Apple's iPhone event is tomorrow
It's been a year since the iPhone X debuted and it's already flown by. Apple's next iPhone event is tomorrow, in Mountain View, California, and there's little left in terms of surprises, as far as I can tell.
Here's what I'm expecting to see tomorrow, based on reports so far:
- Three new iPhone devices, in the iPhone X style, including a new size with a larger display but no USB-C port
- Refreshed iPad Pro, with Face ID support and USB-C port (!)
- The first redesign of the Apple Watch since it debuted, with a larger screen and thinner body size
- Minor Airpods refresh with wireless charging and the repeatedly delayed AirPower pad
We'll see what happens tomorrow, but the idea of adding USB-C to one device and leaving the other flagship without is weird at best, especially with the Mac now sporting the connector for almost three years.
There's plenty of other rumors, including one about the 12-inch MacBook being refreshed, but lack corroboration. We already know what the iPhone and Apple Watch will look like thanks to a marketing goof, but not much about the technical details that matter -- Apple will, like every year, tout 'faster' versions of existing features, like Face ID.
This is a 'tock' year and the event is likely to have little to get excited about in terms of impressive new features. Apple has always refined existing hardware on these years with 'S' models, and it appears to be poised to do the same again, introducing new colors and form factors to get those who didn't spring for an X to buy this new model.
The event is tomorrow, September 12, at 10 am PDT / 6 pm UK time, and can be watched online right over here. Or, just tune in to the next newsletter to read what matters and save yourself a few hours!
By the way, other hardware events are coming up too, which I'm planning to cover in person:
- Microsoft Surface Event:Â October 2 in New York City
- Google Hardware Event: October 9 in New York City
Tab Dump
EU courts are considering whether 'right to be forgotten' should be global
Here's a question that may cause a serious problem, politically:Â European courts are mulling forcing companies like Google to apply the controversial 'right to be forgotten' law regardless of the country.Â
The law allows anyone in Europe to request a listing be removed, within a certain set of parameters, and Google will hide it within Europe today -- but this case seeks to get this expanded globally, testing the EU's reach beyond its own bounds. I doubt Google would be willing to comply, but it certainly pushes it into a tight spot, too, given the antitrust case that's ongoing.
Sonos now supports IFTTT
The API is here, and the first contender is IFTTT. I'm excited about the 'API for sound' in the home, and think that this has better long term potential than any of the voice assistants do.
Long read: Can Mark Zuckerberg fix Facebook?
I'm at the point that these long-form pieces humanizing technology CEOs just read like hollow echos, but the New Yorker wrote this piece trying to examine Zuckerberg, the human, as he faces Facebook's hardest challenges to date.