Apple's September event could be the biggest for the company in years as it readies to launch its first foldable phone. And now we have a very good idea of when the event will take place — and when pre-orders could begin.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the Apple event will see an avalanche of new products, from the iPhone Ultra and iPhone 18 Pro to the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. We could even see a new Apple TV box and HomePod mini. But there could be a shift in new iPhone pre-orders this year.
Apple September event date (and why iPhone Ultra is the star)
As reported by Gurman, the Apple September event will take place during the second week of September, likely landing on Wednesday, September 9.
Labor Day this year falls on Monday, September 7th. It would not make sense to have people traveling on a national holiday, so moving the Apple event to the middle of the week makes sense.
This will be the first Apple event helmed by incoming CEO John Ternus, and the biggest launch by far is expected to be the iPhone Ultra (aka iPhone Fold). This will be Apple's foldable phone, and based on all of the rumors it's expected to have a short and squat passport-like design similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
The front display on the iPhone Ultra is tipped to be 5.4-5.5 inches and the internal display 7.8 inches. The foldable iPhone will reportedly pack dual rear 48MP cameras (so no telephoto), Touch ID and a big 4,883 mAh battery.
The iPhone Fold is also rumored to eliminate the crease, though it remains to be seen if Apple can go even further than Samsung and its Flex Titanium technology.
iPhone Ultra and iPhone 18 Pro pre-order date and possible release date
Typically, the pre-order date for the new iPhone is the Friday after the Apple September event, but this year that would be Sept. 11. And since this will be the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attack, Gurman writes that Apple will push back the iPhone Ultra and iPhone 18 Pro pre-order date to Saturday, Sept. 12.
If this date winds up being legit, it's likely that the actual release date of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be either Friday, Sept. 18 or Saturday Sept. 19. It just depends on whether Apple wants the pre-order period to be a full week or not.
However, it's possible that the iPhone Ultra release date my not come until October, as there have been conflicting reports about possible production delays for Apple's first foldable iPhone. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max should still be on target for the typical September release date cadence.
The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are rumored for a new variable aperture camera (for greater depth of field control), faster A20 chip, new dark cherry color, smaller dynamic island and a larger battery (at least for the Max).
The regular iPhone 18 is not expected to launch until the first half of 2027.
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