It’s now mid-August, which means Apple’s annual iPhone event is just around the corner. Below we take a look at when the event could take place this year.
In September, Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and an all-new foldable iPhone that will be called iPhone Ultra. The standard iPhone 18, low-end iPhone 18e, and iPhone Air 2 are not expected to be announced until around March 2027, as part of a new launch strategy.
Australian media ChannelNews today released an “exclusive” report claiming that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra event will take place on Tuesday, September 8. However, this date is questionable, as Apple has never held its iPhone event on a day after Labor Day. Historically, there has always been a gap of at least two days between the holiday and the event, so it is more likely to fall on Wednesday September 9 or later this year.
If the event were to take place on Tuesday September 8th or Wednesday September 9th this year, pre-orders would normally begin on Friday September 11th. However, this Friday will mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, so Apple may want to avoid launching pre-orders on that day, out of respect. Perhaps that’s why when the iPhone 6s event took place on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, pre-orders began on Saturday, September 12.
It would be much simpler for Apple to skip the week of Labor Day and the 9/11 anniversary altogether and hold its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra event the following week. BloombergMark Gurman of , reported that the event would take place in the first half of September, making Tuesday September 15 the latest possible date.
If the event falls on Monday, September 14 or Tuesday, September 15, pre-orders would likely begin on Friday, September 18 and devices would likely launch on Friday, September 25. It remains to be seen if the iPhone Ultra is available alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models, but it might be limited to the US at first anyway.
Since 2020, videos of iPhone events have been pre-recorded, but in recent years Apple has invited select journalists to the Steve Jobs Theater to watch the video in person. Afterwards, participants get hands-on time with the new devices.
The table below provides an overview of the dates of the last six iPhone events, with 2020 being an exception due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| iPhone series | Announcement date | Event Date | Delta (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone17 | Tuesday August 26, 2025 | Tuesday September 9, 2025 | 14 |
| iPhone16 | Monday August 26, 2024 | Monday September 9, 2024 | 14 |
| iPhone15 | Tuesday August 29, 2023 | Tuesday September 12, 2023 | 14 |
| iPhone14 | Wednesday August 24, 2022 | Wednesday September 7, 2022 | 14 |
| iPhone13 | Tuesday September 7, 2021 | Tuesday September 14, 2021 | 7 |
| iPhone12 | Tuesday October 6, 2020 | Tuesday October 13, 2020 | 7 |
