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Tim Cook
Source: Apple

Apple is holding its annual iPhone event on Tuesday, the company’s seventh virtual launch in a row due to the ongoing pandemic. The company is expected to introduce new iPhones and updates to its AirPods and Apple Watch, according to analysts.

Apple’s hype-filled fall launches are a signature quirk of the company. They garner worldwide media attention, millions of viewers on YouTube and Apple’s website, and set the stage for a holiday season marketing blitz when Apple’s sales are the highest.

All of Apple’s product segments have been on a tear this year as people continue to work from home. Last quarter, iPhone revenue was up 50% year-over-year, Mac revenue was up 16% year-over-year and iPad revenue was up 12% year-over-year. Its “other products,” business which includes devices like watches and AirPods, was up 40% year-over-year. Apple can keep the momentum going with a fresh slate of new products ahead of the holidays.

Last year, due to Covid, Apple revealed its new watches in September and then followed that event with an October iPhone 12 event. The iPhone 12 introduced an all-new design and 5G.

New iPads and MacBooks Pro laptops are due for an update this fall, too. It’s unclear whether Apple will pack all of its fall launches into one release event or if it will spread them out over multiple streaming events as it did last fall.

Here’s what Apple could launch on Tuesday.

iPhone

iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple’s most important product is the iPhone, accounting for half of Apple’s 2020 sales. The company has announced new models every September since 2012, until last year when iPhones were revealed in October.

In 2020, Apple released four iPhone models: a smaller $599 iPhone 12 mini, the $829 iPhone 12, the higher-end $999 iPhone 12 Pro and the $1,2099 iPhone 12 Pro Max. All of the iPhone 12s came with 5G connectivity and a new, more squared-off design.

Expect this year’s lineup to be similar to last year’s with the same screen sizes and prices. Research from TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a leading Apple analyst, suggests the big change this year could be a smaller notch cutout at the top of the iPhone’s screen, which holds the device’s facial recognition cameras. The size of the notch has remained the same since it was introduced in 2017.

The new iPhones could also have bigger batteries and a slightly heavier weight thanks to a new internal-space-saving design, according to Kuo. In previous years, new iPhones have come with camera and processor upgrades, and that’s almost certain to happen this year, according to Kuo.

We don’t know yet what Apple will call the new iPhones. Apple has named some previous devices “S” devices, which signify that they mainly have internal changes, which would fit in with this year’s expectations. That means it could be called the iPhone 12s, or it could be named the iPhone 13 if Apple decides the changes are enough to warrant it. We don’t know yet.

Apple Watch

Apple Watch Series 6 in blue
Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple has released new Apple Watch models every September since 2016. It’s a key product in Apple’s wearables business, which accounted for 11% of Apple’s 2020 sales.

Last year, Apple introduced the high-end Series 6 and the mid-range Apple Watch SE. This year’s high-end Apple Watch is likely called the Apple Watch Series 7. Kuo predicted last year that the 2021 models would be a “significant form factor design change.”

The design will also include a slight increase in screen size, according to Bloomberg News, which would be equivalent to 16% more pixels on the watch’s display. Bloomberg said Apple will introduce new watch faces to take advantage of the larger screens, including one that would allow a user to see all 24 time zones simultaneously.

Some Apple Watch models may be in short supply due to production issues. Nikkei Asia said this month Apple delayed manufacturing because of assembly challenges. The report also suggested Apple could add blood-pressure sensing this year, but The Wall Street Journal said and Bloomberg have said the feature won’t come this year. Apple declined to comment on Watch production.

In past years, when Apple has had issues producing millions of devices ahead of a launch, it delayed the release date by weeks or months after the launch presentation. In 2017, for example, it announced the iPhone X in September but didn’t ship it until November.

AirPods

A man shows AirPods Pro at an Apple store on East Nanjing Road on October 30, 2019 in Shanghai, China. Apple’s new AirPods Pro with active noise cancellation are on sale on October 30 in China.
Wang Gang | VCG | Getty Images

AirPods are a key component of Apple’s wearables business, which accounted for over $30 billion in annual revenue in 2020, a 25% increase over the year before.

Although the product is growing in importance to Apple, the company hasn’t launched new AirPods since October 2019 when it introduced the higher-end AirPods Pro with a new design and noise canceling. The most recent regular $159 AirPods, without noise canceling, were announced in March 2019.

In a note to investors over the weekend, Kuo said Apple will launch new AirPods 3. He said Apple may continue to sell the current AirPods at a lower price. The re-design will likely make the AirPods look more like AirPods Pro, with a wider case and shorter stems, according to Bloomberg.

iPad

The 5th generation iPad mini
Todd Haselton | CNBC

If Apple announces new iPads, it will emphasize how important the product has become for the company as the Covid-19 pandemic forced people to work and learn from home and driving a boost in computer sales.

In the three quarters reported so far in Apple’s fiscal 2021, the company has reported $23.6 billion of iPads revenue, over a 39% increase from the same period last year.

Apple last updated the iPad Air, a mid-range option, with an edge-to-edge screen in September 2020. Apple’s also updated the chip in its least expensive iPad, a $329 tablet which it simply calls iPad, at the same event. Those are due for a refresh this fall, though it’s unclear if that will happen on Tuesday or at a second event. But the iPad Mini, last refreshed in March 2019, is most overdue for a refresh.

The iPad Mini could be getting a redesign by the end of the year to make it look more like its siblings, according to Bloomberg. The report said it won’t have a home button and will have a more square design like Apple’s iPad Air and Pro. That means it could have a fingerprint reader in the power button like the iPad Air, or Face ID like the iPad Pro.

Everything else

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, speaks during an Apple Event on April 20th, 2021.
Source: Apple Inc.

This is a product event, so don’t expect any commentary from Tim Cook on recent controversies including its plan to scan iCloud uploads for illegal material, the recent mixed decision in the App Store lawsuit against Epic Games, or thoughts on the company’s decision to delay a return to in-office work until next year.

However, Apple sometimes uses its iPhone launches to highlight non-product projects the company is working on, such as its efforts to become carbon neutral across its supply chain in the next 10 years.

If Apple talks about its climate efforts, expect VP Lisa Jackson to address the audience. Past events also have included musical guests or celebrity appearances.

Apple sometimes releases new services at fall launches, such as Apple One, its bundle of subscription services, which launched last year. But the big update to iOS is announced in June, at the company’s developer conference, and is typically released to everyone in the fall.

There’s another wildcard. Apple’s biggest, fastest MacBook Pro laptop, the 16-inch model, hasn’t been updated since November 2019, and still sports Intel processors even as the company moves to its own chips in laptops and desktops.

However, in the past decade, Apple hasn’t launched new Mac computers at the same event as new iPhones. There may be a separate event in October or November if new Macs are in the fall pipeline.

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CNBC Daily Open: Strong bank earnings seem to overshadow escalating trade war

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CNBC Daily Open: Strong bank earnings seem to overshadow escalating trade war

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks as he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer hold a press conference on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 15, 2025.

Ken Cedeno | Reuters

China has been using its dominance in the rare earth industry to slash prices, driving foreign competitors out, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Wednesday stateside in an exclusive interview. He characterized the country as having “a nonmarket economy.”

In response, the Trump administration will “exercise industrial policy” to set price floors in a range of industries. Price floors are a limit of how low suppliers can charge for goods or services. They are typically set above the market rate and are essentially a form of government price control.

Meanwhile, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley reported blockbuster second-quarter earnings that shot way past analyst expectations. They joined other major U.S. banks, such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, in ihaving a blowout quarter that was turbocharged by robust dealmaking and stock market highs.

And despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s continued saber-rattling at China on the trade front, traders don’t seem ready to let go of equities. On Wednesday stateside, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose, and the Russell 2000 hit a fresh record. After all, earnings reports are indicating that the economy isn’t yet faltering, despite firms already experiencing higher costs because of tariffs, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Beige Book.

Whether traders continue pushing equities to new highs amid fractious trade relations with China will depend, in part, on the earnings of major technology companies such as Tesla and Intel due next week.

What you need to know today

And finally…

UAE National Security Advisor, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on March 18, 2025.

Courtesy: Donald J. Trump | Via Truth Social

The Abu Dhabi investor that’s funding AI while trying to save TikTok — with help from Trump

Backed by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund and launched in March 2024, MGX has emerged as a key source of capital as companies race to build out the enormous computing power needed to meet expected AI demand.

Certain transactions suggest a level of coziness with Trump.

Earlier this year, MGX reportedly provided $2 billion in funding to the crypto exchange Binance, using a cryptocurrency purchased from the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial. Its chairman Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan also visited Trump in the White House this spring to announce a $1.4 trillion investment in the U.S. over the next decade.

Steve Kovach

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose on Wednesday stateside. An earlier version did not specify which indexes rose.

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Arm CEO says moving some AI workloads from the cloud will make it more sustainable

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Arm CEO says moving some AI workloads from the cloud will make it more sustainable

Arm CEO Rene Haas on new partnership with Meta: AI in Meta hardware is Arm-based

Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday that moving some AI functions away from the could help reduce energy usage.

Over time, he suggested, a large number of multi-gigawatt data centers won’t be sustainable.

“You look to yourself, well, what are the kind of things that need to happen? I think there’s two vectors to it,” Haas said. “One is low power, the lowest power solution you can get in the cloud. Arm really contributes there. But I think even more specifically is moving those AI workloads away from the cloud to local applications.”

While he said AI training will likely always happen in the cloud, running AI, called inference, can happen locally — meaning on the chips inside people’s phones, computers and glasses. History has shown “we always go to hybrid models around computing,” according to Haas.

He suggested that hybrid dynamic will play out when it comes to AI, which will help alleviate huge power investments.

Chip designer Arm’s technology powers devices made by a number of major Big Tech players, including Microsoft and Amazon. Semiconductor giant Nvidia has a major stake in Arm and actually attempted to acquire the company in 2020.

Arm and Meta on Wednesday said they would expand their partnership to “scale AI efficiency across every layer of compute – spanning AI software and data center infrastructure,” according to a press release. Arm stock saw gains following the announcement, finishing the day up 1.49%.

Haas told Cramer that the partnership with Meta is “largely around data centers, but more broadly…around software and the software stacks associated with it.” He also discussed Arm’s involvement in Meta’s new Ray-Ban Wayfarer glasses, saying the AI for the technology is running both in the cloud and locally.

“For example, when you say, ‘hey, Meta,’ into those glasses, that’s not happening on the cloud, that’s actually happening in your glasses, and that’s running on Arm,” Haas said.

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Salesforce stock jumps after company offers rosy forecast for 2030

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Salesforce stock jumps after company offers rosy forecast for 2030

Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce Inc., speaks during the 2025 Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025.

Michael Short | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Salesforce shares rose as much as 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the software vendor issued new financial targets for the next few years.

The company said it now expects revenue of over $60 billion in 2030, above the $58.37 billion consensus among analysts polled by LSEG.

The guidance excludes impact from the pending acquisition of data management company Informatica. The $8 billion deal, announced in May, is slated to close in the fiscal fourth quarter or in the first quarter of the 2027 fiscal year.

“We have had some lower-stage growth for a while,” Robin Washington, Salesforce’s chief operating and financial officer, said during an investor briefing at the company’s annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. “That is reaccelerating.”

She company called for an organic year-over-year revenue growth rate above 10% in the 2026 through 2030 fiscal years. The growth rate has been under 10% since mid-2024.

Investors have been concerned, in part because of the rise of “vibe-coding” tools for automatically generating software with a few words of human input. Industry observers have predicted that artificial intelligence services might threaten longstanding software providers. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in April that AI is creating up to 30% of new code at the company.

“There’s a certain amount of, let’s just say, nonsense that’s out there,” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said on Wednesday. “Like, for example, that these products are writing all the software, and that is not what’s happening.”

As of Wednesday’s close, Salesforce’s stock had fallen 29% for the year, while the Nasdaq has gained 17%.

To increase revenue, Salesforce is counting on its Agentforce software for automating customer service and other business processes, said Washington, who also sits on Salesforce’s board. The company introduced Agentforce last year as a way for brands to add chat-based customer service agents that connect large language models to internal data.

“Investors continue to ask why Agentforce adoption has been slower than anticipated,” analysts at RBC Capital Markets wrote in a note to clients earlier this month.

Salesforce executives are hoping product enhancements will attract more business.

The company on Monday released Agentforce Voice, which allows clients to have agents answer customer service calls. On Tuesday, Salesforce announced larger partnerships with AI model developers Anthropic and OpenAI, bringing their latest models to Agentforce.

At Dreamforce, Salesforce pointed to Agentforce adoption at FedEx, Pandora, PepsiCo, Williams Sonoma and other companies.

WATCH: People don’t understand Agentforce is part and parcel of Salesforce, says CEO Marc Benioff

People don't understand Agentforce is part and parcel of Salesforce, says CEO Marc Benioff

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