As was discussed in a previous post I am an Apple Fanboy through and through. With the September event coming next week, I thought we would take a jaunt down prognosticators lane. What will happen? What should happen? I have no idea…but neither do most of the bloggers in the world.
Sure Bet
A New iPhone
It is coming, so if you held out this long to upgrade from your iPhone 4 (seriously…how is your 4 still working?)
The phone will be better than yours. It is what Apple does. They will improve the following things
- The body of the phone (bye bye bendgate…and can we get rid of ___gates while we are at it?)
- The camera will be better
- The processor will be better
The cool, new thing
- Force Touch is coming to the iPhone (insert “use the force” joke here)
Pricing and Storage will remain consistent with current pricing, and they will still have the 16GB model as the base model (which will continue to cause problems as the biggest user of space on most phones are photos and videos…and the 6s will take better photos and videos) and the contract price will be $199/$299 (6s/6s+) and go up from there.
What Does this mean to me?
It means that if you were saving for an iPhone 6, you will be able to get a better version for the same price starting next week. It also means if you are…thrifty…you can get the iPhone 6 for less money starting next week. It also means a little while until the iPhone 7 (although the good folks at BGR have a report today on the iPhone 7…so check that out if you like odd number phones)
iOS9, watch OS2, and Siri Updates
All of these things will make the new iPhones better, so they are coming. Siri is rumored to be the main navigation tool in the upcoming Apple TV, which brings us to…
Pretty Sure Thing
New Apple TV
As a fan of the Apple TV, I was very excited that they lowered the price of the current model to $69.00 so more people would use the device. If you are invested in the Apple Ecosystem, the Apple TV is great add, especially at $69. The New Apple TV is rumored to be a gaming device, and some pundits are saying it can complete with the Xbox One and PS4. We shall see, but it is a pretty sure thing that there will be a new Apple TV. Pricing could be around $149 and there maybe different versions coming with a larger HDD.
What Does this mean to me?
If you have been waiting to get into streaming TV and possible cord cutting, you next best opportunity may be coming this week.
Tim Cook knows for sure, but we don’t
iPad Pro and iPad Mini 4
First the iPad Pro- it has been rumored for a long time. Apple has shown they will wait until the figure things out to launch products (most of the time…here is a list of the times they failed) and they may wait to launch the iPad Pro until later, but I am guessing not. With iOS9 coming with split screen abilities, it makes sense to launch the 12.9in screen Pro. It may have a stylus, Force Touch, better speakers and a keyboard…so like a mini laptop.
Onto the Mini 4. If you like the iPad Mini, you will want the 4. The 3rd version was a weak upgrade that wasn’t worth the extra money for a fingerprint scanner, but the 4 is a (rumored) boost. It should have a better camera, be thinner and be a worthy upgrade from the Mini 2.
What Does this mean to me?
Unless you are in the market for an iPad, nothing. Wait and see on pricing and abilities to see if either device is worth your money.
Final Thoughts
To summarize- you don’t need any of these things, but if you are in market for an upgrade, this is time to pay attention. Personally, I am in a wait and see mode as my iPhone 6 is great, my MacBook Air does everything an iPad Pro can do (and more) and I still don’t have an Apple Watch (FitBit Charge HR is my wearable of choice). Maybe something will be announced that I would like…but probably not right now.
You can catch the live stream on Wednesday, September 9 at 11am West Coast Time or 1pm East Coast Time. The rest of you need to check the internet because I have no idea when you can see it. I will be on the Ars Technica liveblog when it starts. Feel free to tweet arbitrary noise (@arbitrarynoise) or sound off in the comments on what you think. I will have a wrap up following the big event.
For a more detailed, technical breakdown, check out 9to5Mac’s super-awesome breakdown on the September Event.
When I asked Siri for a hint, here are some of responses 
