The upcoming “Wonderlust” Apple event on September 12 will debut a new iPhone 15 family and several other hardware refreshes and new products.
Apple’s next product blitz has been scheduled for Tuesday, September 12, at 10am PT / 1pm ET, and the show’s main star will be the next iPhone. Aside from the iPhone 15 family, the company is also expected to unveil a new Apple Watch lineup.
Beyond those two reveals, however, we expect to see other new gadgets unveiled at the iPhone 15 keynote. Follow along with us as we go over all the latest products and accessories we hope to see on September 12.
6 new Apple products we expect at the iPhone 15 event
Apple’s packed event in September 2022 gave us the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 8, second-generation Apple Watch SE, the new Apple Watch Ultra and second-generation AirPods Pro.
Although we are not expecting quite the same number of new hardware launches this September, there should be plenty of refreshes to look forward to.
1. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro lineups
Apple updates the iPhone and Apple Watch in September; this year should be no different. We expect to see announcements of the new iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models.
All models should adopt USB-C charging and Dynamic Island, and there will be new colors. The Phone 15 Pros should drop their heavy stainless steel chassis for a lighter, more durable version made from titanium, run Apple’s 3nm A17 chip, bring an Apple Watch Ultra-style Action button and feature skinnier display bezels.
The flagship iPhone 15 Pro Max is said to exclusively debut a new periscope-style lens for a deeper optical zoom of 6x instead of the current 3x optical zoom.
2. Apple Watch Series 9
The main Apple Watch lineup should get modest changes this year like a new S9 chip based on the iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic said to bring a notable speed jump and improved battery performance. One rumor has called for a new pink color option.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s biggest smartwatch innovations this year are in the watchOS 10 software rather than hardware.
3. Apple Watch Ultra 2
Released in 2022 and available only in 49mm uncolored titanium, the Apple Watch Ultra is Apple’s rugged watch aimed at athletes and fans of extreme sports.
The $800 device should receive an update this September, with the changes said to use some 3D printed parts, the same S9 chip as the Apple Watch Series 9 models and a darker titanium finish.
4. New iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands
Apple is rumored to release eco-friendly cases for the iPhone 15 models made from vegan materials instead of natural leather.
Another rumor claims Apple will announce a new band for the Apple Watch. It’s allegedly made from woven fabric and features a magnetic buckle similar to Apple’s existing Modern Buckle band. On top of that, the new Apple Watch models may come with a selection of bands in matching colors.
These cases and bands should be available to pre-order alongside the new iPhone 15 and Apple Watch models.
A USB-C charging case for AirPods
Sources like Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo have repeatedly said that Apple will release a USB-C charging case for AirPods this year.
At the same time, Â design and hardware changes to the AirPods family are expected in 2024, not this year. Apple still has a few other products with Lightning charging that will need to be adopt USB-C charging to comply with the EU regulation, including the Magic accessories, the iPhone battery pack and more.
6. USB-C cables and Thunderbolt cables
Bringing USB-C charging to the iPhone 15 necessitates new accessories from Apple for those wishing to take advantage of faster fast charging.
Apple is expected to ship a 1.5-meter color-matched braided USB-C cable in iPhone 15 boxes, but those could be limited to standard charging and data transfer speeds. Apple should offer this cable as a standalone purchase, too.
The iPhone 15 lineup should support Thunderbolt 4/USB4 speeds of up to 40Gbps. To take advantage of these speeds, however, you might need to purchase Apple’s new 0.8-meter Thunderbolt 4 cable separately.
If you regularly transfer large files from your iPhone to a computer, like ProRes 4K videos, you’ll want to consider buying this cable. The new Thunderbolt 4 cable was designed to push 145 watts of power, so it will be handy for other Thunderbolt-equipped devices like Mac laptops.
Any new software?
New iPhones always ship with the latest iOS version preinstalled, with other devices getting these software updates before the latest iPhones go on sale. Apple will likely start shipping the new iPhone 15 models beginning Friday, September 22, so expect iOS 17 and watchOS 10 to release sometime between September 12-22.
We’re not holding our breath for tvOS 17 and macOS Sonoma to launch within that timeframe because Apple tends to refresh the Apple TV and Macs in October.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman expects to see updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models with the forthcoming Apple M3 chip in October, and modest iPad upgrades.
The company should release tvOS 17, iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma before new Apple TV and Mac hardware goes on sale sometime in October.