iPhone 16 and new Apple Watch, AirPods tipped for September 10

Apple is aiming to host its annual iPhone launch event on Tuesday September 10, according to a well-connected Apple watcher.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reckons Apple has pencilled in the date for what has traditionally been the most important date in the calendar – at least in terms of hardware.

Apple is ‘making preparations’ for that date, according to the sources who spoke to Gurman on the condition of anonymity.

While the iPhone 16 is expected to main event the hardware showcase, an Apple Watch X and Apple Watch Ultra 3 are expected to be on the undercard. Recent reports from the same journalist suggested AirPods 4 earbuds will be introduced with two options – one with ANC and the other without.

There’s also been increasing chatter about a possible pair of upgraded AirPods Max over-ear headphones rocking the same H2 chip as the AirPods Pro earbuds.

While it’s good to be moving closer towards confirmation of the September 10 date, it would also represent that Apple is working within its regular timescales. If, at the beginning of 2024, you could have circled one date in the calendar for Apple to launch iPhone 16 hardware, September 10 would have been the red-hot favourite.

Apple loves to host the event on the second Tuesday in September, has traditionally opened pre-orders later that week, and then often releases the phones on the subsequent Friday about ten days later after the initial announcement.

That would place the iPhone 16 release date at around September 20. It’s far from certain that all phones will be released on that date, but 20/9 is where the smart money goes. It’s also possible Apple will stagger the releases of the variants, as has happened with iPhone models in the past.