WSJ: Apple Aiming to Use Steve Jobs Theater to Unveil New Products at September 12 Event

[WatchFromAfar]

Will be extremely disappointed if there's no touchID in the screen, but I guess I'm willing to give FaceID a try... hoping Apple does what Apple does best and it "Just works."

What an ironic statement considering the reason there will be no TouchID is because Apple couldn't get it to"just work".

 

[Hagrid]

Totally agree. I get that Pro is kind of dumb, but it's the most logical naming scheme for the iPhone moving forward.

Maybe they should name it iPhone 7S++, in honor of the now deprecated ++ auto-increment operator in Swift (/rant - obscure, inside iOS developer joke, from a developer (maybe one of the few) who really still likes Objective C over Swift (I really am starting to hate how the Swift promoters feel they know so much more then us bone-headed, old fashion C programmers.... oh, and I fu%^&@* hate optionals....lol) /rant over

 

[Jax44]

Agreed. Hard to believe they'd plan such a potentially major announcement, phones, watch, Apple TV, and limit it to 1,000 seats. Maybe they will have overflow seating in the "food court" area of the main building?

Seems like they'd still want to do most of their major events where's there's plenty of seating and exhibition space ... And one that's not still under construction, and potentially not fully tested ...

The auditorium is below ground, so the whole ground floor area surrounded by glass could be the exhibition and try out area.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Agreed. Hard to believe they'd plan such a potentially major announcement, phones, watch, Apple TV, and limit it to 1,000 seats. Maybe they will have overflow seating in the "food court" area of the main building?

Seems like they'd still want to do most of their major events where's there's plenty of seating and exhibition space ... And one that's not still under construction, and potentially not fully tested ...

I realize the concern... but let's think about this for a sec...

This is a product announcement... not a WWDC Keynote full of Apple Engineers. It should be primarily journalists.

So... 1,000 people... that would be a ton of journalists.

Are there even 1,000 newspapers anymore? Even if we added magazines... that's still too many people. So that leaves bloggers and website authors. And I still think that's too many.

I'm guessing it'll be a couple hundred journalists and bloggers, if that. That's more than enough of coverage. And the rest of the seats could be engineers and special guests.

I do wonder about the hand-on area. That one is still a mystery to me.

Though if the cafeteria is ready... have people trek on over to the 20,000sqft space to check out the new iPhones. And grab a sandwich too!

 

[Samuel Clemens]

Mac mini quad-core here we come!

I'm waiting for a new Mac Mini for a long time already. I need to buy one good but economic computer like that.

If they don't announce one now, I'll have to cross the street, so to speak.

 

[ceva321]

Apple will hold a product event on Tuesday, September 12, according to Dow Jones sources cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June​

Apple is aiming to use Steve Jobs Theater for the event, but its construction timetable could affect timing or location, the report said.At the event, Apple is widely expected to unveil the so-called iPhone 8 with an OLED display, wireless charging, and facial recognition, alongside updated versions of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Apple Watch Series 3 models and a new Apple TV with 4K video streaming capabilities and HDR support are also expected to be unveiled, along with release dates for iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4, and tvOS 11.

Apple has held a product event in September for five consecutive years, dating back to the introduction of the iPhone 5 in 2012. September 12 was already rumored as a possible date for this year's event last week.

There are typically 10 or 11 days between a new iPhone being announced and launching, so this year's iPhone lineup could be available on Friday, September 22 based on that trend. The lone exception in the past five years was 2015, when there was a 16-day gap between the announcement date and availability.

iPhone pre-orders would likely begin on Friday, September 15 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time (3:00 a.m. Eastern Time).

Article Link: WSJ: Apple Aiming to Use Steve Jobs Theater to Unveil New Products at September 12 Event

I don't think most people care anymore....but whatever

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

It should be good and maybe, "Oh and one more thing?

 

[calisurfboy]

Feels like a real life Willie Wonka taking everything in-house from chip design to product introductions.

 

[jerryk]

So far I didn't get the appeal of wireless charging (it doesn't rid you of cables, charging pad still has one, you only safe the "hassle" of plugging it), but from this it sounds like it charges faster than the current lightning cable. Couldn't they make the current method faster?

First you have wired and wireless charging. So if you don't want to user wireless just keep doing what you are doing.

But, wireless charging is very nice and something I don't want to be without. You simply drop your phone on the pad and it charges. I have chargers at home and on my desk at work. I leave the phone on it all day or all night. And every time I grab the phone it is at 100%.

 

[efktd]

It's sad that some of you literally will spend almost 1 thousand for a new phone! All I see is bunch of "Yesmen" to Apple. Now let's take at some of the "biggest" new stuff..

Face ID - How many of you said back in June "I won't buy it unless Touch ID is in the screen.."

Wireless charging - Are we humans getting more lazier? Is it hard to plug in a small cable into your phone? Imagine if we, today, had to use a "pad" just to charge our phones? And all of a sudden, Apple brought small little cables into the world. "Apple is the BEST I SWEAR"!

Bezel less - I give credit to that..

Notification center - Are you really that geeky? They do this every year.

Full of people that won't lead the crowd, but follow the crowd!

(If this is your first iPhone or you're upgrading from 6/6s, I don't mind you).

$1,000 isn't a lot of money, you know...

 

[Samuel Clemens]

It should be good and maybe, "Oh and one more thing?

It should feature the best Columbo impersonator Apple's money could hire.

 

[AZ63]

Uhhh doesn't matter the size. All Apple keynotes will be held there in every future event except maybe WWDC. It's kinda why they built it.

Duh… it kinda does matter. When it was designed Apple events were smaller. The events have grown. Some folks who were previously invited will no longer be getting invites.
Do you think they will rotate the invites to all the current invitees or just move forward with you are no longer worthy of being in the audience?

 

[Jax44]

I realize the concern... but let's think about this for a sec...

This is a product announcement... not a WWDC Keynote full of Apple Engineers. It should be primarily journalists.

So... 1,000 people... that would be a ton of journalists.

Are there even 1,000 newspapers anymore? Even if we added magazines... that's still too many people. So that leaves bloggers and website authors. And I still think that's too many.

I'm guessing it'll be a couple hundred journalists and bloggers, if that. That's more than enough of coverage. And the rest of the seats could be engineers and special guests.

I do wonder about the hand-on area. That one is still a mystery to me.

Though if the cafeteria is ready... have people trek on over to the 20,000sqft space to check out the new iPhones. And grab a sandwich too!

See my post # 128 above.

 

[thekeyring]

Bezeless design - Again, Android phones have this but only since this past year. The OLED iPhone will have the highest screen to body ratio than any phone out there.

No phones have this. It sounds like even the iPhone 8 won't.

The Samsung phones reduced the bezels, and the Galaxy S8 takes this further than ever, but they still have top and bottom bezels. They market it like it has no bezels, but it does have them.

It's worth distinguishing this, in my book, because when iPhone 8 was first rumoured, it was said the cameras, speaker and sensors would be "under the display". Currently none of that is rumoured to be true: the notch at the top of the display seems to be where the sensors will go, and Touch ID is rumoured to be absent. (I hope the latter isn't true).

 

[Morod]

Mac Mini update. Please!

 

[thekeyring]

You know what would be cool, the entire room goes pitch black, then all you hear is the sound of Steve Jobs voice from the Macworld 2007 launch of the first iPhone:

"We’re gonna make some history together today."

"Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything."

"one’s very fortunate if you get to work on just one of these in your career."

The new iPhone comes up from the bottom of the screen in carousel detail to show the front face, then it lights up 'Hello'

Tim Cook comes up on stage and says introducing 'Apple Phone'

There is no way in this world they will ditch the name iPhone.

 

[Michael Scrip]

See my post # 128 above.

Yep... that's a possibility.

The glass exhibition area is roughly the same size as the area of the seating in the auditorium. When you add Apple's big tables it will cut that area in half.

But I don't think it will be 1,000 journalists trying to get hand-on time after the event... so it might be enough room.

 

[betabeta]

I realize the concern... but let's think about this for a sec...

This is a product announcement... not a WWDC Keynote full of Apple Engineers. It should be primarily journalists.

So... 1,000 people... that would be a ton of journalists.

Are there even 1,000 newspapers anymore? Even if we added magazines... that's still too many people. So that leaves bloggers and website authors. And I still think that's too many.

I'm guessing it'll be a couple hundred journalists and bloggers, if that. That's more than enough of coverage. And the rest of the seats could be engineers and special guests.

I do wonder about the hand-on area. That one is still a mystery to me.

Though if the cafeteria is ready... have people trek on over to the 20,000sqft space to check out the new iPhones. And grab a sandwich too!

Yeah, someone has to know a rough idea how many were at last years announcement, but I too would figure 1000 is good.

I really like your idea about the cafeteria, did you notice a new drone footage yesterday shows them watering the massive new lawn outside the cafeteria? Seems to be a lot of concentration on the areas outside the theater and cafeteria.

2 weeks is plenty of time if you push hard to complete the external and landscaping. Now setting up and running a theater, lighting, audio, video...etc that takes time getting all the bugs ironed out, but who knows, looks like a mess when you try to sneak a peak down the stairs in the old drone footage.

 

[Aniseedvan]

First you have wired and wireless charging. So if you don't want to user wireless just keep doing what you are doing.

But, wireless charging is very nice and something I don't want to be without. You simply drop your phone on the pad and it charges. I have chargers at home and on my desk at work. I leave the phone on it all day or all night. And every time I grab the phone it is at 100%.

As long as it's QI standard and not some apple proprietary one, I'd be happy to see this..

 

[9594864]

Duh… it kinda does matter. When it was designed Apple events were smaller. The events have grown. Some folks who were previously invited will no longer be getting invites.
Do you think they will rotate the invites to all the current invitees or just move forward with you are no longer worthy of being in the audience?

It seats 1,000 people? Pretty sure that covers everyone, 10 fold.

'Designed before Apple events were big' that's funny.

 

[Bacillus]

Credits for those who should be credited, Tim.
Invite Samsung engineers onstage to show off the OLED screen, the wireless charging and all other stuff borrowed "because time had come". And shave Phil and those who always made up we didn't need that stuff.

 

[betabeta]

Notice those 4 covered areas outside the cafeteria, those would make great areas for product hands on, you could have one set up for Apple TV, one for iphones and one for Apple Watch. Wishful thinking, but that would be very cool.

 

[bunnicula]

I'm not being dismissive of your opinion, but I do highly disagree with you about the iPhone being named "Pro." And the reason why is there is nothing Pro about an iPhone or smart phone in general, because it's main functionality is to deliver/accept incoming messages and notifications. Even aside from all the other added functionalities, that's the main focus of what a phone does. The Pro moniker would more likely be suited for an iPad, MacBook Pro, those are productivity Devices that are intended to complete work related task for desktop applications, spreadsheets, graphic design, etc.

Some make the argument that features like a dual camera, 3D Touch, perhaps added Tru- Tone or stereo speakers do not make the iPhone anymore Pro because of added features. Those features I listed are for convenience, not designed for work productivity.

What's more 'Pro' about the iPad Pro, though? I mean, more than the regular iPad?

I do see your point and I really don't mind if they call it Pro or Edition. You made me think that they might go Edition for the iPhone if they have a new version of the AW Edition.

 

[Tom2893]

Considering the new iOS 11 videos demonstrate an iPhone 7 functioning without a home button & countless prototypes appearing with rear facing Touch ID.

I think there could be a slight chance that Apple is going all out on eliminating the front home button experience on the entire line-up this year.

My prediction; (come back here after the event & see!)

iPhone 7s - renamed to iPhone, without home button and rear-facing Touch ID

iPhone 7s Plus - renamed to iPhone Plus, without home button and rear-facing Touch ID

iPhone X Edition - OLED, “bezel-less” design with Face ID only.

And all the above mentioned iPhones will also make magnetic charging the norm, with ceramic backs.

Haha if it is iPhone X that will be me getting the iPhone X & Xbox One X. A very X'y fall.

 

[Michael Scrip]

What's more 'Pro' about the iPad Pro, though? I mean, more than the regular iPad?

I do see your point and I really don't mind if they call it Pro or Edition. You made me think that they might go Edition for the iPhone if they have a new version of the AW Edition.

I agree that the suffix "Pro" gives a weird connotation since it actually comes from the word "Professional"

Maybe Apple should do what carmakers do... use lettered designations to separate models:

iPad DX
iPad LX
iPad EX

Just like Honda