Apple sends invites for September 12 iPhone event at Steve Jobs Theater: “Gather round”

Invitation graphic for Apple's September 2018 event

Apple this morning invited select members of the press to its most important media event of the year where the Cupertino technology giant will be announcing a new iPhone family for 2018, likely several new Apple Watch Series 4 models and possibly other gadgets as well.

Save the date

As we suspected, the event will kick off Wednesday, September 12, at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, at 10am PT / 1pm ET.

The invites went out this morning, featuring the tagline “Gather Round” and an image of a ring-shaped object. Both the tagline and the object appear to resemble Apple’s main flying saucer-shaped building at the new Apple Park headquarters.

The invite seems to offer no hint as to what products might be introduced at the event.

Apple’s big reveal

Steve Jobs Theater was home to Apple’s first event, held on September 12, 2017, that served as a launchpad for iPhone X and the all-new Apple Watch Series 3 models.

Not unlike prior media events, CEO Tim Cook and his lieutenants will surely take turns on the stage of the 1,000-seat theater, itself dug into the hill next to the Apple Park headquarters, to tell us what they have in store for the upcoming holiday season.

Here are three main themes we’re expecting from the forthcoming presser:

  • New iPhone models: Most of the rumors and analyst reports revolve around a trio of new iPhone models, two with OLED screens (a second-generation 5.8-inch iPhone X and a 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus), plus a mid-tier LCD device with a 6.1-inch screen. All models are expected to adopt Apple’s near-fullscreen design with the controversial notch and no Home buttons, complete with the TrueDepth camera, Face ID unlocking, Animoji, Memoji, Portrait Lighting shooting modes and more. One of the models may or may not feature Apple Pencil support whilst others should offer 512GB of flash storage.
  • New Apple Watch models: Rumor has it that the new Apple Watch Series 4 models should feature a bigger, bezel-free display with rounded corners and non-moving buttons. A total of six models were spotted recently in the Eurasian database which the iOS 12 beta code already references.
  • OS updates: Along with new hardware, Apple is going to reveal when iOS 12, watchOS 5, tvOS 12 and macOS Mojave 10.14 will become available for public consumption. We will most likely get the release dates for macOS and iOS during the event, followed by news of watchOS 5 and tvOS 12 timeframes about a week or so later.

Feel free to add predictions of your own in the comments down below.

Another event in October?

There was no new or updated hardware at Apple’s developers conference at the beginning of the summer. September is for annual iPhone and watch refreshes: last September brought us the new iPhone X and iPhone 8 models as well as Apple Watch Series 3.

The Mac maker typically holds another media event in October after announcing new iPhone models in September so as to space out major product announcements and squeeze out as much free press from both media events as possible.

In other words, refreshed iPads and Macs should be announced some time in October, but nothing is set in stone and things could change because Apple’s hands have become tied due to multiple delays in the roadmap of its chief Mac chip supplier, Intel.

Deciphering the invite

What are your expectations from Apple’s Fall reveal?

To all you Kremlinologists out there, would you be so kind as to help us decipher the hidden meaning, if any, of the ring image Apple chose to feature on this invite?

Do share your opinions and analysis with fellow readers in the comment section down below.

Apple invite image via MacRumors