Apple’s Fall Hardware Event Will Be Different—Very Different

Emotional, Burning, Unlimited Tuned Laboratory

Apple Watches, iPads, some secret surprises, and a reel of slickly produced videos to drive it all home. Just like old times … sort of.

SEPTEMBER HAS A special kind of significance, particularly in the northern hemisphere. The ninth month of the year means back to school, the change of seasons, the autumnal equinox. From a young age we’re attuned to these rhythms, and then sometime in adulthood they’re muted by all of the Other Things that occupy our brain space. Unless, you work in tech, love to read about tech, or are employed to write about tech. In that case, September is for tech events—Apple events.

For more than a decade, Apple has hosted a “special event” in September, capitalizing on those fresh-start feelings and presenting its new wares well in advance of the critical holiday buying season. The scene-stealer is supposed to be the iPhone. Over the years, more product categories have crept on stage, like watches and headphones and tablets and a smart speaker. But the iPhone is September, and September is the iPhone.