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Can anyone else not get California Dreamin’ by the Mamas and the Papas out of their head?
The latest Apple event invitation is easily my favourite so far. Featuring what many people have suggested is Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park, California, it also boasts one of the coolest AR experiences I’ve seen.
Try it. Visit apple.com on your iPhone or iPad, tap the event invite and place the glowing Apple logo somewhere in front of you. Then, move the camera closer to it, until you pass ‘through’ the logo and into the aforementioned lake scene. Keep going, and the ‘9.14’ date will fade into view above the water.
This really does illustrate how powerful the AR and graphical performance of Apple’s latest devices are. It’s still completely pointless, but it is undeniably impressive.
Anyway, what’s coming on September 14th? That’s why you’re here, after all. Well, as I’ve learned from Apple events that have taken place over the last few years, it’s far better to expect as little as possible.
We’re not going to see a preview of the next M[something]-powered Macs, AR glasses, iPad mini redesign, or AirPods Max SE. I think Tim and co are going to show us just two products next week.
And, yes, they’re the most obvious.
A bunch of new iPhones
We’re going to see the new iPhone 13 next week. It’ll most likely arrive in four forms (regular, mini, Pro, and Pro Max) and it’ll be a bit better than last year’s device.
That’s probably it. It won’t fold, come with a stylus, or even feature a smaller notch. The iPhone 13 will simply be much faster, feature a better camera, and probably offer a high refresh rate screen (if you go for the Pro version).
That’s my prediction for the iPhone 13. I’ll be getting the regular one from this point forwards until Apple gets more inventive with its smartphone line and gives us something to genuinely get excited about.
I miss those days.
A new Apple Watch
I’m a big fan of the Apple Watch and have owned one since the first generation.
But, as it turns out, I’m not quite as attached to it as I thought I was.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m actually far more excited to see what Apple does with their smartwatch than I am the iPhone. I think the potential it has to continually increase its health feature set is genuinely exciting and will be life-changing for many people.
However, this year we’re probably not going to see anything radically different. A slight redesign, possibly. But no new sensors or headline-grabbing features.
What I really want is the rumoured ‘rugged’ version. Or, as someone in my comments thread suggested recently, a tie-in with G-Shock. You would not be able to shut me up about that.
More of iOS 15
I had big plans to cover the beta versions of both iOS and iPadOS. But I quickly lost interest and the time required to do so.
Having watched with marginal interest from the sidelines, it seems that Apple has spent the majority of the beta period faffing about with the way tabs work in Safari. I therefore made the decision to wait for the final release of every new operating system before passing full judgement.
On September 14th, we’ll know when iOS 15 will be released, because it’ll almost certainly fall in line with the shipping dates for the iPhone 13 – if not a little ahead of time.
We’ll probably also be shown iOS 15 again, although I wouldn’t expect any exciting yet-to-be-announced new features; it’s more likely to be a recap of what we were told back in June.
Have I missed anything?
The only thing I possibly should have included above is the next version of AirPods. These have been rumoured for quite some time, but I doubt they’ll be given any significant time during the presentation. Apple’s next wireless earbuds are more likely to be press release material or dealt a brief mention during the event.
So, over to you. What do you think they’re going to reveal next week? Get involved in the comments.
