sept. 16 release date. However, the Labor Day prediction was a week off for 2021 — and, because of coronavirus delays, about a month off in 2020.
For more iPhone buzz, check out every rumor we’ve heard about Apple’s iPhone 14 and iPhone SE 3 so far, and will there be a foldable iPhone? You can also take a look at how the iPhone 13 compares to the iPhone 12, the best iPhone cases you can buy in 2021 and our guesses for the next Apple event.