Apple announced yesterday that on Monday, September 9, Apple will stream a video event at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern. The YouTube page for the video is already online, but I usually watch using the page on the Apple website. And while Apple is not saying what it will announce, we all know that the event will at least include 2024 version of the iPhone. I suspect that we will also see the 2024 versions of the Apple Watch. Indeed, September 9, 2024, will be exactly 10 years after Apple first announced the Apple Watch (although it did not ship until April 24, 2015). I suspect we will also see new AirPods.
In the email that Apple sent around to announce the event, Apple included a glowing Siri logo combined with the Apple logo and the tagline: "It's Glowtime."
Does the obvious reference to Siri mean that we will see some new Siri-related features introduced on the 9th? Perhaps something related to AI: Siri + Apple intelligence? We'll see.
Why Monday?
The choice of Monday, September 9, also strikes me as interesting because Apple usually holds this event on a Tuesday unless there is a late Labor Day, in which case it is usually on a Wednesday.
For many years now, when Labor Day occurred on September 4 or earlier, then Apple would hold the iPhone announcement on the Tuesday of the following week. For example, this occurred in 2023, 2019, 2017, 2014, and 2013. When Labor Day fell on Sept. 5 or later, then Apple would announce the new iPhone on the Wednesday that was two days after Labor Day. For example, this occurred in 2022, 2016, and 2015.
There have been two exceptions. The year 2020 was a notable exception due to COVID. Although Apple announced the new Apple Watch on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 (consistent with the pattern that I just noted), Apple alerted the world on July 30, 2020, that the iPhone introduction would be delayed several weeks, and the introduction finally occurred on October 13, 2020. The other exception was the very next year, 2021. Even though Labor Day fell on September 6, which would normally mean an iPhone announcement on September 8, Apple waited until the Tuesday of the following week, September 14, 2021, to have the new iPhone announcement. That one-week delay could have been because new iPhone supply was very low in 2021 due to the lingering effects of COVID, with people waiting up to four weeks to receive an iPhone 13 after it was purchased. Pushing back the announcement one week in 2021 may have been to allow for one additional week to build up the initial supply.
The traditional routine of introducing a new iPhone on a Tuesday—or Wednesday if it followed a Monday holiday—meant that Apple had one work day to prepare for the announcement, allowing Apple a day to get ready for the press to come to town to see the new iPhone in person. Even though Apple shifted in 2020 from live keynote addresses to streamed video announcements, it has still been hosting a (smaller) event on its campus for select members of the press to see the new iPhone in person.
But as noted above, this year, we have an exception to the normal pattern. Labor Day occurs early—on September 2, 2024—so applying the traditional pattern, we would expect an iPhone introduction on the Tuesday of the following week, which is Tuesday, September 10. Why is Apple instead hosting the event on Monday, September 9? Assuming that Apple is inviting members of the press to its campus that day, it will presumably have to pay some people to work on a Sunday to prepare.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball suggests a politics-based explanation for the move: "The first (and currently the only scheduled) debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is on Tuesday 10 September — I’ll bet Apple set this one for Monday to give them a better chance at leading the news during the 24 hours after the event." I suppose that is possible. I haven't yet seen any other theories, and I don't have one myself.
Whatever the reason for the Monday announcement this year, it is interesting that if Apple returns to its normal pattern in the next two years, that means that we will have three years in a row of new iPhones being announced on September 9: Monday, September 9, 2024, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, and Wednesday, September 9, 2026. I suppose that 9/9 does have a nice ring to it.
