Apple September Event: Could the Invite Hint at More Apple Intelligence? [CNET]

Apple’s fall event is coming Sept. 9, and this invite could set up a big focus on Apple Intelligence alongside the next iPhone line.

Apple’s next product launch is coming up on Sept. 9, the company revealed on Monday when it sent out invites to its Apple Park keynote. We’re expecting the iPhone 16 lineup to take the spotlight, but Apple’s event invite might also reveal some potential clues.

While this is just speculation, Apple does tend to provide a fun thematic tie-in to their iPhone events with their invites. For instance, last year’s “Wonderlust” invite included imagery that eventually referenced the titanium colors of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. This year’s “It’s Glowtime” tagline is surrounded by pink, purple and blue shady patterns that look very similar to the color tones used to introduce Apple Intelligence at WWDC. The glow could even refer to the new glowing border that appears when you summon the Siri assistant in iOS 18.

If that design choice for the invite was intentional, it could mean Apple Intelligence, which Apple announced earlier this year but has yet to release, may be featured in the spotlight alongside the iPhone 16. Apple Intelligence features include generative AI features like GenMoji and Image Playground for creating emoji and photos respectively, as well as a new version of Siri. 

If there’s a big focus on Apple Intelligence during the event, we can likely expect Apple’s suite of AI features to be available across the iPhone 16 lineup. But it would be interesting to see more AI on other devices too. For instance, Apple’s base AirPods haven’t been updated since 2021, and Apple has been selling its current AirPods Max headphones since 2020. Google, meanwhile, just announced the Pixel Buds Pro 2 which supports its Gemini assistant.

And just like how Google spent much of its recent Pixel event talking about how Gemini works on its devices, we can probably expect Apple to share more about Apple Intelligence during the event. So far, we know Apple Intelligence will run on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Apple’s iPad and Mac devices will also support Apple Intelligence as long as they include at least an M1 processor. These include most recent iPad Air and iPad Pro tablets along with MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Studio and Mac Pro computers.  

I also hope that the “Glowtime” signifier might provide some hints about the iPhone 16 line itself. Perhaps we’ll see a bolder choice of colors for the base iPhone 16, since many of last year’s iPhone 15 models had a more subtle color tone. And while Apple emphasized the titanium builds on last year’s iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, those phones are only available in a relatively muted range of colors. Meanwhile Google’s Pixel 9 series include more vibrant options like pink and green shades across both its base and Pro phones. I remember how much attention the purple model of the iPhone 12 got a few years ago as a spring arrival, as did the yellow iPhone 14 when it also arrived several months after the iPhone 14’s original release. It’d be nice to see Apple bring in some more fluorescent options, and this year Apple did not release a spring iPhone 15 model in a new color. 

While this is all speculation off of Apple’s invite, we’ll know more soon once Apple holds its fall event on Sept. 9. In the meantime, there’s plenty of material inside this invite to keep us guessing what’s to come.