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.
White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on March 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Samuel Corum | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Tesla shares fell in premarket trade on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to form a new political party.
The stock was down 7.13% by 4:27 a.m. E.T.
Musk said over the weekend that the party would be called the “America Party” and could focus “on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.” He suggested this would be “enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”
Now tech billionaire’s reinvolvement in the political arena is making investors nervous.
“Very simply Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story,” Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Sunday.
“While the core Musk supporters will back Musk at every turn no matter what, there is broader sense of exhaustion from many Tesla investors that Musk keeps heading down the political track.”
Musk’s previous political foray earned him Trump’s praise in the early days, but he has since drawn the ire of the U.S. president.
The two have clashed over various areas of policy, including Trump’s spending bill which Musk has said would increase America’s debt burden. Musk has taken issue to particular cuts to tax credits and support for solar and wind energy and electric vehicles.
Trump on Sunday called Musk’s move to form a political party “ridiculous,” adding that the Tesla boss had gone “completely off the rails.”
Musk is contending with more than just political turmoil. Tesla reported a 14% year-on-year decline in car deliveries in the second quarter, missing expectations. The company is facing rising competition, especially in its key market, China.
Jonathan Ross, chief executive officer of Groq Inc., during the GenAI Summit in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, May 30, 2024.
David Paul | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Artificial intelligence semiconductor startup Groq announced Monday it has established its first data center in Europe as it steps up its international expansion.
Groq, which is backed by investment arms of Samsung and Cisco, said the data center will be located in Helsinki, Finland and is in partnership with Equinix.
Groq is looking to take advantage of rising demand for AI services in Europe following other U.S. firms which have also ramped up investment in the region. The Nordics in particular is a popular location for the data facilities as the region has easy access to renewable energy and cooler climates. Last month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was in Europe and signed several infrastructure deals, including data centers.
Groq, which is valued at $2.8 billion, designs a chip that the company calls a language processing unit (LPU). It is designed for inferencing rather training. Inferencing is when a pre-trained AI model interprets live data to come up with a result, much like the answers that are produced by popular chatbots.
While Nvidia has a stranglehold on the chips required for training huge AI models with its graphics processing units (GPUs), there is a swathe of startups hoping to take a slice of the pie when it comes to inferencing. SambaNova; Ampere, a company SoftBank is in the process of purchasing; Cerebras and Fractile, are all looking to join the AI inference race.
European politicians have been pushing the notion of sovereign AI — where data centers must be located in the region. Data centers that are located closer to users also help improve the speed of services.
Global data center builder Equinix connects different cloud providers together, such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, making it easier for businesses to have multiple vendors. Groq’s LPUs will be installed inside the Equinix data center allowing businesses to access Groq’s inference capabilities via Equinix.
Groq currently has data centers in the U.S. and Canada and Saudi Arabia with its technology.
Don’t miss Groq CEO Jonathan Ross on Squawk Box Europe at 7:45 a.m. London time.
Hidden among the majestic canyons of the Utah desert, about 7 miles from the nearest town, is a small research facility meant to prepare humans for life on Mars.
The Mars Society, a nonprofit organization that runs the Mars Desert Research Station, or MDRS, invited CNBC to shadow one of its analog crews on a recent mission.
“MDRS is the best analog astronaut environment,” said Urban Koi, who served as health and safety officer for Crew 315. “The terrain is extremely similar to the Mars terrain and the protocols, research, science and engineering that occurs here is very similar to what we would do if we were to travel to Mars.”
SpaceX CEO and Mars advocate Elon Musk has said his company can get humans to Mars as early as 2029.
The 5-person Crew 315 spent two weeks living at the research station following the same procedures that they would on Mars.
David Laude, who served as the crew’s commander, described a typical day.
“So we all gather around by 7 a.m. around a common table in the upper deck and we have breakfast,” he said. “Around 8:00 we have our first meeting of the day where we plan out the day. And then in the morning, we usually have an EVA of two or three people and usually another one in the afternoon.”
An EVA refers to extravehicular activity. In NASA speak, EVAs refer to spacewalks, when astronauts leave the pressurized space station and must wear spacesuits to survive in space.
“I think the most challenging thing about these analog missions is just getting into a rhythm. … Although here the risk is lower, on Mars performing those daily tasks are what keeps us alive,” said Michael Andrews, the engineer for Crew 315.
