It is now mid-August, meaning that Apple's annual iPhone event is just around the corner. Below, we take a look at when the event might be held this year.
This September, Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and an all-new foldable iPhone that will reportedly be named the iPhone Ultra. The regular iPhone 18, a lower-end iPhone 18e, and the iPhone Air 2 are not expected to be announced until around March 2027, as part of a new launch strategy.
Australian media outlet ChannelNews today published 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 one day after Labor Day. Historically, there has always been at least a two-day gap 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 fall on Tuesday, September 8 or Wednesday, September 9 this year, pre-orders would ordinarily begin on Friday, September 11. However, that Friday will mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, so Apple may want to avoid starting pre-orders that day out of respect. Perhaps for this reason, when the iPhone 6s event fell on Wednesday, September 9 in 2015, pre-orders began on Saturday, September 12.
It would be a lot smoother for Apple to skip the week of Labor Day and the 9/11 anniversary entirely and hold its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra event the following week instead. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that the event will take place in the first half of September, which would make Tuesday, September 15 the latest possible date.
If the event falls on Monday, September 14 or Tuesday, September 15, then pre-orders would likely begin on Friday, September 18, and the devices would likely launch Friday, September 25. It remains to be seen if the iPhone Ultra is available at the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro models, but it might be limited to the U.S. at first either way.
Since 2020, iPhone event videos have been pre-recorded, but in recent years Apple has invited select reporters to the Steve Jobs Theater to watch the video in person. Afterwards, attendees receive hands-on time with the new devices.
The table below provides an overview of dates for the last six iPhone events, with 2020 being an outlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| iPhone Series | Announcement Date | Event Date | Delta (Days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 17 | Tuesday, August 26, 2025 | Tuesday, September 9, 2025 | 14 |
| iPhone 16 | Monday, August 26, 2024 | Monday, September 9, 2024 | 14 |
| iPhone 15 | Tuesday, August 29, 2023 | Tuesday, September 12, 2023 | 14 |
| iPhone 14 | Wednesday, August 24, 2022 | Wednesday, September 7, 2022 | 14 |
| iPhone 13 | Tuesday, September 7, 2021 | Tuesday, September 14, 2021 | 7 |
| iPhone 12 | Tuesday, October 6, 2020 | Tuesday, October 13, 2020 | 7 |
