Apple CEO Tim Cook holds the new iPhone 14 at an Apple event at their headquarters in Cupertino, California, September 7, 2022.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Apple is holding its most important launch event of the year on Tuesday at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, where it’s expected to unveil new hardware, including the iPhone 15.
Apple will present a prerecorded video featuring company executives to launch the products, which will be streamed on YouTube and Apple’s website. Last year’s event lasted about an hour an a half. Apple has used prerecorded videos for its product showcases since 2020.
Apple’s launches are important for the company and build hype for the products and set the stage for a marketing blitz heading into the December quarter, its biggest sales period of the year. Thirty-one million people have watched Apple’s YouTube video from last year’s launch, revealing that customers still like to get information directly from the company.
Apple also announced its new VR headset, the Vision Pro, in June ahead of a planned launch in 2024. The company could provide an update on its efforts to attract developers, but more details about that product are likely not to be released until next year.
Apple’s Macs and iPads are unlikely to see new reveals on Tuesday, given the company usually prefers to give them their own events. Last year, Apple announced new iPads through a press release.
This year’s launch invitations have the tagline “Wonderlust,” although the taglines don’t necessarily preview what the company is announcing. CNBC will be covering the launch live from Apple’s headquarters and with a live blog on CNBC.com.
Last year, Apple announced new iPhones, Apple Watches and updated AirPods at its September event. Here’s what to expect from this year’s edition:
iPhone 15: USB-C and titanium
Apple’s invite to its Sept. 12 event.
Apple
Apple is expected to release four new iPhone models, continuing the pattern that’s been in place since 2020. If Apple keeps its naming pattern, this year’s models will share the iPhone 15 brand.
Apple is likely to release two sizes of middle-range iPhones, one with a 6.1-inch screen and one with a 6.7-inch screen, as well as two sizes of higher end “Pro” phones with titanium casing and better cameras, according to reports from Bloomberg News, TF International Securities hardware analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Wall Street analysts.
This year, the biggest change is expected to be a USB-C charging port, replacing Apple’s proprietary Lightning port, which was introduced in 2012 as the iPhone charger “for the next decade.”
A USB-C charging port on iPhones will match the same charging port on Android phones, newer laptops, iPads, wireless headphones and other gadgets.
The change is being spurred by new European regulations which require a common charging port. Apple is unlikely to mention that the change was required by a new law, but it will probably emphasize the positives for users, such as convenience and faster charging. It might also give the port a proprietary Apple marketing name.
Apple will “comply” with European Union regulation that requires electronic devices to be equipped with USB-C charging, said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing. That will mean Apple’s iPhones, which currently use its proprietary Lightning charging standard, will need to change to support USB-C.
Jakub Porzyck | Nurphoto | Getty Images
New Pro models could also get a titanium casing, replacing the stainless steel used in the past few models. Titanium is lighter than steel, reducing the phones’ total weight. Event invitations show an Apple logo in what looks like a titanium finish.
Lower-end phones — expected to be called simply iPhone 15 — could get an upgrade to what the company calls the “dynamic island,” or a cutout that holds the phone’s facial recognition cameras toward the top of the screen. Last year’s Pro models ditched Apple’s “notch” for the undulating window, which can show real-time updates, such as how far away an Uber is or what’s playing on the music app. The mute switch, which has been present on iPhones for over a decade, could gain new functions as a customizable “action button.”
Apple is also likely to focus on camera and chip improvements as reasons for the upgrade. The biggest and most expensive iPhone model, the bigger Pro, could get a new lens that can zoom with twice the strength as the 3x zoom lens on the iPhone 14 Pro, according to Bloomberg.
One open question is whether Apple will raise price points. Some analysts think so, noting rising costs for parts like memory or processors. However, Apple did not raise U.S. iPhone prices last year under similar conditions. It does tweak its prices around the world regularly after launches and in response to currency fluctuations.
Apple Watch and accessories
Apple Watch Ultra.
Sofia Pitt
Last year, Apple released the Apple Watch Series 8 and a new high-end titanium model called the Ultra in September.
Both are likely to get updates this year, although Apple’s Watches don’t typically get as many major changes from year to year as the iPhones. Apple’s mainstream watches have had the same size and shape since 2018.
The company is likely to upgrade the chip inside the new watches, as well as update its health sensors, according to analysts. But Apple may save bigger changes for the device’s 10th anniversary next year.
Apple also has several accessories that use Lightning connectors, such as some of its AirPod models, Beats headphones, mice and keyboards.
AirPods Pro will get a new feature that doesn’t need new hardware called Adaptive Audio. It uses machine learning and software to intelligently turn down the volume and noise canceling so users can be aware of their immediate surroundings.
Apple will likely update its accessories to work with USB-C, but the updated accessories may not be discussed on Tuesday, or could be released later.
iOS 17
StandBy Mode in iOS 17
Todd Haselton | CNBC
Even users who don’t plan to pick up a new iPhone or Watch will get new software for their devices. Apple previews its latest operating systems for its devices in June, then releases them in September alongside new iPhones.
Many of Apple’s best new features don’t require new hardware and will be available to everyone with an iPhone released since 2018.
The software includes a revamp of the caller ID screen called “contact posters” where users can choose the images that show up when they call other iPhone users.
Autocorrect has been improved using a transformer-based language model, the same technology underpinning applications like ChatGPT.
A new Journal app encourages users to save thoughts and feelings on a daily basis and uses on-device machine learning to spot patterns without sending the data to a server in the cloud.
A new standby dock mode turns your phone into a clock with widgets that can show alarms, appointments or other updating information.
A business card replacement called NameDrop allows two iPhone users to exchange personal information by tapping their phones together.
Offline Apple maps make it possible for users to save huge swaths of roads and land to navigate even without cellphone service.
French satellite group Eutelsat, often seen as Europe’s answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink, saw its share price plummet Wednesday following a report that Japanse investor SoftBank cut its stake in the company.
Shares in Eutelsat were last trading 7.8% lower as of 6:00 a.m. ET.
The moves come following a Reuters report that SoftBank has sold 36 million rights, corresponding to around 26 million shares and around half their stake in the satellite operator.
Eutelsat is the owner of the satellite internet provider OneWeb, which it merged with in 2023 in a bid to challenge Starlink’s dominance in the market.
But the French group has struggled to tap into the U.S. company’s market share. Eutelsat currently has more than 600 satellites in orbit compared to Starlink’s over 6,750, according to the companies’ websites.
After soaring more than 600% in early March this year, as Europe scrambled to bolster its tech sovereignty in the wake of the U.S. cutting military support to Ukraine, Eutelsat shares have since dropped more than 70%.
The company is seen as crucial to Europe’s tech sovereignty ambitions. In June the French state led a 1.35 billion euro ($1.57 billion) investment in Eutelsat, becoming its biggest shareholder with a roughly 30% stake.
Tech sovereignty
In November SoftBank said it had sold its entire stake in U.S. chipmaker Nvidia as it looked to free up funds for its investment in OpenAI and other projects.
SoftBank wouldn’t have made the move if it didn’t need to bankroll its next artificial intelligence investments, founder Masayoshi Son said on Monday at an event.
The Japanese giant’s Eutelsat move mirrors its “aggressive monetisation” across its portfolio, Luke Kehoe, analyst at Ookla, told CNBC.
“With governments and strategic European investors, not SoftBank, now funding the recapitalisation, Eutelsat is becoming less a growth story and more a pillar of Europe’s digital sovereignty infrastructure.”
While Starlink is holding on to its scale advantage and is dominant in retail broadband, Eutelsat is carving out a niche in government, aviation, backhaul and emergency connectivity, said Kehoe.
“The open question is whether that higher-value, B2B-centric positioning can deliver attractive returns once the current wave of capex and recapitalisations is behind it, and whether Europe is willing to keep writing cheques at the scale required to narrow the gap with Starlink.”
Eutelsat and SoftBank have been approached for comment.
Apple’s latest iPhone models are shown on display at its Regent Street, London store on the launch day of the iPhone 17.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
Apple will hit a record level of iPhone shipments this year driven by its latest models and a resurgence in its key market of China, research firm IDC has forecast.
The company will ship 247.4 million iPhones in 2025, up just over 6% year-on-year, IDC forecast in a report on Tuesday. That’s more than the 236 million it sold in 2021, when the iPhone 13 was released.
Apple’s predicted surge is “thanks to the phenomenal success of its latest iPhone 17 series,” Nabila Popal, senior research director at IDC, said in a statement, adding that in China, “massive demand for iPhone 17 has significantly accelerated Apple’s performance.”
Shipments are a term used by analysts to refer to the number of devices sent by a vendor to its sales channels like e-commerce partners or stores. They do not directly equate to sales but indicate the demand expected by a company for their products.
When it launched in September, investors saw the iPhone 17 series as a key set of devices for Apple, which was facing increased competition in China and questions about its artificial intelligence strategy, as Android rivals were powering on.
Apple’s shipments are expected to jump 17% year-on-year in China in the fourth quarter, IDC said, leading the research firm to forecast 3% growth in the market this year versus a previous projection of a 1% decline.
IDC’s report follows on from Counterpoint Research last week which forecast Apple to ship more smartphones than Samsung in 2025 for the first time in 14 years.
Bloomberg reported last month that Apple could delay the release of the base model of its next device, the iPhone 18, until 2027, which would break its regular cycle of releasing all of its phones in fall each year. IDC said this could mean Apple’s shipments may drop by 4.2% next year.
Anthropic, the AI startup behind the popular Claude chatbot, is in early talks to launch one of the largest initial public offerings as early as next year, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
For the potential IPO, Anthropic has engaged law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, which has previously worked on high-profile tech IPOs such as Google, LinkedIn and Lyft, the FT said, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
The start-up, led by chief executive Dario Amodei, was also pursuing a private funding round that could value it above $300 billion, including a $15 billion combined commitment from Microsoft and Nvidia, per the report.
It added that Anthropic has also discussed a potential IPO with major investment banks, but that sources characterized the discussions as preliminary and informal.
If true, the news could position Anthropic in a race to market with rival ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, which is also reportedly laying the groundwork for a public offering. The potential listings would also test investors’ appetite for loss-making AI startups amid growing fears of a so-called AI bubble.
However, an Anthropic spokesperson told the FT: “It’s fairly standard practice for companies operating at our scale and revenue level to effectively operate as if they are publicly traded companies,” adding that no decisions have been made on timing or whether to go public.
CNBC was unable to reach Anthropic and Wilson Sonsini, which has advised Anthropic for a few years, for comment.
According to one of the FT’s sources, Anthropic has been working through internal preparations for a potential listing, though details were not provided.
CNBC also reported last month that Anthropic was recently valued to the range of $350 billion after receiving investments of up to $5 billion from Microsoft and $10 billion from Nvidia.
According to the FT report, investors in the company are enthusiastic about Anthropic’s potential IPO, which could see it “seize the initiative” from OpenAI.
While OpenAI has been rumoured to be considering an IPO, its chief financial officer recently said the company is not pursuing a near-term listing, even as it closed a $6.6 billion share sale at a $500 billion valuation in October.
