We’re just a week away from September and at this time of year we’d normally be preparing for humungous Apple announcements in the second week of September, but you might have noticed that this year is slightly different to usual.
We know that the iPhone 12 is coming, but we also know that it won’t be arriving in September because Apple has revealed that its new iPhone is delayed.
In a conference call following its financial results announcement at the end of July, Apple’s chief financial officer Luca Maestri told investors: “Last year we started selling new iPhones in late September, this year we expect supply to be available a few weeks later.”
The company hasn’t blamed Coronavirus for the delay, but it seems likely that the pandemic had a part to play.
So we aren’t expecting a big Apple Event in September this year. However, we are still expecting news of new Apple products during the month. Here’s what we think Apple will launch in September 2020.
Apple Watch
Surprisingly-accurate leaker Jon Prosser has tweeted that Apple is planning to launch a new Apple Watch in the week commencing 7 September. Apple’s said to be considering launching a cheaper Watch that might be marketed at children. We have all the latest information about the new Apple Watch – version 6 – here.
iPad
Prosser also thinks that a new iPad could arrive in September 2020. However, he is a bit vague about which model leading to quite a bit of speculation as to which iPad might launch. We were thinking it might be a new iPad Air, but that may in fact be delayed until spring 2021. A report from China suggests that it’s the iPad Pro that’s getting an update, but that seems unlikely given that it was only updated this spring. It is possible that we could see a 5G iPad Pro, but we’d expect that to arrive alongside the iPhone 12 in October.
Apple TV
Apple is apparently ready to launch a new Apple TV. In fact, it seems that the company has been ready to ship is since May (see the tweet from Job Prosser below), so we’re not sure what the delay is unless the company is gearing up some new Apple TV+ content to make their subscription TV service slightly less embarrassing.
New Apple TV 4K with A12X – 64GB/128GB ready to ship. ?
Codename: Neptune T1125
Another one of those things that could drop any time. Apple got no chill right now ??
I’ll let you know if/when I hear a date. Who knows, maybe Apple can keep it a secret from me ?
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) May 7, 2020
You can read more about what we anticipate from the 2020 Apple TV here.
Games Controller
Speaking of Apple TV, there’s also a rumour (sorry, it’s Jon Prosser again, there are other leakers) that suggests that Apple’s planning to launch its own games controller. If it does this could make the Apple TV a more attractive gaming platform. We expect this to launch alongside the Apple TV, so if we see one in September, we might see the other too.
Or October…
It is of course possible that Apple will hold back announcements to October so that it can unveil them under the spotlight of the iPhone 12. The following products could launch in September, but an October launch is more probable.
HomePod
There have been rumours that Apple will update the HomePod – or at least launch a smaller and cheaper version. We could see this in September, although as it’s a music related product a launch alongside the iPhone might be more likely. Read more about HomePod 2 here.
AirPods
Back in May 2020 Prosser tweeted that new AirPods would be coming soon.
That can’t have been all that soon, given that four months later we are still waiting, but it’s certainly possible that we could see some new AirPods before Christmas. The big question is whether these will be a cheaper version of the AirPods Pro – known as AirPods Lite, or the AirPods Studio (over ear headphones).
Heads up: There’s still an iMac and AirPods ready to ship. (Not sure which AirPods yet, only know codename)
Theoretically, since they’re ready, they could drop at any time.
I’ll let you know if/when I hear a date.
Let’s see if Apple can keep it a secret from me ??
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) May 6, 2020
Read more about the next Apple Event here.
We also have this article about every new product Apple is working on.
Author: Karen Haslam, Editor
Macworld editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld almost two decades ago.
Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Her focus is Mac, but she lives and breathes Apple.