It's September, and you know what that means. It's time for another Apple event. Specifically, THE Apple event everyone looks forward to each year, where the tech giant announces its iPhone lineup for the year.

This year, the event takes place exactly a week from when I wrote this - September 12th, 2023. So, what can we expect from this event, and what does "wonderlust" even mean anyway? Well, read on, and I'll tell you everything.

First, let's cover the second question. For as long as I can remember, these September events have had a unique motto attributed to them that tied into the overall theming of the event. In 2013's "this should brighten everyone's day" event, the motto referred to the iPhone 5C's colorful options. 2016's "See you on the 7th" coyly referred to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus announcement. The following year's "Let's meet at our place" event referred to the event being the first event hosted at the newly completed Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus. 2020's "Time flies" event referred to the announcement of the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, and well...you get it.

So, what could "wonderlust" mean? This one is a bit of a headscratcher. It's a reasonably iterative year for the tech giant. There's no big "one more thing" reveal that Apple could pull out of their pocket, as they've already detailed the Apple Vision Pro at WWDC 2023. So, your guess is as good as mine. If I had to pull something out of thin air, I could see Apple spinning the introduction of USB-C into many of its products as wonderful in the same vein that Apple spun removing the headphone jack from the iPhone as an act of "courage" in their September 2016 event.

Now, on to what you can expect from the event. As I've said, it's a reasonably iterative year for Apple, so don't expect monumental moments like the introduction of the MacBook, iPhone, or iPad.

The iPhone 15 lineup will finally introduce USB-C

First and foremost, this is an event where Apple takes excessive time explaining how this year's iPhone is "the best iPhone we've ever made" with a bunch of fancy graphs, photos, and a litany of other things that don't mean much of anything.

That said, a significant change to this year's iPhone is the introduction of USB-C. That's right, 11 years to the day that Lightning was introduced, you'll no longer need to carry around a second cable specifically to charge your iPhone. Now, this is no surprise for those of us who have been keeping up with the news, given that Apple confirmed this year's iPhones would switch to USB-C to comply with the European Union's regulations that state that "all mobile phones and tablets" would need to utilize USB-C by "autumn 2024."

Of course, Apple being Apple, there is a catch. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is reporting that only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will benefit from the higher data transfer rates that USB-C has to offer with "at least" USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3, while the base iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will support USB 2.0, according to Kuo. Thankfully, according to 9to5Mac, all iPhone 15 models will support the faster 35W charging rates of USB-C.

On top of that, supply chain analyst Ross Young reported last year that every iPhone 15 model will be released with Dynamic Island. For those not up to date on the latest in Apple jargon, the Dynamic Island is a pill-shaped cutout introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max that would showcase music controls, sports scores, phone call controls, and more without going into the app. Furthermore, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be housed in a titanium frame with thinner bezels and a heftier price tag.

Both models will replace the mute toggle switch with an "action button" similar to what is currently available on the Apple Watch Ultra, according to MacRumors and 9to5Mac. The benefit of this button is said to be for quickly accessing shortcuts to apps and utilities. This likely refers to Siri Shortcuts, where you can make your iPhone do something if a specific action, such as scanning a document, playing a song from Apple Music, identifying a song playing near you, creating a note, calling someone, and so on, is triggered. A previous report from Kuo went as far as to say that the volume rocker and power button on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max would be replaced with solid-state toggles, but they seem safe this year.

What might not be safe is the iPhone 15 Pro Max's name. According to a report from Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple is considering changing the name to "Ultra." According to this Twitter account, the iPhone 15 Pro Max/Ultra will exclusively receive a camera upgrade with a periscope lens of up to 6x optical zoom.

Beyond that, expect to see a shake-up in colorways, as Apple could be swapping its gold finish for "titan gray" alongside a new dark blue option, which is coincidentally the color scheme included in the event invite. However, the "standard" iPhone 15 will not receive as many changes, with the color options being black, green, blue, yellow, and pink. Sorry, product(RED) fans!

What About Lightning iPhones?

Before I stop talking about the iPhone, I have a theory I would like to mention. With the EU mandate stating that all mobile phones and tablets would need to utilize USB-C by autumn 2024, that's got me thinking about the iPhone 2023 lineup, and I have a crazy theory: I don't see a world in which Apple keeps selling iPhones that have the Lightning port.

I could be wrong here, but wouldn't Apple get fined by the EU for selling these non-USB-C iPhones? If that is the case, Apple will likely get rid of anything that isn't USB-C, especially iPhones, with Apple devices still utilizing Lightning being updated to USB-C over the next year.

Now, sure, Apple could get around this by selling a Lightning to USB-C adapter that would start shipping with these products, much like the USB-C to Apple Pencil adapter that Apple started selling to support charging the 1st generation Apple Pencil on iPads with a USB-C port. Considering the minimal return on investment such an adapter would have, I don't think this is in the cards.

If my theory doesn't hold water, disregard this section. However, I think Apple has to come up with a solution for the iPhone SE model that's due for an update.

If my theory is incorrect, here is the iPhone lineup:

iPhone SE (3rd generation) - starting at $429
iPhone 13 - starting at $599
iPhone 14 - starting at $699
iPhone 15 - starting at $799
iPhone 15 Plus - starting at $899
iPhone 15 Pro - starting at $1,099
iPhone 15 Pro Max/Ultra - starting at $1,299

Should you upgrade your iPhone?

The answer is going to depend on what iPhone you currently have. Suppose you're on anything older than an iPhone 11. In that case, I'd recommend getting the iPhone 13, but if you're okay with getting an iPhone outside of the Apple Store or your carrier, an iPhone 12 should get you most of the iOS 17 features while still being relatively cheap.

The iPhone SE (3rd generation) will be a good option if you're still clinging to Touch ID. That said, I must warn you that a 4th generation iPhone SE is expected to be released in 2025, so if you have an iPhone SE (2nd generation) and can wait a while longer, I'd recommend doing so. As for the other iPhones, I can't recommend the iPhone 14. It's got the same A15 Bionic chip that the iPhone 13 has but with one additional GPU core, one extra hour of video playback, and some fancier camera features.

Likewise, I can't recommend the iPhone 15 lineup unless you're longing for a USB-C port on your iPhone. Reports on next year's iPhones indicate that the iPhone 16 models will replace Dynamic Island with under-display Face ID, with a single cutout for the selfie camera. Furthermore, it would seem the iPhone 16 Pro models will upgrade the screen to 6.3" for the iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9" for the iPhone 16 Pro Ultra. The iPhone 16 will also reportedly be the first iPhone with an Apple-built modem and introduce an A18 Bionic chip to the iPhone. So, if any of that interests you, hold off on an upgrade to any iPhone 15.

A boring Apple Watch lineup

Another thing you can expect to see at this event is updates to the Apple Watch lineup. There's not much to discuss, but you're in luck if you were holding off on buying an Apple Watch Ultra because it didn't come in a dark titanium casing.

Additionally, you'll see the Apple Watch Series 9 gain a spec bump in the form of a new chip, the S9, which is, according to Gurman, based on the A15 processor that shipped with the iPhone 13. As is the case with a spec bump like this, Apple will likely tout battery benefits over the Apple Watch Series 8.

Other updates include a new pink color option and a magnetic band buckle (try saying that three times fast). It's unlikely for Apple to introduce a new Apple Watch SE during this event, as that model was updated last year.

AirPods with USB-C

An even more minor update is to the AirPods, where the only expected update from Gurman and Kuo is a version of the AirPods with a USB-C charging case.

Beyond that, the next update the AirPods will likely receive is next year, with a fourth-generation AirPods model launching in the second half of 2024 (presumably at the following September event) or the first half of 2025, according to Kuo. Rumors are circulating about a cheaper AirPods model priced at $99, along with a second-generation AirPods Max. However, given how recently those two models have been updated, those products seem pretty far off.

Either way, all of these models better have that Adaptive Audio introduced with the aforementioned AirPods Pro released last year.

iOS 17, macOS Sonoma, tvOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 release dates

You can expect iOS 17, tvOS17, and watchOS 10 release dates during this event. As for iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, Apple will likely cover those in an October event that's become common for them as of late.

The betas have been out for months now (three months, if you're counting the developer betas). Hence, those with the betas installed generally know what to expect when each operating system is officially released. For iOS 17, this comes in the form of many quality-of-life upgrades, including StandBy mode, voicemail transcriptions, and a Journal app. macOS Sonoma finally adds widgets, a game mode, and profiles on Safari. iPadOS 17 adds personalized lock screens, interactive widgets, the Health App, support for external USB webcams and cameras, and an update to Stage Manager that allows customization of the size and orientation of each window on the screen. Finally, watchOS 10 will also get widgets that enable quick access to a litany of apps. There are also new topographic mapping features, mood logging, and new watch faces.

"One more thing"?

While Apple is famous for this line, it's becoming more of a rarity nowadays. We know there are updates to the iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro that will be powered by the new M3 chip. There are also rumors about the impending release of the seventh-gen iPad Mini. However, these will likely be unveiled at an October event alongside the release dates for macOS Sonoma and iPadOS 17.

As for the upcoming Apple Vision Pro, we could see an update on this as a quick mention in the spirit of when Apple talks about their subscription services, but not anything significant.

Where can I watch the event?

Apple is streaming the event on its website and YouTube.

I'll have a follow-up article after the event to discuss what happened at the event, so make sure to swing by on September 12th for my coverage.

Thanks to Joseph Davis, David Walters, Ambula Bula, and Brian Skuttle for supporting Austin B Media on Patreon!

Until next time!

What to Expect from Apple's "Wonderlust" Event