Today’s the day Apple is about to conduct its “Time Flies” event. At the event, the company is expected to announce a new set of Apple Watches alongside an updated iPad Air but no iPhones just yet.
Based on earlier rumors concerning the iPhone 12 lineup, there was speculation that Apple would shift the announcement to October this year. Turns out it’s true. In the latest Bloomberg revelation, Mark Gurman states that new iPhones will have their own event in October while the September 15 event will be reserved for new watches and an iPad.
In a separate tweet, Mark Gurman discusses that it makes sense for Apple to conduct separate events. In the same tweet, he also mentions the possibility of Apple holding yet another event in November to announce its first-ever ARM Macs.
Due to travel conditions this year, Apple cannot conduct a physical event calling in invitees and members from the press. Therefore, just like WWDC 2020, Apple is expected to hold a virtual-only event that everyone from the world can tune into. The event invitation on Apple’s Events page doesn’t feature a tagline, which is unusual. However, invites to the press label the tagline as “Time Flies,” further hinting at the possibility that the event is about new Apple Watches.
Earlier, 9To5Mac’s Guilherme Rambo also discovered that Apple’s placeholder YouTube event video for the September 15 event mentioned the Apple Watch “Series 6” in its metadata. This confirms the name of the upcoming Apple Watch — the “Apple Watch Series 6.”
We’ve recently covered what we think new Apple Watches will feature. Two new Apple Watches are expected to be announced at the event — a budget-friendly Apple Watch in continuation of Series 3 and the Apple Watch Series 6. Alongside the new watches, Apple will also announce a new 10.8-inch iPad Air with flat edges and reduced bezels. The new iPad is also purported to feature a Touch ID fingerprint sensor within the power button.
Apple will also likely reveal its Apple One subscription bundle that offers all Apple services at a collective price.
The September 15 event, furthermore, is scheduled to be two hours long. While that is far from unusual, it will be exciting to see how the company plans to stretch the event so long for just two announcements. However, rumors have also suggested that Apple will release more products including Apple-branded over-ear headphones, AirTags, the long-awaited AirPower mat, and a mini version of the HomePod. Although, it isn’t clear whether all or some of these products will be announced on September 15 alongside the iPad and new Apple Watches.
Segmenting the announcements within three separate events in the upcoming months does make sense. Production of the iPhone 12 lineup was certainly delayed due to the effects o the pandemic on Apple’s supply chain — which even Apple has confirmed. It would be much more logical for Apple to place the announcements closer to when it could ship the iPhones, especially now that the event is virtual.
Nevertheless, Apple’s September 15 event will go live on the company’s website beginning at 10 AM P.T./1 PM E.T. You can stream the event from Apple’s Events page or from Apple’s YouTube live stream. Here’s a guide on how to best watch the event.
Do you think separating the events is a fair move? We’d love to know your thoughts in the comments section below.
