Apple reportedly plans to announce the iPhone 15 family on September 12 or 13, with the new lineup going on sale around September 22.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has learned that an iPhone 15 announcement will happen on Tuesday, September 12, or Wednesday, September 13.
The new devices should go on sale the following week, on Friday, September 22. Gurman doesn’t mention it, but pre-orders will likely start on Friday, September 15.
iPhone 15 announcement on September 12 or 13
With a few weeks left until a new iPhone launch in September, Gurman’s report focuses on Apple’s recent financial results and a smartphone slump that has plagued sales in the United States. If Apple reports yet another iPhone sales decline in the September quarter, that will mark the fourth straight quarterly sales decrease.
Gurman points out that “something that hasn’t happened since 2001.”
The iPhone 15 Pros could woo consumers with features like a stronger and lighter titanium frame replacing the current stainless steel design, skinnier side bezels and significant camera improvements with the addition of a periscope lens.
Other new features are rumored to include a USB-C port for charging and data and Apple’s upcoming A17 Bionic processor that could offer much faster performance, being the first Apple chip to embrace TSMC’s 3nm manufacturing process.
Apple’s sales decline
Apple’s executives admitted on a quarterly earnings call that “the smartphone market has been in a decline for the last couple of quarters in the United States.”
For the June quarter, Apple reported a sales decline for the iPhone, Mac and iPad lines. Its Wearables, Home and Accessories segment, which includes the HomePod, AirPods and Apple TV, performed slightly better vs. the year-ago quarter.
The only positive highlight for Apple’s June 2023 quarter was the Services segment—which includes the App Store revenue, subscriptions and Apple’s cut from in-app purchases in apps and games—reached a new all-time record thanks to its installed base of active devices that “reached an all-time high in every geographic segment” and over 1 billion paid subscriptions.
Apple’s bet on services a few years ago has obviously paid off. CEO Tim Cook was quoted as saying in the Apple Newsroom press release that the company also saw “continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of the iPhone.”