Mark Gurman for Bloomberg, in his latest edition of the Power On newsletter, claims that Apple will not be holding an in-person launch event for the iPhone 13 series in September this year.

Like last year, Apple intends to hold a virtual event to launch the iPhone 13 series this year. The company has taken this decision due to the rising number of COVID cases in the US caused by the new delta variant. This has also led Apple to delay calling its employees to the office. The company had initially asked its employees to return to the office from September for three days a week but later delayed it until at least October.

Due to the given circumstances, Apple will be launching the iPhone 13 series virtually, just like all its product launches in 2020. The company will also be focusing on online sales this year for the safety of its customers and retail employees. Unlike last year though, Apple will not be delaying the launch of the iPhone 13 series. The iPhone 12 series launch got delayed due to the supply-chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns. This time though, all signs point to Apple launching the iPhone 13 series in September, which is the usual timeframe for the company to launch new iPhones.

Apple has not held an in-person product launch event since late 2019. With the iPhone 13 launch not happening in-person as well, it looks like the first physical launch event from Apple will only happen in late Q1 at the earliest when the company is rumored to launch the iPhone SE 3 and AirPods Pro 2.

No physical event means that Apple is unlikely to announce its rumored Mixed Reality headset in September this year. A report previously claimed that Apple wants to announce its Mixed Reality headset at an in-person event where attendees will be able to see and experience the product.