What to Expect from Apple's iPhone Event Tomorrow

Almost one year ago, Apple introduced the iPhone 5. With almost 60 percent of U.S. adults owning a smartphone, it’s not surprising that for the past few months, the question on almost everyone’s minds has been, “What’s next?” If you’ve been following reports, you have a pretty good idea of what you will see at the Sept. 10 Apple event. If not, we’re here for you.

Apple’s event tomorrow will finally bring some confirmation to rumors. It will also hopefully answer some industry questions; mainly, can Apple innovate without Steve Jobs? Older iPhones continue to sell well – I’ve had many conversations with people who are more than willing to stay one or two versions behind to save some money and work with the older power and functionality of the iPhone. Will Apple introduce something people are willing to upgrade for?

“The key challenge for Apple this week is to demonstrate that it can maintain momentum in overall sales of iPhones, and to do so in a way which won't drive down margins significantly,” said Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum. “iPhone sales have now fallen into a fairly predictable cyclical trend, spiking in the fourth quarter of the year, following a September launch, and falling over the rest of the year until a new device in launched. But as the overall numbers have grown, the year-on-year growth rate has slowed significantly, from 80-100 percent to 24 percent, even accounting for the cyclical trends. This is partly due to the law of large numbers, as the same increase in shipments reflects a smaller percentage of historical shipments, but it's also largely driven by Apple's increasing saturation of its addressable market.”

Here’s what you can expect to see at tomorrow’s event.

iPhone 5S

S does not stand for “same” as highlighted in this hilarious parody video by user account Matthias.

The newest iPhone 5S is expected to be the same size as the iPhone 5, just as in the past with upgrades from the 3G to 3GS and 4 to 4S, but one thing that will be different is fingerprint sensor technology, which would be embedded on the home button and covered with scratch-resistant sapphire glass. With the rise of hackers, outages and cyber attacks, security is a top concern when it comes to our technology, especially tech like our smartphones that are used daily and hold much personal information. Moving from password locks to fingerprint scanners is a next step in authorization for our iPhones.

The phone is rumored to come in multiple metallic finishes, including gold. The 5S is also expected to feature an improved camera – a bigger sensor and dual-LED flash.

iPhone 5C

C does not stand for “cheap” (even though this is dubbed to be the low-cost iPhone), rather, it is reported to stand for “China” or “color.” The invite to tomorrow’s event features the tagline, “This should brighten everyone’s day.” Leaked images and videos show the iPhone 5C coming in blue, green, yellow, pink and white. The invite also hints at the new style and theme of iOS 7 software. 

iOS 7

iOS 7 is a lot different from previous iPhone operating systems. For starters, the keyword to describe the new design, style and typography is “flat.” Tim Cook unveiled iOS 7 at WWDC earlier in June, calling it “the biggest change to iOS since the original iPhone.” The new iPhones are likely to come with iOS 7, and tomorrow’s event is likely to announce the update availability for iOS 7.

Apple TV

There are new features in iOS 7 for an updated version of Apple TV, including interface differences. MacRumors data says on average, Apple releases a new Apple TV model every 377 days – the last one was released nearly 550 days ago, so an update is overdue. Apple TV has been adding partners over the past few months, including HBO Go, WatchESPN, Sky News, Hulu Plus and Qello, so only time will tell what exactly will become of Apple TV.

iWatch?

Last week, Samsung officially introduced its Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Will we see Apple’s Gear competitor tomorrow? Unlike the abundance of leaked images of the two new iPhones, there isn’t as much about the iWatch. Apple was reported to be “aggressively” hiring for the iWatch, but it might not be launched until late 2014.

“Historically Apple doesn’t announce their entry in to a new market unless they believe they can make a significant improvement, so I’m not expecting to see anything on Apple’s wrist,” wrote Forbes’ Ewan Spence.

What are you looking forward to most at tomorrow’s event?