I look forward to watching tomorrow’s Awe Dropping Event. Set to take place September 9, 2025 at 10:00 am PST time.
I decided to not to write a super long post this year like I did last year and the year prior for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 events as there have been tons of leaks this year about the 17 lineup. I also ran out of time for an extended blog expose on the predicted iPhone 17 lineup doing my main job, working in music for media.
All good. I’ve assembled some of the best, non paywalled sources listed below, I’ve read which provide valuable insight into tomorrow’s rumored product launches.
Great coverage by the following sites:
Macworld: iPhone 17 is almost here: Here’s everything you need to know
MacRumors: Final iPhone 17 Pro Rumors: Orange and Blue, Vapor Chamber, and More
MacRumors: iPhone 17: Last Minute Rumor Recap Ahead of Tomorrow’s Apple Event
PC MAG: The iPhone 17 Drops Tomorrow. Here’s Everything We Know
Digital Trends: iPhone 17: everything we’ve heard ahead of tomorrow’s launch event
Basic Apple Guy: Awe Dropping Apple Event Bingo
Listed below are my product predictions for tomorrow’s event.
Be sure to check out my follow up posts with my thoughts on tomorrow’s event and product announcements at large.
Products
iPhones
iPhone 17 Lineup Announced
All iPhone 17 models will likely see a $50.00 – $100.00 price increase this year. I predicted this last year for the iPhone 16 lineup and was wrong.
iPhone 17 Pro Max – Starting at $1,299.00
iPhone 17 Pro – Starting at $1,099.00
iPhone Pro Max/Pro Color Options: White/Silver, Terracotta Orange, Pacific Blue, Space Black
Expect the same sized displays as last years’s iPhone 16 Pro/Max (6.3 inch and 6.9 inch), longer battery life via increased thickness and/or stacked battery technology, higher storage capacities (up to 2TB), dual 4k video capture, 8k video capture, and an improved internal thermal design. Possibly a vapor chamber. Lastly and most importantly 12GBs of RAM.
Both pro phones will get 48 megapixel telephoto and the 17 Pro Max will get a new 8x telephoto zoom lens. The 17 Pro will retain the 16 Pro’s 5x telephoto zoom lens albeit it an updated and refined 48 megapixels, up from latest years 12 megapixel telephoto zoom lens.
Will this year’s iPhone 17 Pro Max/Pro will finally get a USB-C thunderbolt 4 port on the phone?
Color matched braided USB-C 2.0 charging cable included in box for all models.
Lastly no more 128GB SSD option for iPhone 17 Pro models. Apple dropped the 128GB SSD base storage option for the Pro Max line with the release of the 15 Pro Max in 2023. Base storage will start, finally, at 256GB for the 17 Pro.
iPhone 17 AIR – Starting at $999.00
iPhone 17 – Starting at $899.00
iPhone 17 AIR Color Options: Black, White, Starlight, Sky Blue
iPhone 17 Color Options: Black, White, Sky Blue, Green, Purple
Expect a phone based on a combination of last year’s iPhone 16 with refreshed color-ways, and an improved internal thermal design. I think the rumored dual-video recording mode maybe available on the standard 17 and 17 AIR. I’m gonna take a chance and say that both the 17 and 17 AIR will also get 12 GB of RAM, based on Ming-Chi Kuo’s reporting.
Color matched braided USB-C 2.0 charging cable included in box for all models.
iPhone Images Credit: MAJINBU OFFICIAL
Apple Watches
Apple Watch Ultra 3
An iterative update on last years refreshed Apple Watch Ultra 2
Expect an updated processor to S11, longer battery life, updated Ultra Wide Band Chip from U2 to U3, and new color-ways in line with the iPhone 17 Pro/Max models, and on device Apple Intelligence support.
Color-ways: White/Silver, Space Black, Pacific Blue, Terracotta Orange
Apple Watch Series 11
An iterative update on last year’s Apple Watch Series 10.
Expect a modestly updated processor to S11, longer battery life, updated Ultra Wide Band Chip to U3, and new color-ways in line with the iPhone 17 and 17 AIR models, as well as on device Apple Intelligence support.
Screen sizes remain the same as last year’s Apple Watch Series 10 refresh; 42mm and 46mm.
Color-ways: Silver, Slate, Black, Starlight, Sky Blue
Apple Watch SE 2
Long overdue for an upgrade the aging Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) released in September 2022, may get a always on screen, larger screen (42mm and 46mm), and take on the the design language of the Series 10 Apple Watch.
Color-ways: Black, White, Starlight
Accessories
AirPods Pro 3
Estimated Price: $275.00
Update to AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) earbuds.
Updated U2 Chip
iPhone Cases “FineWoven” v2 aka “TECH WOVEN” for iPhone 17 Lineup Only
Replaces current FineWoven lineup with an upgraded v2 take on the product lineup, an Apple branded case alternative to their discounted lineup of leather cases.
All cases will feature MagSafe and support for Qi2 Charging.
The FineWoven product revision is in response to the litany of criticism received by the first generation product lineup for the iPhone 15 series. The revised cases will likely only be available for the latest and greatest iPhone 17 lineup.
The Verge: The new FineWoven iPhone cases are very bad
Apple weaved itself into a fine mess with the awful iPhone 15 FineWoven case
Software
iOS 26
To be released to the public the following Tuesday, September 16th after the event.
I’ve been running the iOS 26 public beta all summer on my daily carry, a refurbished iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’s running great, with very few issues. The main issue being that I don’t love the new Liquid Glass GUI.
This is a big OS upgrade visually. Promised Apple Intelligence improvements are few and far between so far…
iPadOS 26
To be released to the public the following Tuesday, September 16th after the event.
New windowing system is nice and the way this should have worked years ago on iPad. Liquid Glass leaves much to be desired, so far. I mean can anyone honestly read the track name playing at the bottom of Apple Music in the screenshot listed below?
This is a big OS upgrade visually. Promised Apple Intelligence improvements are few and far between so far…
macOS 26 TAHOE
To be released to the public the following Tuesday, September 16th after the event.
This is the last macOS release for Intel Macs. Per Wired;
Apple will provide security upgrades for these Intel-based Macs for three more years. That’s pretty solid for machines that are already more than five years old.
Apple will also be winding down Rosetta, the company’s emulation layer for running non-native apps on Apple Silicon. It was key to Apple’s early success in transitioning to its own chips. For anything other than old games, the software provided by Apple will be available only through macOS 26 and macOS 27. More than anything, it’s another way for Apple to encourage developers to finish transitioning their apps to run natively on Apple Silicon.
This is a big OS upgrade visually. Promised Apple Intelligence improvements are few and far between so far…
watchOS 26
To be released to the public the following Tuesday, September 16th after the event.
visionOS 26
To be released to the public the following Tuesday, September 16th after the event.
Like I wrote last year, does anyone even care about the Vision Pro?
Read More
The Verge [Paywalled]: The iPhone 17’s potential makeover might be just enough
Bloomberg [Paywalled]: iPhone 17 time
Music Listened To While Writing This Post
NIN – Hesitation Marks Deluxe Version
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Written on MacBook Pro and iPad Pro using Drafts Pro in Markdown.
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