Apple is reportedly scheduled to launch its new iPhones on September 12. While there’s no official word yet, WSJ cites people ‘briefed’ on the Cupertino company’s plans.
The report all but confirms what has been leaked time and again – Apple will be launching three iPhones. One will be an anniversary edition iPhone 8 with an edge-to-edge display, wireless charging, and facial recognition technology. The other devices will basically be iterative updates to last year’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
While the launch plans don’t really come as a big surprise, it remains to be seen how Apple is coping with the much-rumored production delays. It has been reported in the past that there are a few delays in production of the iPhone 8, especially with its edge-to-edge display and the display-embedded fingerprint sensor. Even if Apple sticks to the September 12 launch event date, it will be still interesting to see if the company manages to have enough stocks for sale. Traditionally, the new iPhones go on sale in select countries about 10 days after launch.
Apart from the new iPhones, the company is also widely expected to take the wraps off the next-generation Apple Watch. The new Apple Watch is rumored to come in two variants – one with Wi-Fi support, and the other with Wi-Fi LTE support. While neither will be able to function completely without connecting to an iPhone, the LTE variant does sound capable of calling, receiving texts and emails without an iPhone.
It is further being said that instead of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, this year’s iPhone 8 launch event will take place at the 1,000-seater Steve Jobs Theater at Apple’s new Park Campus. But the WSJ report does warn that the “new headquarters, however, aren’t finished, and the construction timetable could affect the timing or location of the event”.