Apple doesn’t often participate in big industry-wide events like CES or E3. The most valuable company in the world holds its own events, thank you very much. Several times a year, Apple invites the press and industry professionals out to a theater (or a computer screen) to hear all about its latest products and services. Apple calls these “Special Events,” and streams them online to its millions of fans.
Even in years like 2020 and 2021, nothing stops Apple from creating and launching new products at a series of events. In 2021 there were four such events: a spring event on 20 April, WWDC on 7 June, the iPhone launch event on 14 September, and a Mac launch on 18 October. In 2020 we even had an additional event in November.
So far in 2022 Apple has held two events. First up was the Peak Performance spring Apple Event on 8 March at which it launched a new iPhone SE, iPad Air, the Mac Studio and Studio Display. Apple’s second event of 2022 was the WWDC keynote at which is introduced macOS Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, the M2 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Pro.
Read on to find out what events and new product launches Apple might have in store for the rest of 2022 and the first half of 2023.
Updated 08/24/22: Apple has officially announced its September 7 ‘Far out’ event.
When is Apple’s next event?
Apple has officially sent invitations to its September event, to be held on September 7 at 10am PT. The event carries the tagline ‘Far out’ and has a star field apple logo. What could it mean?
We expect Apple to announce the iPhone 14 lineup at the event, together with the Apple Watch series 8. There are other products expected this fall, like new iPads, possibly updates to Macs, and second-generation AirPods Pro. We expect most of these to be unveiled at a later event in October.
This could be the return to in-person Apple events, as many invitations invited participants to RSVP for a spot in the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Campus. It’s unclear how much of the event will be live in-person vs. pre-recorded, but this is a stark change from the events of the last couple years.
What happens at an Apple Keynote?
Apple used to hold live events at which the company would unveil its latest products and plans during a keynote address in front of a large crowd.
Following the pandemic, Apple doesn’t tend to invite people to events, but it makes no less of an impact by inviting everyone to join it in an online broadcast.
Apple usually holds four such events a year, but some years there will be no spring event and other years Apple will skip the October event. Based on previous years, you can expect Apple’s year to look something like this:
- March/April (often includes iPads, iPhone SE)
- June (WWDC – mostly software, sometimes high-end/pro hardware)
- September (iPhones and Apple Watches)
- October (iPads, consumer-focused Macs, and other products)
What time will the next Apple event start?
Apple’s events usually start at 10 am at Apple’s HQ in California, which is 1 pm ET and 6 pm UK time.
Here’s what that translates to in the countries where most of our readers live:
- US: at 10am (PST/PDT), 11 am (MST/MDT), noon (CST/CDT), 1 pm (EST/EDT)
- Canada: as above, and 2 pm (AST/ADT)
- UK: at 6pm (GMT/BST)
- Europe: at 7pm (CET/CEST)
- India: at 10.30pm (IST)
- Australia: next day at 1am (AWST/AWDT), 2.30am (ACST/ACDT), 3am (AEST/AEDT)
- New Zealand: next day at 5 am (NZST/NZDT)
Apple events usually last between one and two hours.
What will Apple launch at the September 7 event?
- The iPhone 14 seems like a safe bet. In 2022 the lineup is expected to consist of two medium-size iPhones and two large iPhones. There will not be a mini iPhone in 2022, apparently.
- Apple Watch 8 is also likely to launch. As is a new Apple Watch SE and an Apple Watch Pro.
- Apple launched new AirPods in October 2021, but there are new AirPods Pro coming in 2022, according to rumors. The iPhone event seems like a possible launch event.
October 2022 event
- Tuesday 12 October 2022 – predicted
Wondering what date to pencil in for 2022? The October events of the past have (or haven’t) taken place on the following dates, so we anticipate an event on Tuesday 12 or Wednesday 13 October.
- 2021: Monday, October 18
- 2020: Tuesday, October 12
- 2019: No event
- 2018: Tuesday, October 30
- 2017: No event
- 2016: Thursday, October 27
- 2015: No event
- 2014: Thursday, October 16
- 2013: Tuesday, October 22
- 2012: Tuesday, October 23
- 2011: Tuesday, October 4
What will Apple launch in October 2022?
It looks like Apple’s October event will be a Mac and iPad launch, as seems to be Apple’s tradition. You can expect to see:
- Following the launch of the M2 MacBook Pro and Air the M2 Mac mini is a safe bet, but we could also see a M2 Pro Mac mini.
- If a M2 Pro Mac mini makes an arrival you can expect to see the M2 Pro MacBook Pro models in 14-inch and 16-inch variants.
- A new iPad Pro is also thought to be coming soon with a M2 processor.
- But the biggest impact could be from the 10.2-inch iPad, which could be getting a bit of a redesign.
- We could also see a new Mac Pro – indeed it’s now two years since Apple announced the move away from Intel.
- There is no 27-inch iMac model (at least for now) but there are plenty of rumors that a new iMac Pro is coming. A 24in iMac update is, apparently, not happening until 2023…
Spring 2023 event
We don’t know when Apple will hold its first event in 2023, but here’s when the spring events have taken place for the last ten years:
- 2022: Tuesday, March 8 (virtual event)
- 2021: Tuesday, April 20 (virtual event)
- 2020: No spring event due to COVID-19 lockdown, but iPhone SE launched on April 24
- 2019: Monday, March 25
- 2018: Tuesday, March 27
- 2017: No spring event
- 2016: Monday, March 21
- 2015: Monday, March 9
- 2014: No spring event
- 2013: No spring event
What will Apple launch in spring 2023?
We’ll be better able to predict what will come in spring 2023 once we know what Apple fails to launch in the fall of 2022. We are hearing rumors about a new Apple TV and HomePod though. We usually get a new iPhone SE every other year, and since the latest iPhone SE model launched in 2022, we don’t expect another release until 2024.
WWDC 2023 event
It’s a safe bet that WWDC23 will happen at the beginning of June 2023. With the exception of 2020, the conference has been held in the first week of June, with few exceptions. Here are the dates at which WWDC has kicked off in previous years. The event is a week long and the keynote is always on Monday.
Here’s when the last ten WWDC events have happened:
- WWDC 2022: June 6-10
- WWDC 2021: June 7-11
- WWDC 2020: June 22-26
- WWDC 2019: June 3-7
- WWDC 2018: June 4-8
- WWDC 2017: June 5-9
- WWDC 2016: June 13-17
- WWDC 2015: June 8-12
- WWDC 2014: June 2-6
- WWDC 2013: June 10-14
- WWDC 2012: June 11-15
What will Apple launch at WWDC23?
Apple always reveals its new operating systems at WWDC, so that means: iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17.
New hardware sometimes makes an appearance at WWDC as well, and it’s usually the stuff that developers want, namely “Pro” model Macs. It was new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models that were announced at WWDC 2022.
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