Apple has today sent out invitations to the press for an event to be held on 12 September at the Steve Jobs Theater on its new Apple Park Campus in Cupertino.
In addition to unveiling 3 new models of the iPhone, there are strong rumors that Apple will also be introducing the next generations of the Apple Watch and Apple TV.
If these rumors are correct, the main new feature for the Apple Watch will be standalone LTE cellular functionality; whilst the Apple TV is expected to gain support for 4K content.
However, the main attention is certain to be on the new iPhones, with particular focus and interest on a rumoured and much anticipated OLED model which in the absence of anything official from Apple is being touted as the "iPhone 8".
According to AppleInsider, the iPhone 8 is predicted to have"
... an edge-to-edge, 5.8-inch OLED display, omitting a home button and Touch ID in favor of a "software bar," new gestures, and 3D facial recognition. It should also come equipped with wireless charging, faster cable charging, and an upgraded "A11" processor.
It is also likely that the next versions of Apple's operating systems will get some stage time during the event; and we should have confirmation of their release dates.
We expect to be live tweeting the event and will post a full summary of announcements later in the day. In the meantime, post a comment below to let us know your own personal hopes and expectations for this event.
Comments
Thoughts
Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but I really want a new 2017 Mac Mini with upgraded Intel processors. I'd also like to replace my iPhone 5S with a second generation SE running the A11 processor.
Thoughts
I love the idea of wireless charging. I think that's long overdue. However, iOS11 sounds very underwhelming. Augmented reality? Sighted people have enough trouble dealing with regular reality! LOL
No More Touch ID?
It sounds like they are getting rid of Touch ID? I'm not sure how I feel about that and I wonder if the facial recognition will be accessible and used in place of Touch ID? Still I will mis being able to unlock my phone with out taking it out of my pocket.
Excited for This Event
I'm excited for this event mainly because of the announcement about the update to Mac OS. In particular, I'm excited to see the new image recognition when I update my system. I'm also rather curious about this new file management system or whatever they're calling it. I've had no trouble with the current way of managing files and folders on the Mac, but changes here and there are always good. Especially if the new one is accessible, and I've no doubt this will be the case. It would be nice if Apple discussed some of the new features of the iPhone, although I'm not really counting on that at this point. I want an iPhone for Christmas, but not sure which model yet. I think I'll have to make another trip with my parents to our local Apple store. I've only watched a few of these keynote events thus far, but I'm sure I'll enjoy this next one nonetheless.
Apple Event
The most exciting thing this year for me at least is the update to macOS. The VoiceOver improvements combined with the new APFS file system are going to be awesome! For the person that's wondering about the new file system, it will not change anything on the user side. It's all under the hood stuff. You will continue to manage files the same way you always have. The user observable difference will mostly be in file transfer and size calculation speeds.
As for iOS and new iPhones, I won't purchase anything until they come out with another SE model or have something else in the new phones that's actually worthwhile. I will continue to wait and use my trusty iPhone 5S which has served me well now for almost four years. iOS 11 is a big "meh" in terms of the major new features. The best things about it are going to be the Files app, VoiceOver enhancements, and all the little tweaks to the system that Apple doesn't publicly mention.
What I'd like to see
Here are some things I would like to see and look forward to:
1. Imagine being able to see the file system on your device and not have to bother with iTunes to get files in the right place and manage your own content! Well, not gonna happen.
2. If the home button is eliminated I hope there will be some haptic feedback for simulating the location of a button and the button press if a virtual button needs to be pressed.
3. Better battery life is always welcome. I've noticed that battery particularly gets drained quickly with video such as Skype and Facetime. Could video processing be made more efficient?
4. I think having a waterproof iPhone would be a great deal.
5. Currently the iOS system is recognizing pictures and can tell us what is in a photo. I look to this to improve even more in order to give more detailed and better descriptions of what is in a photo (or maybe even a video!).
6. I would like to see the iOS systems enable a much better spell checking experience for VoiceOver users. The current method is very clunky.
7. I would also like to see SIRI be able to not only open apps and perform simple system level commands, but it would be nice if the apps themselves could be controlled using SIRI. I guess this is mostly up to the app developers though.
8. Finally, and I know this isn't in Apple's interest, I would like to be able to select my default browser, maps, etc. when asking SIRI for help.
--Pete
Oh boy
I don't think I like the idea of 3D facial recognition, especially for blind people, or sighted people, for that matter.
I don't know how it works, but if someone can move your hands and get you to open your phone while you are asleep, what would happen with 3D facial recognition? Will someone be able to show your face to the phone and unlock it without you even knowing?
Could it be your face, touch ID and a code or something? Like a combination of biometrics and regular pass-code, password or pattern.
I would love to know what everyone else thinks about this.
Would like to see more improvement in voiceover.
I would like to see Ava pronouncing more words correctly and enhance voiceover with more features. I would also like to see VoiceOver telling people when the battery is fully charged and that it should send people a notification and to make a sound when the iPhone starts turning on.
I would like to
I would like to see an Apple Watch that doesn't need to be paired with the iPhone. Also, will the Apple Watch have a Taptic engine?
From what I know about it,
From what I know about it, which is admittedly very little, I don't like the idea of replacing touch ID with facial recognition either. It won't affect me, though, because I've only just upgraded to the iPhone 7 and won't be upgrading again for at least another two years. I also agree with Peter, Apple really need to get spell checking sorted. They should have resolved that issue years ago. I haven't heard that anything has changed on that front in iOS 11, but I'm still hoping.
HOME btn and 3rd gen Watch
1. I’ve tried face and iris unlock on Samsung Galaxy S8, but it requires accurate and precise visual alignment. I’m sure if Apple did implement the rumored, “FaceID”, it’ll be accessible somehow, but I do really enjoy TouchID.
2. If #1 is true, then HOME button will vanish as well, so how will we enable or toggle VoiceOver? Will it be similar to how the GS8 uses the VOLUME UP + POWER BUTTON to enable and toggle Samsung Voice Assistant?
3. Hoping Apple Watch 3rd gen will support Alex TTS? Up until now, it’s been a 64-bit CPU and insufficient RAM issue, but hoping the new LTE Apple Watch has sufficient resources for Alex.