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.
Paxton sued Google in 2022 for allegedly unlawfully tracking and collecting the private data of users.
The attorney general said the settlement, which covers allegations in two separate lawsuits against the search engine and app giant, dwarfed all past settlements by other states with Google for similar data privacy violations.
Google’s settlement comes nearly 10 months after Paxton obtained a $1.4 billion settlement for Texas from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to resolve claims of unauthorized use of biometric data by users of those popular social media platforms.
“In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law,” Paxton said in a statement on Friday.
“For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won,” said Paxton.
“This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.”
Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said the company did not admit any wrongdoing or liability in the settlement, which involves allegations related to the Chrome browser’s incognito setting, disclosures related to location history on the Google Maps app, and biometric claims related to Google Photo.
Castaneda said Google does not have to make any changes to products in connection with the settlement and that all of the policy changes that the company made in connection with the allegations were previously announced or implemented.
“This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed,” Castaneda said.
“We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services.”
Virtual care company Omada Health filed for an IPO on Friday, the latest digital health company that’s signaled its intent to hit the public markets despite a turbulent economy.
Founded in 2012, Omada offers virtual care programs to support patients with chronic conditions like prediabetes, diabetes and hypertension. The company describes its approach as a “between-visit care model” that is complementary to the broader health-care ecosystem, according to its prospectus.
Revenue increased 57% in the first quarter to $55 million, up from $35.1 million during the same period last year, the filing said. The San Francisco-based company generated $169.8 million in revenue during 2024, up 38% from $122.8 million the previous year.
Omada’s net loss narrowed to $9.4 million during its first quarter from $19 million during the same period last year. It reported a net loss of $47.1 million in 2024, compared to a $67.5 million net loss during 2023.
The IPO market has been largely dormant across the tech sector for the past three years, and within digital health, it’s been almost completely dead. After President Donald Trump announced a sweeping tariff policy that plunged U.S. markets into turmoil last month, taking a company public is an even riskier endeavor. Online lender Klarna delayed its long-anticipated IPO, as did ticket marketplace StubHub.
But Omada Health isn’t the first digital health company to file for its public market debut this year. Virtual physical therapy startup Hinge Health filed its prospectus in March, and provided an update with its first-quarter earnings on Monday, a signal to investors that it’s looking to forge ahead.
Omada contracts with employers, and the company said it works with more than 2,000 customers and supports 679,000 members as of March 31. More than 156 million Americans suffer from at least one chronic condition, so there is a significant market opportunity, according to the company’s filing.
In 2022, Omada announced a $192 million funding round that pushed its valuation above $1 billion. U.S. Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz and Fidelity’s FMR LLC are the largest outside shareholders in the company, each owning between 9% and 10% of the stock.
“To our prospective shareholders, thank you for learning more about Omada. I invite you join our journey,” Omada co-founder and CEO Sean Duffy said in the filing. “In front of us is a unique chance to build a promising and successful business while truly changing lives.”
Liz Reid, vice president, search, Google speaks during an event in New Delhi on December 19, 2022.
Sajjad Hussain | AFP | Getty Images
Testimony in Google‘s antitrust search remedies trial that wrapped hearings Friday shows how the company is calculating possible changes proposed by the Department of Justice.
Google head of search Liz Reid testified in court Tuesday that the company would need to divert between 1,000 and 2,000 employees, roughly 20% of Google’s search organization, to carry out some of the proposed remedies, a source with knowledge of the proceedings confirmed.
The testimony comes during the final days of the remedies trial, which will determine what penalties should be taken against Google after a judge last year ruled the company has held an illegal monopoly in its core market of internet search.
The DOJ, which filed the original antitrust suit and proposed remedies, asked the judge to force Google to share its data used for generating search results, such as click data. It also asked for the company to remove the use of “compelled syndication,” which refers to the practice of making certain deals with companies to ensure its search engine remains the default choice in browsers and smartphones.
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The DOJ also proposed the company divest its Chrome browser but that was not included in Reid’s initial calculation, the source confirmed.
Reid on Tuesday said Google’s proprietary “Knowledge Graph” database, which it uses to surface search results, contains more than 500 billion facts, according to the source, and that Google has invested more than $20 billion in engineering costs and content acquisition over more than a decade.
“People ask Google questions they wouldn’t ask anyone else,” she said, according to the source.
Reid echoed Google’s argument that sharing its data would create privacy risks, the source confirmed.
Closing arguments for the search remedies trial will take place May 29th and 30th, followed by the judge’s decision expected in August.
The company faces a separate remedies trial for its advertising tech business, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 22.