IT’S Christmas for Apple fans – iPhone launch day is Tuesday, September 9.
That means we’re now just hours away from seeing loads of new Apple gadgets, including the long-rumoured iPhone 17. We’re expecting a huge makeover, an ultra-thin ‘Air’ phone, and a new smartwatch too.
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Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the event.
WHEN IS THE APPLE EVENT SEPTEMBER 2025?
Every year, Apple hosts a major event in September to show off its new flagship iPhone models.
This year’s event is called Awe-Dropping, which doesn’t tell us much. In fact, it doesn’t really tell us anything.
But what we do know for certain is that the event will take place on Tuesday, September 9.
It’ll kick off at 10am local time in San Francisco, which means New Yorkers can watch at 1pm and Brits will be tuning in at 6pm.
The event is likely to last somewhere between one and two hours.
And it’ll take place in the company’s Steve Jobs Theatre at Apple Park in Cupertino, California.
Apple chief Tim Cook is expected to lead the keynote, which will probably include the reveal of multiple products – and not just the iPhone.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM APPLE IPHONE EVENT
This year we’re expecting four new iPhones.
Three of them will be fairly traditional models that you’d expect to see from an Apple line-up.
There’s the regular iPhone 17, plus a more premium iPhone 17 Pro, and then an even bigger iPhone 17 Pro Max. It’s rumoured that we’ll see new blue and orange colour options.
They’re all expected to have a new look with a much bigger camera bump on the back that spans all the way across the device horizontally. More on the second major design change shortly.
The cheaper iPhone 17 is expected to finally get a 120Hz ProMotion display for smooth scrolling and animations.
And this panel is meant to be slightly larger at 6.3 inches, versus the old 6.1-inch panel.
IPHONE SCREEN SIZES – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
Here’s how iPhone screen sizes have changed over the years – as measured in inches diagonally from corner to corner…
- iPhone (2007) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 3G (2008) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 3GS (2009) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 4 (2010) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 4S (2011) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 5 (2012) – 4 inches
- iPhone 5S (2013) – 4 inches
- iPhone 5C (2013) – 4 inches
- iPhone 6 (2014) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 6+ (2014) – 5.5 inches
- iPhone 6S (2015) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 6S+ (2015) – 5.5 inches
- iPhone SE (2016) – 4 inches
- iPhone 7 (2016) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 7+ (2016) – 5.5 inches
- iPhone 8 (2017) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 8+ (2017) – 5.5 inches
- iPhone X (2017) – 5.8 inches
- iPhone XS (2018) – 5.8 inches
- iPhone XR (2018) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone XS Max (2018) – 6.5 inches
- iPhone 11 (2019) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 11 Pro (2019) – 5.8 inches
- iPhone 11 Pro Max (2019) – 6.5 inches
- iPhone SE 2nd gen (2020) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 12 Mini (2020) – 5.4 inches
- iPhone 12 (2020) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 12 Pro (2020) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 13 Mini (2021) – 5.4 inches
- iPhone 13 (2021) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 13 Pro (2021) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 13 Pro Max (2021) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone SE 3rd gen (2022) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 14 (2022) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 14 Plus (2022) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 14 Pro (2022) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 14 Pro Max (2022) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 15 (2023) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 15 Plus (2023) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 15 Pro (2023) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 15 Pro Max (2023) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 16 (2024) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 16 Plus (2024) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 16 Pro (2024) – 6.3 inches
- iPhone 16 Pro Max (2024) – 6.9 inches
- iPhone 16e (2025) – 6.1 inches
The Pro models are tipped to come fitted with brand-new Apple-made A19 Pro chips. Expect claims of boosted performance and greater power efficiency, which could mean battery life gains too.
Apple might also switch away from Titanium to Aluminium on the Pro models. For a start, it’s cheaper. But it’s also lighter, which is important on these very sizeable mobiles.
Keen Apple fans among you may have noticed that there’s an iPhone missing.
Well, that’s because there’s no iPhone 17 Plus this year. Apparently.
Instead, we’re meant to be getting an all-new iPhone 17 Air.
As the name suggests, this is meant to be strikingly thin at just 5.5mm across.
By comparison, the iPhone 16 was 7.8 mm thick, so that’s a fairly significant size reduction.
This is meant to come packing a fairly large 6.6-inch display (so that’s still fairly ‘Plus’), and an A19 processor.
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The downside? Well the obvious potential negative would be bad battery life.
The old iPhone 16 Plus had a battery capacity of 4,674mAh, but the new iPhone 17 Air shrinks that to a reported 2,900mAh.
Now there’s no way of knowing whether that’s true just yet, but it would mean Apple will have to work hard elsewhere to keep the battery performant.
That could be partly achieved by a more efficient A19 chip, but we just don’t know for sure.
What we know for certain is that all of the new iPhone models will run on iOS 26.
That’s Apple’s latest iOS software, which is currently being tested in beta but hasn’t rolled out to the general public yet.
Apple announced iOS 26 at its WWDC 2025 event earlier this year.
And we’d expect iOS 26 to become available generally on Monday, September 15, although that date hasn’t been officially confirmed.
IOS 26 SUPPORTED DEVICES – THE FULL LIST
Here are the iOS 26 supported devices (that we know about)…
- iPhone 16e
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (3rd gen)
- iPhone SE (2nd gen)
Picture Credit: Apple
In any case, all of the new iPhone models will get the newest software.
The main change in iOS 26 is the introduction of Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language.
This gives your iPhone a glossy and translucent look – and it’ll be matched on other Apple gadgets like the iPad and Mac.
Apple is also adding some handy upgrades like a new feature that “holds” on customer support lines for you – and then alerts you when it’s time to pick up.
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And there’s even a robot voice that will answer calls from unknown numbers and vet them for you.
Apple is adding polls to messages, as well as real-time language translation – which is also coming to FaceTime and phone calls too.
Of course, the September Apple event probably won’t just be about iPhone.
We’re also expecting several other gadgets to debut during the keynote.
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That includes as many as three new smartwatches.
The first would be the Apple Watch Ultra 3 – that’s Apple’s higher-end smartwatch.
Apple releases the Ultra 2 back in 2023, then refreshed it last year with a new Black Titanium colour option.
But it could finally get an Ultra 3 version this year with a more powerful processor, a better screen, and built-in satellite connectivity.
The Series 11 would be the new entry to the core line-up of Apple Watch models.
Rumours and leaks on the Apple Watch Series 11 are light, but there’s talk of a feature that helps to monitor your blood pressure.
Similarly, details are light on the rumoured Apple Watch SE 3, which would be the new entrant to Apple’s budget smartwatch range.
Perhaps more exciting are the rumours of a new pair of Apple AirPods Pro 3.
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Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 came out in 2022 (with a 2023 refresh), so they’ve been kicking around for a while.
The new versions are expected to feature a heart-rate monitor, and potentially temperature sensing too.
This would allow the AirPods Pro to track health metrics, which is a big deal.
It could potentially mean that you don’t need to wear an Apple Watch to log certain health or fitness activity.
That would be a win for anyone who wants to wear more traditional watches, or people who can’t or don’t want to wear watches at all.
Other potential product launches include a new HomePod smart speaker, an upgraded Apple TV 4K with a more powerful chip, and potentially a new version of the Apple Vision Pro headset.
Of course Apple might completely surprise us on the big day.
WHEN IS THE NEW IPHONE OUT? RELEASE DATE PREDICTION
We don’t know the exact launch plans yet – because Apple hasn’t announced them.
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But we’ve already taken a guess at when we’ll certain events happen.
That’s because Apple often sticks to a fairly consistent schedule with iPhone launches.
So this year, we’re expecting iPhone 17 pre-orders to go live on Friday, September 12.
And it’s very likely that the iPhone 17 release date will fall on Friday, September 19.
Of course those dates could be completely wrong, so mark your calendars in pencil.
