iPhone 17 event: Apple announces date it will launch dramatically changed new products

Apple will launch new updates to its iPhone line-up in early September, it has announced.

The company will hold a special livestreamed event on Tuesday, 9 September, it announced.

Its invitation used the tagline “awe dropping” and showed a version of the Apple logo as if it had been taken with a thermal camera. But it gave no explicit clues about the new devices, and attempts to guess them from previous invitations have been hit-and-miss.

During the event, Apple is rumoured to launch a range of new iPhones, which together will bring the first major redesigns in years. Perhaps the most notable is the launch of a rumoured iPhone 17 Air, which is reported to dramatically shrink the size of the device.

It could be the beginning of years-long plan to update the designs of the iPhone, which is also said to bring foldable devices and other form factor changes in the years to come.

Apple is also likely to update its Watch as well as potentially other devices such as the AirPods.

The company has moved to hold virtual events in recent years, where new products are launched through slickly produced films. Some select press and others are invited to watch that video at Apple’s campus, and that will happen again with the launch of this year’s iPhones.

The launch will happen on 9 September at 10am local pacific time, or 1pm eastern or 6pm in the UK.

As well as the new hardware, Apple is likely to re-introduce its “Liquid Glass” redesign for its software, which was unveiled in June. That brings a new semi-transparent look to all of its devices from iPhones to Macs – and some have suggested that the new glassy design could be a hint at the look of the new and more dramatically updated hardware that is to come.