Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max – when will the next model arrive?
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Apple’s next keynote for the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro, for example, may come sooner than I predicted, a respected industry official has said. Here are the details and why I disagree.
Predictions for the presentation date of the iPhone 18 Pro
This is a crucial date as the release usually follows like clockwork.
Apple’s next big products will be the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the company’s first foldable smartphone, possibly called the iPhone Ultra. Apple Intelligence will be one of the most anticipated updates on board. A report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests that the special event where they will be unveiled could take place on Tuesday, September 8th, rather than Wednesday, September 9th as I previously said.
In response to the question: “When will Apple announce the next iPhone?” In his recent Power On newsletter, Gurman made several points.
“Apple’s September iPhone events tend to follow a familiar pattern: They’re typically held on the first Tuesday or Wednesday after Labor Day, giving Apple plenty of time to get the new phones on sale by mid-September, book a couple of weeks of fourth-quarter earnings, and stock up on the channel ahead of the holiday season,” he said.
Analysis of Apple’s historical September tenure
The exact calendar date varies in most years.
Labor Day, as you know, falls on the first Monday in September and therefore must be between September 1st and 7th. So, you would think that some years the keynote would be on September 2nd or 3rd, for example. In fact, in the last 10 years, the keynote has never been held before September 7th, so Apple often holds the event the week after Labor Day rather than the day after.
This year, Labor Day is the latest possible date – Monday, September 7th.
“This pace is carefully planned by Apple’s marketing, finance and operations teams, and there is no reason to believe that this year will be any different,” Gurman continued. I agree that there will be a normal schedule this year.
“With that in mind, the most likely debut date for the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and foldable iPhone is September 8, with September 9 being the second. It’s hard to imagine it arriving anywhere else,” he concluded.
Why Tuesday, September 8th is not suitable for iPhone 18 Pro
Keynotes do not usually fall on the day after a public holiday.
I think Gurman has a good week – it’s still possible that Apple could hold out until Monday September 14th, for example, if something goes wrong in production, but I think it’s extremely unlikely.
But I think Tuesday, September 8th, is not suitable. Since Monday is a public holiday and Apple brings press from all over the US (and the world) to speak, the company doesn’t like to intrude on the holiday for these guests or, much less, its employees.
Thus, I would say that September 8 is not the beginning of events. The second date Gurman mentions is Wednesday, September 9th, which I believe is secretly marked on the Cupertino calendars.
Apple iPhone 18 Pro release schedule
Other key elements leading up to the release of the iPhone.
However, once the keynote is announced, everything else will fall into place with strict fluidity. Whether the keynote takes place on Wednesday, September 9, as I predict, or the day before, as Gurman prefers, pre-orders will open next Friday, which falls on September 11 this year.
The exact time, if it mimics last year’s routine, would be 5 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, which equates to 8 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time and 1 p.m. London Time (or British Summer Time as it is properly known). It’s the same moment no matter where you are, so everyone has the same chance of getting the chosen model at the same time.
However, a few years later, Apple introduced a nifty addition that might prove useful if this time the hour gets inhospitable. It remains to be seen whether Apple will do this in 2026 or not, but it does mean that shoppers will be able to go online the night before, Thursday, September 10, to add their desired purchase to their cart in advance.
This means that they can choose the model, color and storage size of their choice. Then, when the pre-order alarm goes off the next day, they’ll save valuable seconds or minutes and only have to click a button to buy the item. Whether it will be available this time will likely be announced on the day of the show.
Likewise, the next point on the schedule, the general release of iOS 27, software that will run on new models as well as iPhones up to the iPhone 11, is likely to happen on Monday, September 14 (though that could move up a day or two).
The current releases of iOS 27 have been good for Apple watchers: so far, all three developer betas have happened on time, and the latest release on Monday, July 6, seems to indicate that the schedule is moving as it should.
According to this schedule, the first public beta should be available in the next few days. If it doesn’t arrive, perhaps Apple will do what it did last year and hold the public beta until the fourth developer beta instead. This will mean that the public beta will be released in a couple of weeks. Even so, the day of the keynote is unlikely to change.
Next comes the moment when readers will be able to see the first reviews of new products. The very first review samples, if past experience is anything to go by, will be released to select press on the day of the keynote—and certainly not before.
This will mean that the review date will most likely be Tuesday, September 15th or Wednesday, September 16th. If the keynote is Wednesday, September 9th, as I suspect, it’s entirely possible that reviews will appear on the second of those days, Wednesday, September 16th, to give the press a little more time to evaluate the new devices.
However, keep an eye on Tuesday too – if iPhone reviews don’t start airing then, then reviews of other released products, such as the next Apple Watch, will likely air. However, Apple may hold them until Thursday, September 17th.
As for the timing of these days, it can also change from year to year, but lately Apple has been following a strict pattern. If the same happens this year, reviews will appear from 6am PT, 9am ET and 1pm BST.
Note that the latest information suggests that the first foldable iPhone will be announced at the same presentation as the Pro and Pro Max, but may be delayed until a later release. Nine years ago, when the iPhone X offered equally sweeping changes over previous phones, the phone with an OLED screen and Face ID didn’t go on sale until November.
You could argue that the technical challenges of making your first foldable phone are significantly more complex, so it’s entirely possible that the iPhone Ultra will be delayed this time around.
Reviews of folding ones will also come later, in that case. It’s unclear how long the delay will be (if at all), but it will be announced at the keynote. And reviews will likely appear a few days before the announced sale date.
Predicted sale date of Apple iPhone 18 Pro
However, when iPhones will reach consumers seems clearer than ever.
You can read the full schedule of what I expect to happen this fall here.
The good news is that either way, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max release date will be the same: Friday in the week following the keynote. This year that means September 18th. As mentioned above, it’s still not easy to guess when the foldable iPhone will hit store shelves.
Of course, if Apple’s keynote takes place in a week, then the release date will also be the same. But as Gurman notes, this disrupts Apple’s planned pace and means sales will be delayed ahead of the important holiday season.