Time flies: what to expect from Apple’s 15 September event
Apple Watch Series 6, a spiffy iPad Air refresh, new iPhones (maybe), and enough operating systems to choke a giraffe
by Craig Grannell
Give your bank account a sedative and warm up your buying finger because the next Apple Event is nigh. 15 September 2020 is the date. 10 PDT (that’s 6pm UK o’ clock) is the time.
On the day, you can watch here:
But what will Apple reveal? Only those on the inside know for sure. But, as ever, Stuff is here, wearing its trusty speculation socks and firing up its rumour-rater to hurl educated guesses in your general direction.
Apple Watch: (series) 6 of the best
The rumour mill claims Apple Watch Series 6 is about to make a play for your wrist. Given the title of this Apple event – Time flies – that’s no shock. Feature rumours are thin on the ground, mind, bar a blood oxygen sensor.
Stuff says: The Apple Watch Series 5 is excellent, but in a COVID world we won’t say no if a blood oxygen sensor joins watchOS 7’s new hand-washing smarts. A longer-lasting battery would be good, too, for sleep tracking, and we still yearn for an always-on display.
Likelihood: Short of Apple’s marketing team having gone bonkers, you can clock this one up as a cert.
iPad: Air you go
The rumour mill claims the iPad Air 4 will have an edge-to-edge display, USB-C, Magic Keyboard compatibility and – somehow – Touch ID. There are rumours the standard iPad’s getting an A12 chip and a bigger display too.
Stuff says: An all-screen iPad Air would be fantastic. The current model’s great, but feels dated. Will it tear us from the iPad Pro? Speaker quality and accessories support might be the tipping point.
Likelihood: Unless all those rumour sites are wrong, high enough to yell AIR WE GO with plenty of confidence.
iPhone 12: dozen it look good?
Image: Aziz Ghaus
The rumour mill claims we’ll get four new iPhones: a 5.4in iPhone 12 and its 6.1in Max sibling, a 6.1in iPhone 12 Pro, and the biggest iPhone ever in the 6.7in iPhone 12 Pro Max. Flat edges, better cameras, 5G, OLED and LiDAR should all get a look in.
Stuff says: Overchoice is a concern, and four new iPhones in addition to existing ones seems a lot. But those features sound fab. Plus these iPhones will have iOS 14, which is the best and most fully fleshed out of Apple’s 2020 OS revamps.
Likelihood: Insiders reckon the iPhone will get its own October event. So we’ll call this one thusly: maybe.
AirPods Studio: we’re all ears
Image: MacRumors
The rumour mill claims Apple’s set to reveal premium over-the-ear cans. These will have interchangeable parts, active noise cancelling, sensors that figure out when the cans are removed, and Siri integration to fire up Phil Collins’s greatest hits with minimum effort.
Stuff says: Our editor liked AirPods Pro so much they never leave her ears and she now spends every waking hour bopping to top tunes. True story. (Probably.) Or: yes, of course we’d like to see cans as good as AirPods.
Likelihood: These seem better suited to rocking up alongside the iPhone, but perhaps Apple will roll with it and reveal them next week.
AirTags: track ’em down
The rumour mill claims – and has claimed for some time – that you’ll soon be able to attach Apple AirTags to your Apple things, and have your Apple iPhone find them with Apple’s Find My app and Apple’s AR smarts. Apple.
Stuff says: It’s hard to get too worked up about an Apple take on Tile. Still, Apple tends to smartly rethink existing tech in terms of usability. So if AirTags are affordable, work well and actually exist, we’re all for that.
Likelihood: Sorry. We wrote down something for this bit, but totally can’t find it now.
Apple Silicon: Mac to the future
The rumour mill claims Apple’s already got a 14in MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon ready and waiting. This will have a snazzy new design and set the direction for the future of Apple’s traditional computers.
Stuff says: Apple Silicon Macs are a must. Intel’s not kept pace, and the Mac’s suffered. But. Given the half-baked state of macOS Big Sur’s beta and everything else Apple’s going to reveal over coming weeks, an Apple Silicon Mac seems premature.
Likelihood: Mac to the drawing board for this rumour, we reckon. Although it’s not like we’ll spend the day sobbing if we’re wrong.
Apple One: for all
The rumour mill claims Apple’s going to start bundling services. At the entry level, you’ll get Apple Music and Apple TV+ for a smallish saving. Higher tiers will add Apple News+, Apple Arcade and iCloud storage space for a larger discount.
Stuff says: Subscription fatigue is real, but if Apple wants to boost services revenue it’ll want to up monthly fees. Discounts seem a smart way of doing so — if the price is right. The thing we wonder: why not add an iPhone to the mix on the highest tier?
Likelihood: It’s a certainty you’ll be able to fling some coin at Apple and go One-up. But at this event, with everything else going on? Could be a stretch.