Apple’s September 15 ‘Time Flies’ Event: What to Expect

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 15 Sep 2020

Apple Time Flies Sept 15 Event

Apple updated its events page last week to confirm that it is holding a virtual ‘Time Files’ event on September 15. It was widely expected that the company would be announcing the iPhone 12 lineup alongside the new Apple Watch but reports soon emerged that this is not going to be the case. So, what is Apple going to announce at its September 15th event? Read on to find out.

No iPhone 12

The pandemic has definitely turned Apple’s launch event timeline for most products upside down. The company usually holds an event in the first half of September for new iPhones but due to the pandemic, the iPhone 12 lineup is going to launch a few weeks later than usual. It would be quite odd for Apple to announce the iPhone 12 lineup next week only to ship it after nearly a month. With Apple holding an event on September 15, it is now likely that we are only going to see the iPhone 12 announcement around or after mid-October, with the phones shipping in late October to early November.

iPhone 12 Pro Max CAD render

Apple Watch Series 6

Apple has confirmed that the iPhone 12 launch will be delayed by a few weeks, but it has not said anything about the Apple Watch. The company has been launching a new version of its wearable every year in September and it is likely to stick to that same timeline, something which rumors suggest as well. A report also claims that the September 15 event from Apple will focus on the new Apple Watch and iPad refresh.

Rumors point to the Apple Watch Series 6 offering improved ECG, blood oxygen level monitoring, stress level management, and more. Last year’s Apple Watch Series 5 was not a major update so Series 6 should be a major upgrade in terms of performance and battery life as well.

Apple watchOS 7 X-Large Watch Face Complication

Read: Apple Watch Series 6: Everything We Know Based on Leaks and Rumors

Low-cost Apple Watch?

Rumors recently started popping up of Apple also launching a low-cost Apple Watch as a replacement to the Series 3. The latter is already very old and with the number of features that the Series 5 packs, it would be unreasonable to think that Apple would sell the wearable at a lower price. Thus, it makes a lot of sense for Apple to launch a low-cost Apple Watch alongside the Apple Watch Series 6 this year especially with the latter expected to pack even more advanced health-tracking functionality.

There’s no word on the specs of the low-cost Apple Watch but it should have the same design language and feature set as the Apple Watch Series 3. The only difference could be that it comes with upgraded internals to make it more futureproof.

iPad Air 4

Apple had last updated the iPad Air lineup in March 2019. The announcement took many by surprise since the Air lineup was not updated in a few years. Right now, the price gap between the two is big and the iPad Air can offer a great middle-ground with just the right mix of features at an attractive price point.

This year, Apple plans to give the iPad Air lineup an even bigger update, with rumors suggesting the tablet getting an iPad Pro-like design. This will also include smaller bezels, a slightly larger 10.8-inch display, and even Face ID. It is likely that Apple wants to place the iPad Air between the iPad Pro and the base iPad model. Like the iPad Pro, the upcoming iPad Air refresh will also see it switch to a USB-C connector. Other details are not yet known but it is likely that the iPad Air 4 will be powered by an A13 Bionic chip.

Read: iPad Air (2020): Everything We Know Based on Leaks and Rumors

iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 Public Release Date

Apple is also expected to announce the release date of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 to the public for all compatible iPhones and iPad at the event. tvOS 14 and macOS Big Sur are not expected to release until October. There are also rumors of watchOS 7 not releasing to the public this month but that seems unlikely especially since the event itself is going to focus on a new Apple Watch that will launch later this month.

Read: All the New Features in iOS 14

Apple One Service Bundle

Apple launched a bunch of services in 2019 and if you subscribe to a few of them, it can be quite difficult to manage them individually. To make things easier, Apple is expected to announce an Apple One subscription bundle service at its ‘Time Flies’ event on September 15th. A report had indicated that the bundle will have multiple tiers, with the basic tier including Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscription. The next tier will add Apple Arcade to the mix for a slight premium. There will be another tier on top of this with Apple News+ subscription. The highest-end tier will include additional iCloud storage space. The latest Apple Music for Android beta confirms the Apple One subscription bundle and its likely announcement on September 15th.

AirTags?

AirTags

AirTags have long been in development and they were heavily rumored to launch alongside the iPhone 11 lineup last year, though that did not happen. Rumors now suggest that AirTags will launch this year. Apple could launch them alongside the iPhone 12 lineup in October or at its September 15th ‘Times Flies’ event. AirTags are Tile-like tracking tags from Apple that you can stick to your item and can track them later on using the Find My app in case you ever lose them. Apple is expected to make heavy use of AR with AirTags as well as the U1 chip inside the iPhone 11 lineup for precise indoor positioning.

Read: AirTags: Everything We Know About Apple’s Tracking Accessory

Over-ear Headphones?

Another Apple product that has been in development for quite a long time but there’s no clarity on when it will launch. The rumored over-ear headphones from Apple were supposed to launch last year but that did not happen. A Bloomberg report recently claimed that Apple could launch the headphones before the end of this year alongside the new iPhones. With no iPhone announcement likely at its ‘Time Flies’ event, Apple could use the event to launch its over-ear headphones.


What are your expectations from Apple’s ‘Time Flies’ September 15 event? What products are you looking forward to the company announcing at the event? Drop a comment and let us know!

Apple will be live-streaming its ‘Time Flies’ event and you can follow it live by following this guide.