Consumer Tech What Will Apple Announce At Wednesday’s Massive Launch Event? Predictions On The New iPhone 14 And iPhone 14 Pro Ewan Spence Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Storyteller exploring digital worlds, mobile, music and podcasting Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 4, 2022, 08:54pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The invitations have been sent out, and the tech world’s attention will move to Apple’s “ Far Out ” event this Wednesday, Apple can be predictable when it wants. Tim Cook and his team like to set a nice rhythm. So the easiest way to come up with a list of what to expect is “what was launched at the September event last year” and then add one to all the numbers. Apple's Far Out invitation Apple's Far Out invitation Looking Back And Looking Forward So in 2021, we saw the iPhone 13 mini, the iPhone 13, the iPhone 13 Pro and and iPhone 13 Pro Max; Apple Watch Series 7, iOS 15 , iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, tvOS 15, iPad Mini 6, iPad 9, and Apple Fitness+. If we follow that, we’re looking at the iPhone 14 family, the Apple Watch Series 8, the new operating systems, iPad Mini 7, iPad 10, and presumably at least one Apple service. The other lens we have are the copious number of leaks from the supply chain and the various hints found in the betas of the operating systems. These suggest that Apple has a number of products that could be launched. These include all of the above, as well as various combinations of Mac hardware and new AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. Historically Apple has pushed the Mac launches towards an October event - not only does that give them the limelight as a leading product, but as it is 6 to 8 weeks after the iPhone launch, you can reinforce a suitably successful story of the iPhone to keep the momentum high. MORE FOR YOU Google Issues Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users Forget The MacBook Pro, Apple Has Bigger Plans Google Discounts Pixel 6, Nest & Pixel Buds In Limited-Time Sale Event The iPad family is a bit more flexible, but the general feeling is that the iPads could get the supporting role in October rather than September, especially when you consider the delays to iPadOS… a few more weeks of work on the latter will pay off. The two higher-specced AirpPod models - the Pro and the Max - are also both due for updates which have been heavily trailed for the second half of the year. Take your pick which event they launch at, but I do see that more health monitoring features are expected in these AirPods. Given September will be the anniversary of the launch of Apple Fitness+… which is an annual subscription service - any announcements to the latter should be paired up with the monitoring in the wearables of the AirPods and Apple Watches. What To Watch For That gives us the broad strokes in terms of hardware. As regards the finer details, for all of the promise of significant additions and updates to the range, Apple’s historical approach to making small iterative steps and to rarely be ‘first’ with a feature does dull the excitement levels from those outside the very faithful. There are still some key moments and decisions to watch out for. How Apple addresses these will show what story Cupertino wants to tell about the devices. How the media reports it is a subtly different matter. iPhone 14 Let’s start with the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. Apple is sunsetting the iPhone Mini handset,, instead moving to a larger phone as the second regular handset. Apple is also expected to offer these models with a lower specced chip than the presumed A16 chipset that the Pro… whether these remain the A15 or have a small update that allows them to be labelled something along the lines of the A15X, this will be older technology. That should allow Apple to be a bit more aggressive with the price and keep the perceived price of an entry-level iPhone in the same rough ballpark as last year’s iPhone 13 Mini. iPhone 14 Pro The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max models will be where the largest steps forward will be made. The aforementioned A16 chipset should allow Apple to host some big numbers and roll out “our fastest iPhone ever” during the presentation… just keep a close eye on what this performance is compared to… will it be to previous iPhones or just “a range of our competitors”. Will it be quantified or will it be a percentage? And where is the baseline that the numbers build on? Watch for the first always-on display for the iPhone. Also watch for those with Android devices who had this feature years ago ask why this iPhone feature is “new”. The final big ticket item will be the main camera, and the addition of a 48 megapixel wide-angle lens. All of these are going to put more space between the capabilities of the iPhone Pro models compared to the regular iPhone models, partly because of the improved options on the Pro models but also down to the lack of new options in the regular iPhone models, most notably the use of an older Axx chipset. Apple Watch Series 8 The same iterative approach is likely to be seen in the Apple Watch with the imaginatively titled Series 8 models debuted. A third variant - the Apple Watch Series 8 Pro - would bring a larger display to the range, something that will allow it to go up against the larger Android smartwatches. You have the Apple Watch SE at the lower end of the portfolio, which may catch up with the other models by finally including the always on display and faster processors from Series 6 and Series 7 designs respectively. Any new hardware sensors may well be limited to the Pro model to help get more space between models on the portfolio. And it goes without saying that there’s going to be new bands (both basic and fashion-driven) as well as watch faces. Services And Slogans It’s not as easy to pick out new software services from Apple - these are far easier to hide away because it’s almost all in code and service contracts rather than bulk ordering parts and building up physical stock. Last year’s launch of Apple Fitness+ built on existing services, extending them out and generating recurring revenue. What we do have to go on for those ‘ooh we hadn’t heard of that’ moment is the event slogan "Far Out”, along with a graphical representation of lights dancing around. Its still to early to bring AR into the game so I think that’s a non-starter except for a small “this is the future” moment with no big announcements… but that doesn’t feel very Apple. The animation is suitably opaque to get conversation started and will no doubt be “obvious” after the reveal. While some may jump on the idea of Satellite-based internet, it may be closer to home. Photography is always a big discussion point with any product launch, so something around astronomy imaging may be hinted at. Or it could be as simple as better digital mapping of the 3D world to improve the computational photography model. Apple’s “Far Out” event takes place on Wednesday September 7th at 10am Pacific Time . Check out my website . Ewan Spence Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.