Tomorrow

Nothing in this world is certain, except for death, taxes and the reveal of a new iPhone every year. Since receiving our invites to attend Apple’s “awe dropping” iPhone 17 event, we’ve been hard at work deciphering what the enigmatic Apple logo heatmap could mean. While that’ll remain a mystery until Tuesday, we have seen a lot of the expected product lineup through leaked photos and rumors from industry analysts.

In addition to the base model, you can expect an iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max and a slim version, nicknamed the iPhone 17 Air, to be revealed during the event. We’re also likely to see an Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and maybe an Apple Watch SE, which was last updated in 2022. The AirPods Pro 3 might also make their debut.

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iOS 26 and its minimalistic Liquid Glass feature tie the whole lineup together. The latter was showcased at WWDC 2025 and should be released shortly after the event.

Here are the biggest rumors and leaks about Apple’s new hardware. We’ll continue updating this piece ahead of the iPhone 17 event tomorrow. Whether you plan to watch the stream or just check in with the big announcements, CNET experts are bringing the latest live Apple event coverage to you before the keynote begins.

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Here’s what the iPhone 17 could look like, in an array of different colors.

Zain bin Awais/CNET

What is the ‘awe dropping’ Apple event on Sept. 9?

If you’re excited about the new iPhone’s debut, you won’t have to wait long. Now that invites have gone out, we can officially confirm that Apple is planning its event for Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.

It turns out the leaks and rumors surrounding the event date were accurate. We can expect to see a full slate of product launches at the “awe dropping” Apple event, starting with the iPhone 17. The heatmap Apple logo included in the event invites hints at a new feature, but we don’t know what that could be.

iPhone 17

The standard iPhone is the cornerstone of Apple’s September presentation, and the iPhone 17 should be no different. All in all, this year won’t mark a groundbreaking shakeup for the iPhone. That’s supposedly coming next year, for the iPhone’s 20th anniversary. But there are still new features to get excited over in the meantime.

The largest alteration to the design is rumored to be the phone’s camera bump, which will more closely resemble the pill-shaped design of Google’s Pixel. Analyst Jeff Pu also believes that the selfie camera will be 24 megapixels — a solid upgrade from the 12-megapixel front-facing camera present in the iPhone 16 lineup.

There are conflicting rumors about the iPhone 17’s internal specs. Pu said that the new phone will have the same A18 chipset used in the iPhone 16, while leaker Fixed Focus Digital suggested that the phone will be upgraded to the A19 chip. It’s unknown whether the iPhone 17 will get a physical battery upgrade, but the Adaptive Power feature included within iOS 26 should help extend the phone’s battery life nonetheless.

Prominent leaker Majin Bu posted photos of the purported iPhone 17 lineup on X, and if they’re accurate, the device will come in black, blue, silver, purple and green.

Based on the Sept. 9 event date, we can expect preorders for the new Apple hardware to begin on Sept. 12, with a release date of Sept. 19.

The iPhone Plus might be replaced with a sleeker iPhone 17 Air in this year’s product lineup. Here’s a rendering of what that might look like.

Zain bin Awais/CNET

iPhone 17 Air

The iPhone 17 Air could replace the Plus model in the lineup. Its key feature could be an ultra-thin design, like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge. It will be interesting to see if the slim design comes with a sacrifice to battery life, like with the S25 Edge. A Bloomberg report states that the Air could be as thin as 5.5mm. Pu notes that the Air will likely have a 6.6-inch display, with a resolution of 1,260×2,740 pixels.

There is a mix of rumors about the Air’s chip, with trusted sources such as Bloomberg reporting that it will have the standard A19 chip. More recently, MacRumors reported on a leaker’s assertion that the phone will contain the A19 Pro chip, but there’s no substantial evidence pointing toward either claim.

According to MacRumors, the Air has a 2,800-mAh battery — though it might be the first Apple phone to use a high-density silicon battery, which could increase actual battery capacity by between 15% to 20%. Note that the Adaptive Power feature shipping with iOS 26 might help with the battery life.

Judging by the numerous leaked photos and renders, it’s also extremely likely that the Air will have only one wide-angle rear camera, like the iPhone 16E. The front camera may also be moved to the left of the Dynamic Island cutout (that camera sensor bar at the top of the phone’s display) to maintain its form.

While the iPhone 17 is expected to stay at the baseline 8GB of memory, the Air could have 12GB of RAM, which is the same memory that the Pro and Pro Max phones are rumored to include.

A CNET mock up of the iPhone 17 Pro.

Viva Tung/CNET

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max

Whereas the Air is expected to make sacrifices to achieve its design, the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are the most premium models in the lineup. Recent photos substantiate rumors that the Pro’s chassis will change from titanium to aluminum, making it lighter than previous models.

The biggest rumored upgrades coming are the cameras. MacRumors reported that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an 8x optical zoom telephoto lens, up from the 5x one on the 16 Pro. Pu wrote that the Pro phones will feature a 48-megapixel telephoto camera, which is a substantial improvement over the 16 Pro’s 12-megapixel sensor. He similarly reports that the selfie camera will be upgraded to 24 megapixels, up from the 12-megapixel front-facing camera on the 16 Pro.

As reported on by MacRumors, one leaker claimed the iPhone 17 Pro Max will have the biggest battery in any iPhone to date — and the Pro will likely have a similarly sized battery. Bu claimed that both phones will have a vapor chamber cooling system, which could help keep these batteries from overheating on the sunniest summer days.

The Pro phones will come with the A19 Pro chip, but while the iPhone 17 Air could likely have a five-core GPU, the Pro and Pro Max will have a six-core GPU, ensuring better performance across the board.

For folks who care about showing off their new phone, you’ll be happy to know that one supposed leaker on Weibo claimed that one of the color choices for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max is related to the slick iOS 26 Liquid Glass design, while we’ve seen leaked mockups of the Pro in black, silver, dark blue and orange.

It’s time for an upgrade to the Apple Watch and its premium edition. The budget smart watch might also get a new iteration this year.

Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET

Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3 and SE

The Apple Watch Series 11 could get key improvements to its core features, battery life and performance.

We might not see a drastic change in design from the Apple Watch Series 10, but MacRumors reports that the Series 11 could get a more energy-efficient screen with higher resolution and better brightness settings (which could improve battery life). Keeping with the trend of upgrading the processor in each new Apple Watch, we should see an S11 chip present in the Series 11.

Gurman reported in March that Apple has been testing blood pressure tracking for future Apple Watch models, but it’s unclear how far along in development that feature is and whether it’s ready for release with the Series 11.

What is extremely likely to debut at this event, on the other hand, is the Apple Watch Ultra 3, since MacRumors found imagery for the smartwatch buried within the iOS 26 beta. The photos show an Ultra watch with a slightly larger display, clocking in at a 422×514-pixel resolution. The Ultra 3 would likely share an S11 chip with the Series 11. While the Ultra 2 already boasts the longest battery life of any Apple Watch, an S11 chip could see even greater returns on a single charge for the Ultra 3 — it could last three or four days in low-power mode.

The most unique feature that could come to the premium new Apple Watch is satellite connectivity. According to Gurman, Apple has been exploring adding this feature to the next Ultra model — if implemented, it would enable emergency messaging and location sharing in areas without cell service. Google’s new Pixel Watch 4 is the first smartwatch to support satellite connectivity.

There are some hints that we might see a new SE model. For starters, there hasn’t been an SE since 2022, which means Apple could be primed for a release this year. A report from Gurman also stated that a next-gen SE could be in the works. According to Gurman, the next SE design could largely focus on an improved exterior, but it’s also likely that the budget watch could get an upgrade to Apple’s S9 chip.

The WatchOS 26 AI-powered Workout Buddy feature will also be standard for any new Apple Watch introduced at this event, though it will need to be paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone.

It’s been a couple of years since a new AirPods Pro model has been released — but we might just see a new iteration come September.

John Kim/CNET

AirPods Pro 3

It’s been a hot minute since Apple updated the AirPods Pro, according to CNET’s resident headphone reviewer David Carnoy. The second iteration of the premium wireless earbuds was released in 2022, and the company has been radio silent about the AirPods Pro 3 despite releasing new AirPods models every year since 2019.

That’s likely to change very soon, as MacRumors contributor Steve Moser found references to the AirPods Pro 3 in the underlying code for iOS 26’s first beta.

Bloomberg’s Gurman predicts that the product announcement will happen during the iPhone 17 event. He also reported that the new design will likely feature heart-rate monitoring as a key feature, similarly to the Powerbeats Pro 2. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo further reported that the company is looking to add infrared cameras to future AirPods, but this hardware might not be ready until the AirPods Pro 4.

It’s also rumored that the AirPods Pro 3 could have an interactive touchscreen display in the charging case, doubling as a remote control. It’s also possible that the new wireless earbuds will have an H3 chip, an improvement over the AirPods Pro 2’s H2 chip that could improve battery life, enhance sound quality, provide better active noise cancellation and perform better during voice calls.

If you’re tired of light and dark mode, the new “all clear” Liquid Glass mode in iOS 26 might be just what you’re looking for.

Apple/Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Announcement, beta and iOS 26 launch

A new generation of Apple hardware calls for new software as well, and iOS 26 is changing far more than the operating system’s naming convention. The iOS 18 successor — which was announced at WWDC — is on its fifth public beta, which fixes a number of bugs from the previous update and brings the software more in line with the most recent developer beta version.

We know what many of the main features of iOS 26 will look like before its full release. The design is largely minimalist, with a heavy emphasis on Liquid Glass, which presents a colorless “all clear” alternative to the light and dark mode interfaces. This unobtrusive design will make dynamic changes to the lock screen, where the time and date will change to fit your photo, and Safari, where unused tabs will gravitate toward the top of the screen.

The Camera, Photos and FaceTime apps are also going back to basics with simplified designs, while the Messages app is getting more colorful. The biggest features for iOS 26 are call screening for unknown numbers, live translation for calls and texts, a dedicated Games app and lyrics translations on the Music app.

For an in-depth breakdown of all of the iOS upgrades Apple has revealed (as well as the updates the company didn’t mention), check out the roundup from CNET’s Jeff Carlson here.

We’ll continue to update this piece as more details for the Sept. 9 “awe dropping” iPhone 17 event are confirmed. Check back for more information about release dates and upcoming Apple hardware as it becomes available.

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