Apple's biggest Apple event of the year airs September 9, 2026, and it carries extra significance beyond the usual iPhone refresh with a number of new features expected. Titled "Surprise and Shine," the special event marks John Ternus's first keynote as Apple's CEO unveiling a new iPhone lineup, following his official transition from senior vice president of hardware engineering on September 1. Apple confirmed the date and tagline on August 26 via press release, giving analysts and fans two weeks to speculate about exactly what "surprise" the invitation was hinting at, with most eyes settling on a long-rumored folding iPhone rather than any genuinely unexpected reveal. Here is everything confirmed and expected from this year's key announcements at the Apple event.
The Apple event starts at 10am PT / 1pm ET on Wednesday, September 9, streaming live on Apple's website, the Apple TV app, and Apple's YouTube channel, with several outlets also running a live blog throughout the keynote event. The presentation airs from the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, with an in-person audience of invited press and guests attending on-site, though the keynote itself is expected to remain Apple's now-standard prerecorded video format rather than a live-hosted address.
Yes, in one major respect: leadership. Every prior September Apple event since the original introduction of the iPhone under Steve Jobs was headlined by CEO Tim Cook once he took over in 2011. This is the first without Apple CEO Tim Cook at the podium, since Cook stepped down as CEO on August 31 and moved into the role of executive chairman, a transition Apple originally announced back in April. Last year's iPhone 17 lineup, which included a new ultra-thin model, has continued selling well in the months since.
Per reporting picked up by TechXplore, Apple is expected to unveil its latest iPhone lineup with Ternus leading the presentation for the first time as CEO. Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee told the outlet that Ternus inherits perhaps the most successful consumer technology company in modern times, calling Tim Cook's execution and monetization record both a boon and a burden for his successor. Chatterjee added that Ternus must sustain that momentum while positioning Apple to disrupt itself before the smartphone stops being consumers' primary gateway to the internet. Unlike the Worldwide Developers Conference each June, where Apple typically unveils Apple Intelligence features and other software updates to its personal intelligence system, the September Apple event stays focused on hardware, with new Apple Intelligence capabilities for this year's devices already detailed months earlier at WWDC.
Most reporting suggests yes. Multiple outlets, citing trusted Apple analysts, expect the company's first-ever foldable iPhone, widely rumored to be called the iPhone Ultra, to headline the Apple event. Reports vary on some specifics: some describe a passport-style folding design with roughly a 5.5-inch external display and a display close to 8 inches when unfolded, retaining Face ID, while other more recent reports suggest Apple may instead use a side-mounted Touch ID sensor and a simplified dual-lens camera to keep the folded chassis thin. Analysts note Apple is following its typical pattern of waiting for a product category to mature before entering it, similar to how it approached smartwatches and wireless earbuds years after competitors, with Samsung, Motorola, and Google all having released folding phones already. Forrester's Chatterjee described the approach as straight out of Apple's playbook: let a product work out its early kinks and let the market prove the category's viability, then enter and reshape it on Apple's own terms. Rumors around the new Apple Watch Ultra and standard lineup also point to improved battery life as a headline upgrade this generation.
Beyond the rumored foldable, coverage points to updated iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models built around a new 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip designed to run cooler for longer thanks to packaging changes, paired with Apple's own C2 modem. Expected changes include a slightly larger camera bump, new color options such as dark cherry, and possibly an under-display Face ID system on at least one model, alongside a variable-aperture camera exclusive to the Pro Max that could produce a more realistic bokeh effect than the computer-generated version used in current models. A new Apple Watch Series 12 is also expected, alongside continued rumors of updated AirPods Pro later in the year and a possible new Readiness health-tracking app aimed at competing with Whoop and Oura. Unlike Apple's other hardware lines, such as a new iPad Pro, new MacBook Pro, new Mac mini, new iMac, or accessories like AirPods Max, the Apple Pencil, and the Apple Pencil Pro, which typically launch at separate spring or fall events rather than the September iPhone showcase, this Apple event stays centered on iPhone, Watch, and audio hardware built around the same series of chips and max chips tiers Apple uses across its lineup. Software updates to creative tools like Final Cut Pro likewise tend to follow their own separate release schedule disconnected from this keynote. Compared with earlier generations, this year's iPhone lineup is expected to cost more, partly due to a global memory chip shortage affecting the wider electronics industry.
This Apple event is being watched as an early signal of Ternus's broader direction for the company, not just its product lineup. Analysts expect him to double down on AI-powered features given his hardware engineering background, an area where Apple has been seen as trailing rivals like Google and Samsung. Bank of America analysts wrote in an August research note that Ternus could help cement Apple's device dominance in an AI-enabled era, making this keynote a test of how the company's product direction evolves under new leadership rather than just another yearly refresh.
Pricing for the new lineup has not been officially confirmed ahead of the Apple event, though some reports suggest the rumored foldable model could launch around $2,000 for its base configuration, reflecting both its new form factor and rising component costs across the industry. Following Apple's usual pattern, new hardware unveiled at the event typically becomes available for pre-order within days and ships to customers roughly a week to ten days after the keynote itself.
Following the keynote, Apple traditionally releases updated developer and public betas of its operating systems tied to new hardware features, with full public releases of iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS software following in the weeks after launch. The event also arrives on the heels of a busy summer for Apple, which recently introduced AI-forward Mac mini and Mac Studio desktops running its new M6 and M5 Ultra chips, suggesting the company's broader 2026 hardware refresh cycle for new devices extends well beyond just the iPhone lineup, with further announcements possible as soon as next month. Given how much attention has centered on Ternus's transition and the rumored foldable iPhone, this Apple event is shaping up as one of the more closely watched keynotes the company has held in years, with implications reaching well beyond this year's hardware refresh alone.
Apple maintains an official archive of past keynotes through its Apple Events video podcast, hosting recordings and transcripts of presentations dating back years, including those held at the Steve Jobs Theater. Apple's newsroom also keeps press releases for each event, offering another way to review past announcements chronologically.
Alex Castellari · Editor
Editor
