What Not to Expect at Apple's 'Awe Dropping' September 9 Event

[The-Real-Deal82]

Apple's 1+ Billion active and repeat customers continue to purchase Apple products they love... year, after year, after year. Propelling Apple to being one of the most successful consumer tech companies in the world.

Completely killed? Really?

I agree it is far from killed. However, a lot of us are just in the habit of upgrading after contracts end or when devices start to slow or lose battery. The times of being in awe of new devices from any manufacturer these days has long gone. I think even Apple have noticed they probably make a lot more money from services now and this plugs the gap left from people not upgrading as often.

 

[Happy_John]

I agree it is far from killed. However, a lot of us are just in the habit of upgrading after contracts end or when devices start to slow or lose battery. The times of being in awe of new devices from any manufacturer these days has long gone. I think even Apple have noticed they probably make a lot more money from services now and this plugs the gap left from people not upgrading as often.

Maybe you are just getting older. Because that's what happens when you get older. Buying tuff gets less exciting.

One Christmas, a very long time ago, I remember getting a Kenner Millennium Falcon when I was a kid. I''ll have have that same excitement about waiting for something, then getting and unboxing it.

The question here that comes up is that, apart from simply being amarketign device, does am iPhone need to be exciting?

Not really. It's a phone. And an expensive one. The drive to upgrade, upgrade, upgrade is a marketing strategy. There's far less need for a new iPhone to be more exciting than the last phone. Exciting, outside of marketing, is not that much of a priority for the vast majority of users. And Apple is focused on the majority, because they want to ship the maximum number of units as possible.

 

[JulianL]

I wonder why would we need a new Apple TV? What is something that the current one doesn't do? I always saw my Apple TV as just a content player, nothing else. It does everything an Apple TV should do, what else can they do with it?

I think Apple TV will evolve to become more than just a streaming device for a certain set of users. For some people that will be irrelevant and so yes, the current Apple TV potentially does everything they want right now, but for others the future might become quite interesting.

If rumours are true then Apple does seem to be about to step up its activities in the smart home market quite significantly with very solid rumours (pretty much confirmed at this stage) of a HomePod Mini refresh very soon and other rumours of a new HomePod with a display, security cameras, a FaceID doorbell and even that wacky rumour (wacky to me because I really don't get it) of a tabletop robotic arm maybe in 2027.

If even the first couple of rumours are true - the updates and additions to the HomePod lineup - the rumours are that the HomePod Minis at least will still use Apple Watch processors, perhaps the S11, which while powerful enough to process some Siri commands on-device is not capable of running Apple Intelligence (when that eventually turns up).

As a smart speaker user (a mixture of Amazon & Google Nest devices right now) an offering from Apple where I can transition to HomePod Minis with their already strong reputation for good sound quality for their size, a few full sized HomePods in places where I want better sound quality, and an updated Apple TV that I already intend to buy for its headline function (streaming video) that can also run Apple Intelligence locally would be a very interesting proposition to me if my HomePods could be a lot smarter than what I have right now, and without the delay and privacy loss from having to offload processing to the cloud, because they could hand off a lot of the processing to the Apple TV on my network with an AI-enabled A Series chip in it to run some fairly decent AI processing locally. Also with a decent AI engine on my network (the updated Apple TV) that might add other interesting possibilities for local video processing if Apple does introduce cameras and a doorbell into its range.

I'm only speaking personally of course and realise that my vision will be of zero interest to many people but for me at least, the possibility of Apple taking things in this direction is why I am waiting for the updated Apple TV before making my first purchase of that device.

If things do go the way that I hope they will, and if Apple does find a way through this software mess it seems to have got itself into in terms of delivering significant Siri/AI improvements fairly soon (by mid 2026), then I can see Apple getting quite a lot of money from me in late 2025 and 2026 because I would be willing to dump all my Amazon and Google devices and jump ship to an Apple TV & HomePod based smart speaker setup and probably then branch out into camera stuff which I haven't really done yet but might be tempted to start looking at if Apple offerings made it really simple to set up & was well integrated into my existing iPhone/iPad/Watch ecosystem.

 

[aknabi]

Well I do expect it to be "Awe Dropping" as in my Awe will be dropped in disappointment.

Hope someday they folks in Cupertino can find it in them to be awe inspiring (I'd say again but most of the folks who were there for those days have left).

 

[k1121j]

I wonder why would we need a new Apple TV? What is something that the current one doesn't do? I always saw my Apple TV as just a content player, nothing else. It does everything an Apple TV should do, what else can they do with it?

It’s slow and 6E or better wifi a super plus in my environment unless is had 2.5 G or better wired connection. All of the above are better for me.

Also I’m hoping for better in device encoding decoding video/audio for apps Jellyfin and Plex

better graphics for games hopefully allowing the addition of more and better games I already love to play.

 

[citysnaps]

I agree it is far from killed. However, a lot of us are just in the habit of upgrading after contracts end or when devices start to slow or lose battery. The times of being in awe of new devices from any manufacturer these days has long gone. I think even Apple have noticed they probably make a lot more money from services now and this plugs the gap left from people not upgrading as often.

What's important to remember is that tech forum pundits perpetually ragging on Apple and Cook daily are an insignificant fraction of one percent of Apple's 1+ Billion active and repeat customers who open their wallets purchasing Apple products.

As an aside... Apple services represent around 25% of overall revenue.

 

[Dark_Omen]

What's important to remember is that tech forum pundits perpetually ragging on Apple and Cook daily are an insignificant fraction of one percent of Apple's 1+ Billion active and repeat customers who open their wallets purchasing Apple products.

However, that doesn’t mean people are wrong. I work in phone sales. So many people are too lazy to learn how to do something on their own, so of course they’ll keep buying the same product over again, rather than something that‘s much more advanced.

 

[Happy_John]

However, that doesn’t mean people are wrong. I work in phone sales. So many people are too lazy to learn how to do something on their own, so of course they’ll keep buying the same product over again, rather than something that‘s much more advanced.

Maybe they just don’t want to. Maybe, as customers, they feel that what they spend their money is their decision, and don’t want the salesperson they are giving money to to be negatively judgemental when they are giving that salesperson their money.

It’s probably not a good idea to work in sales and describe your customers in this way. They are effectively the people who pay your wages.

 

[Dark_Omen]

Maybe they just don’t want to. Mac be, as customers, they feel that what they spend their money is their decision, and don’t want the salesperson they are giving money to to be negatively judgemental when they are giving that salesperson their money.

It’s probably not a good idea to work in sales and describe your customers in this way. They are effectively the people who pay your wages.

Or, you know, you could not dictate how I do my job. Thanks. It’s not like I tell them that to their face.

 

[Happy_John]

Or, you know, you could not dictate how I do my job. Thanks. It’s not like I tell them that to their face.

I honestly just mean this as constructive.

Son’t speak negatively about your customer base. Not to the their face, of course, but nowhere else that could be in anyway public, so social media or durums like this. Yes, you have a username and so you’re anonymous, but that anonymity is usually far less robust.

Never speak ill of your customer base publicity, even if you think your customer-base (or employer) won’t hear you.

Life’s never as anonymous as people feel it is.

As for”laziness” of customers, look at it from their point if view. What you see as helping them, informing them that the is something better for than than they think is best firm, they night we’ll see as upselling.

And people are sick and tired of upselling, because cost of living isn’t going down and people have a budget for what they can buy because that’s the maximum they can spend.

If someone wants an iPhone 16e, don’t try to upsell them to a pro.

Think why they specifically want a 16e. And don’t make them feel bad about it.

 

[Dark_Omen]

I honestly just mean this as constructive.

Son’t speak negatively about your customer base. Not to the their face, of course, but nowhere else that could be in anyway public, so social media or durums like this. Yes, you have a username and so you’re anonymous, but that anonymity is usually far less robust.

Never speak ill of your customer base publicity, even if you think your customer-base (or employer) won’t hear you.

Life’s never as anonymous as people feel it is.

As for”laziness” of customers, look at it from their point if view. What you see as helping them, informing them that the is something better for than than they think is best firm, they night we’ll see as upselling.

And people are sick and tired of upselling, because cost of living isn’t going down and people have a budget for what they can buy because that’s the maximum they can spend.

If someone wants an iPhone 16e, don’t try to upsell them to a pro.

Think why they specifically want a 16e. And don’t make them feel bad about it.

I don’t do any of that. There’s no benefit to me.
I’m saying people won’t switch from an iPhone 16 to a Galaxy S25 because they’re too lazy to learn.

 

[Lioness~]

I expect NO:

-new iPhone mini
-wow moment
-lowering prices
-Apple Car
-Apple bicycle
-euphoria if I watch it
-satisfaction with the eventual fold and/or flip phones

 

[I7guy]

Popular ≠ Exciting or Innovative.

Exciting or innovative <> good

 

[OGdrknight]

No new Apple TV 4K update..

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

What's important to remember is that tech forum pundits perpetually ragging on Apple and Cook daily are an insignificant fraction of one percent of Apple's 1+ Billion active and repeat customers who open their wallets purchasing Apple products.

As an aside... Apple services represent around 25% of overall revenue.

My point exactly. Most people buying iPhones don’t look at them in the depths many do here and the enthusiasm certainly isn’t as fanatical for the average consumer away from forums. I think we’ve all noticed that people don’t upgrade anywhere near as often as they used to and older phones represent the vast majority of users. Your percentage of 25% for services is much higher than I thought it would be but is definitely adding to bridging the gap.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Maybe you are just getting older. Because that's what happens when you get older. Buying tuff gets less exciting.

One Christmas, a very long time ago, I remember getting a Kenner Millennium Falcon when I was a kid. I''ll have have that same excitement about waiting for something, then getting and unboxing it.

The question here that comes up is that, apart from simply being amarketign device, does am iPhone need to be exciting?

Not really. It's a phone. And an expensive one. The drive to upgrade, upgrade, upgrade is a marketing strategy. There's far less need for a new iPhone to be more exciting than the last phone. Exciting, outside of marketing, is not that much of a priority for the vast majority of users. And Apple is focused on the majority, because they want to ship the maximum number of units as possible.

I am getting older like we all are and I suppose it becomes less of an expensive purchase and more routine once a contract ends. I lived through the entire smartphone evolution so of course it’s less exciting now. Everyone has a smartphone and everyone knows what they expect from a smartphone. Features just have to be good enough to be better than the old phone and people will upgrade. Most people keep phones much longer too.