Apple confirms its ‘Surprise and shine’ event for 9 September

Apple has confirmed that its autumn event will take place on 9 September at 10am Pacific time at Apple Park, under the tagline “Surprise and shine” and an invitation showing a sun rising behind the company logo.

The expectation is that it will finally show a foldable iPhone, a device IDC thinks could ship 10 million units in its first year at around $2,500.

The more consequential detail is what is not on the list. The standard iPhone 18 is expected to slip to a spring launch, which means Apple has quietly split the annual iPhone cycle into two events for the first time.

That is a bigger change than a new hinge. The September keynote has been the fixed point of the consumer technology calendar for well over a decade, and moving the volume model out of it changes what the event is for.

The foldable itself, reported variously as the iPhone Fold or iPhone Ultra, is expected in a book-style design with an outer display of around 5.3 in and an inner display near 7.8 in.

Reports describe a titanium frame and a display Apple has worked hard to make close to crease-free, which has been the visible weakness of every rival for seven years.

One design decision stands out from the rest. Face ID is expected to be replaced by Touch ID in the power button, presumably because there is nowhere sensible to put the sensor array on a device that folds.

Pricing expectations run from about $2,000 to $2,500, which would make it the most expensive iPhone Apple has sold by a considerable margin. Samsung has had this category largely to itself since 2019 and has never made it a volume business, so Apple arriving late and expensive is not the disadvantage it sounds.

Apple’s stated position on foldables has always been that the category was not yet good enough, which is roughly the argument it made about large screens and about styluses before adopting both. The test will be whether the hinge and the crease hold up over a couple of years rather than whether they impress in a demo.

The Pro models are the more conventional part of the event. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to keep their current designs while gaining an A20 Pro chip built on a 2nm process, Apple’s own C2 modem, a variable-aperture main camera, and a smaller Dynamic Island.

A 2nm part would put Apple a full node ahead of most of the Android field, where Xiaomi’s in-house silicon is still on 3nm. Whether buyers notice is a separate question from whether it matters competitively.

There is also a reported price rise of roughly $300 on the Pro line, which would be unusually steep for Apple and is worth treating as a rumour rather than a plan. Component costs have moved sharply this year, particularly memory, so the direction is at least plausible.

Around the phones sits the usual supporting cast. An Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 are expected with new sensors rather than redesigns, alongside the AirPods, OLED iPad mini, and Mac mini refreshes already in the pipeline.

Durability is where foldables have historically disappointed buyers, and it is also the hardest thing to judge from a keynote. A $2,000 phone with a moving part is a warranty proposition as much as a product one.

The home products may be the quiet story. Updated HomePod mini and Apple TV hardware with Siri’s newer AI stack are expected, along with a home hub carrying a seven-inch screen and a FaceTime camera, which would be Apple’s first real attempt at a category Amazon and Google have occupied for years.

None of this is confirmed beyond the date, the venue, and the tagline, and Apple’s invitations have never been dependable guides to their contents.

What the schedule does confirm is that the company is willing to hold a September keynote without its highest-volume product on the stage, which is not a decision it has taken before.