Apple offers but a few live appearances each year when company leaders take the stage to discuss and demo new products and services, and share updates on technological innovation. Tomorrow is one such learning opportunity.

New iPhone

Apple’s annual late summer event, which usually occurs in the second week of September, is traditionally the introduction of the latest iPhone model. This year’s rumor mill is pointing to an “iPhone 11.”

If you have an iPhone and it satisfies your needs, I recommend sticking with it. Mine is over three years old and is only my second since 2012. I’m perfectly satisfied and imagine I might replace it next year.

However, if you’re feeling like it might be time for something new, this could be a good inflection point to consider a less expensive older model or realize the newest features are perfect for your new passion project. Let’s chat.

Software & Services

Apple introduces its software platform updates at the summer conference for developers, so these will likely get smaller mentions at tomorrow’s event. However, we’ll learn their release dates, probably staggered over the next few weeks.

I expect iOS 13 sometime next week. The update will work on iPhone 6s and newer, including iPhone SE. I recommend waiting 2–4 weeks before installing. You’ll avoid any major bugs out the gate (horseflies?) and seek out the first or second bugfix in October.

macOS Catalina will probably come out the following week. I suggest waiting to upgrade your Mac until December or after 10.15.2 is released.

Additionally, we’ll learn more about Apple’s new Arcade and TV+ services: a gaming platform for existing Apple hardware categories and a streaming movie and television experience. Both will feature new, original content and are expected to launch this fall.

One more thing…

Periodically, Apple drops an extra bonus, as Steve Jobs famously did during his keynotes for over a decade. This year, rumors point to a location-tracking tag device similar to Tile.

This will integrate with the new Find My app in iOS 13, which additionally combines the functionality of Find My iPhone and Find My Friends.

Where to Watch

You can stream tomorrow’s event, which begins at 10 am PT, via Apple’s website and on Apple TV using the Apple Events app. For the first time, it will also be streamed via YouTube.

Apple is also streaming the event at a subset of its retail stores around the world. (When the stores were brand new, I remember trekking to Apple Clarendon to watch several such events.)

The event will probably go about two hours and there will be a special edition of the Mac Geek Gab podcast following.

Apple events are great learning opportunities for curious users and diehard fans alike. Or, you can just as well reach out to me for reports or chat at our next session.