Apple Announced Another Fall Event That'll Likely Be Focused On New iPhones

Once fall hits, rumors always start to swirl about when Apple will hold its annual fall keynote. Before the coronavirus pandemic, you could usually count on it happening in mid-September, but in late August, there were reports Apple would push back the marquee event this year — and the company’s September event has come and gone. So if you're wondering when Apple's 2020 fall event for iPhones will take place, here's everything we know.

Prior to Tuesday, Sept. 8, the tech world had its money on Apple pushing back its iPhone announcement by almost a month. But on Sept. 8, Apple surprised fans with the announcement of an official event on Tuesday, Sept. 15, which was streamed live from Apple Park in Cupertino, California. As most tech watchers predicted, that event was focused on the new Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, along with the new iPad Air and 8th Generation iPad.

Breaking its tradition one marquee fall event, Apple announced a second official event on Tuesday, Oct. 6. According to an email from the company, the next Apple fall event will be on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and it will be live streamed without an audience from Apple Park in Cupertino at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. Apple still hasn't confirmed if this is when new iPhones will be announced, but with iOS 14 officially released and the other new hardware announced last month, there’s not much left for the company to share.

According to the invite from Apple, it reads “Hi, Speed,” which many people are taking as a nod to their announcement of 5G — and the iPhone 12 is rumored to be the tech brand’s first 5G-capable phone.

Typically, the iPhone unveiling event takes place during the first or second week of September, which is why this later date is a bit of a change for the company. For reference, the 2019 keynote address was on Sept. 10; the 2018 keynote address was on Sept. 12; and the 2017 keynote address was on Sept. 12. TBH, this was to be expected: Apple CFO Luca Maestri confirmed in a July earnings call covering the third fiscal quarter of 2020, that this year's iPhone model will launch a "few weeks later" than it normally does, but he didn't give specifics, according to MacRumors.

Since early summer, Apple watchers were pretty much in agreement that Apple would push back the fall keynote to the week of Oct. 12, thanks to leaks from tech analysts like John Prosser — and it appears the predictions were correct. Prior to the Apple event announcement, Japanese website Mac Otakara reported on Tuesday, Sept. 1 that Apple would be holding its 2020 keynote address virtually in late October. Citing reported Chinese supplier information, Mac Otakara reported that the fall 2020 Apple event would see the unveiling of the loss prevention tag AirTag, the iPhone 12, and the Apple Watch Series 6. The Apple Watch was already revealed, but fans can hopefully look forward to the big phone release on Oct. 13.

Apple has yet to confirm anything regarding fall releases beyond its announcement of the Oct. 13 event. As with all rumors unconfirmed by Apple, there is room for error, so to know for sure if iPhone 12 news will come this month, you'll have to tune into the livestream on Oct. 13.