Apple (AAPL) has gotten into the habit of holding two major media events in the fall: one to introduce the latest generation of iPhone and the other to showcase its next-gen iPad lineup.
This year, signs are pointing to a combined Apple Sept. 9 mega event that will see the company unveil a flood of new products on the same stage.
What new hardware are we expecting Apple to reveal?
A new iPhone lineup is a given, marking the one-year anniversary of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus reveal that led to record sales.
The rest of September’s event is purely speculation (even the actual date has yet to be confirmed by Apple), but based on leaks from Apple’s supply chain and market pressures, we can make a pretty good guess.
What to Expect From the Sept. 9 Apple Event: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
This year is an “s” year for the iPhone, which means we’re unlikely to get a full numeral upgrade to the iPhone 7. Instead, the stars of the Apple Sept. 9 event are likely to be the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
While the new flagship smartphones are expected to be nearly identical (visually) to last year’s models, that doesn’t mean the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus won’t feature significant software and under-the-hood upgrades. Bits and pieces of AAPL’s next generation phones are showing up on rumor sites and adding to a picture that should include:
- Force Touch support
- New A9 processor with double the RAM to 2GB
- Significantly improved primary camera with 12MP sensor capable of DSLR-quality images
- Stronger case (possibly using the lighter and stronger 7000 series aluminum seen in the Apple Watch Sport) to prevent the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus from suffering the embarrassing “bendgate” issue that dogged the previous-generation iPhone lineup
What to Expect From the Sept. 9 Apple Event: New iPad Air and iPad Mini
In previous years, Apple has held separate events specifically for its next-generation iPad.
However, Apple’s tablet business is struggling. In Q2 2015, iPad market share slipped another 17.9% over the previous year, and Apple now owns less than a quarter of the worldwide tablet market.
The logic goes that with iPads being less important to AAPL’s bottom line, they won’t rate a standalone event this year.
As to what to expect, Force Touch is likely to be incorporated into all of this year’s iPads.
In addition, the iPad Mini is due for a major refresh (after gaining nothing but a Touch ID sensor last year). While the iPad Air 3 seems destined to be an incremental upgrade, the iPad Mini 4 is rumored to be significantly thinner with the iPad Air 2’s laminated display, anti-reflective coating and a more powerful CPU.
What to Expect From the Sept. 9 Apple Event: iPad Pro?
The wild card in the iPad portion of Apple’s Sept. 9 event is the iPad Pro, a rumored professional series tablet with a 12.9-inch display.
Speculation has been running rampant on this device for the past year, but the time now seems right for it to make an appearance.
With iPad market share falling, Microsoft’s (MSFT) success with the big and business-friendly Surface Pro 3, iOS 9 finally supporting split-window multitasking and Apple partnering with IBM (IBM) for enterprise sales, an iPad Pro would tick off a lot of boxes for Apple.
What to Expect From the Sept. 9 Apple Event: New Apple TV
And now we address the elephant in the room: a long overdue new Apple TV.
Apple used to have a dominant position in the living room and a billion-dollar business with its Apple TV streamer.
However, the company hasn’t updated the Apple TV hardware since a minor revision in 2013, and in the meantime, competitors like the Google (GOOG, GOOGL) Chromecast and Amazon (AMZN) Fire TV have been selling like hotcakes, threatening Apple’s living room foothold.
Cutting the price of the current Apple TV to $69 helped to keep sales of Apple’s streamer from tanking, but new hardware is a must-have.
The fourth-generation Apple TV is expected to get a powerful A8 processor and its own App Store, bringing iOS gaming to the big screen. The new box is also likely to feature increased onboard storage, Siri voice control and possibly a new touch-based remote.
It’s also going to cost a lot more than that current $69 price tag, and could go above the old $99 price point.
We’ve been expecting to see it all year, and for Apple, Sept. 9 would be the perfect opportunity to ramp up demand for the new Apple TV just in time for the all-important holiday shopping season.
As for the TV content streaming package Apple has been working on with the networks, September may still be too early to announce anything, although ideally it would make sense to announce it beside the new Apple TV.
We’ll be covering the fall Apple event — whenever it happens — so stay tuned to InvestorPlace to see how we made out with our predictions.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
