# What We Might Need to Hear on September 9 It's that time of the year again, and Apple is going to hold an [event](https://www.apple.com/apple-events/) on September 9, 2025. Rumors around the internet and social media point to several new updates, particularly for iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. It's also that time of the year again when people start debating whether the announced features are practical for day-to-day use of end users, or are merely gimmicks. In this post, I'm covering each of those three products, indicating the rumored features I think might be most or least effective, as well as improvements I think the new versions need in terms of usability and user experience. For each device, I have categorized the points as Good, Indifferent, Bad, and Wishes. (A quick disclaimer: the *indifferent* points might seem minor this year, but matter more over time, so they are still valuable additions.) I will use the rumors as reported by [MacRumors](https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/iphone-17/). ## iPhone Apple is expected to launch four new iPhone models: iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, and a new, thinner, and lighter 17 Air (or whatever its final name may be). ### Good - **ProMotion on all models:** Until the 16 series, the 120Hz display was limited to the Pro models. Many might claim "a normal user does not perceive a 120Hz screen," and I also agree with this point; as a personal experience, I once showed an iPhone 15 Pro and an iPhone 12 Pro side-by-side to a computer science PhD student, definitely classified in the *I-am-a-nerd* category, but she couldn't easily tell the difference. However, at the same time, I believe having a smooth scroll, while saving on battery life, is such a nice experience that a lot of people who purchase an iPhone can benefit from. - **Camera:** The rumored jump of the front camera from 12 MP to 24 MP can make front-camera photos way better. It always bugged me in iPhones why the front camera can't take pictures as good as the rear camera; while of course the front camera module would not be as sophisticated as the rear camera module, any improvement is welcome. And, it goes without saying how the rear cameras on iPhones improve year after year. While I'm not a professional photographer by any means, I still love photography, and I love it even more when the iPhone captures a great picture without any manual input from my side. Dual video recording and the mechanical aperture are also both very nice features to have. - **New rear design:** With every design change comes lovers and haters. I'm usually a fan of design changes that bring freshness to the branding of the device, while still keeping it genuinely iPhone. - **Less weight of iPhone 17 Air:** The weight of the phone is usually a very underestimated factor in the overall usability of a smartphone. - **Reverse charging:** It is needless to say how beneficial this can be in practice (particularly for charging AirPods). I would say that moving the Apple logo on the rear side of the device, as mentioned in the rumors as well, would make sense in combination with this feature, if the Apple logo indicates the place of the charging coil on which one should put the other device to be charged properly. - **New cooling technology:** Very useful, especially if it helps the phone to not get warm on hot summer days. This summer, we had a couple of such days (without any AC to alleviate the situation), and while the iPhone never let me down, I would appreciate any improvement by any means in the cooling system of the device. ### Indifferent - **Thinner iPhone 17 Air:** While having a thin iPhone can be an aesthetic choice for many buyers, I personally don't think current iPhones are *thick* by any means. I think I would appreciate a higher battery capacity more than the thinness of the device by merely around two millimeters. (However, I'm sure the thinness of the Air iPhone, rumored to be 5-6 mm, will catch many people's attention in social media and real life, possibly including me...) - **Aluminium instead of titanium:** You might have been a huge fan of the era of iPhones from 15 Pro to 16 Pro that used titanium in their frame. While I also liked the titanium framing a lot, I don't think replacing it with aluminium will be a huge deal for many customers. - **New Apple-designed modem in iPhone 17 Air:** The Apple C1 cellular modem chip was first announced in iPhone 16e and was [touted](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/02/apple-debuts-iphone-16e-a-powerful-new-member-of-the-iphone-16-family/) as "the most power-efficient modem ever on an iPhone, delivering fast and reliable 5G cellular connectivity." I suspect most users won't notice this change. However, the possible gains in battery life would definitely be noteworthy. ### Bad - **Less battery life on iPhone 17 Air:** I still don't believe the claims that iPhone 17 Air will have a low battery life, until I see it in action; it's difficult to see Apple claiming lower numbers for the battery performance of a flagship new iPhone model. However, given that the rumors in this regard are totally true, this would definitely be one of the reasons not to go with an Air iPhone instead other models. - **Colors:** This is my annual recurrent complaint; I really don't like the fact that the Pro buyers can't choose a model with bright colors and are forced to go for the more muted colors instead. Rumors point to this staying true (apart from certain exceptions), which makes me hold this complaint for one more year. - **USB-C port moving:** Dummy models point to the position of the USB-C port on the bottom edge of the iPhone 17 Air shifting closer to the rear of the device, instead of being center. It is possible that the dummy models were not pixel-perfect and this is simply a rendering issue, but if it is right, it can be a blow to the otherwise nicely symmetric and perfect design of an iPhone. This particularly reminds me of an [article](https://www.imore.com/difference-apple-samsung-industrial-design) I had read back in 2018 written by Rene Ritchie at iMore, in which the placement of the charging port can be seen as an example of perfect industrial design at Apple. ### Wishes - **Always-on for all models:** With ProMotion being available on all models, we might as well have the always-on display support on all of them as well. I really like the always-on display on my iPhone, and the specific style of the always-on display user interface on iOS is a defining characteristic of iPhone versus other phones. As a result, it would make a lot of sense to have it available for all models. - **Ceramic Shield also on the rear side:** It has been two years, since I purchased my iPhone 15 Pro, that I decided not to put a case on it for several reasons, including enjoying the original design of the phone as it was intended to be, and making it lighter to hold and carry. This necessitates having the same amount of protection of the front glass, also on the rear glass. (I'm not sure if there are any downsides to this; if you know, let me know!) - **RAM enabling larger Apple Intelligence models:** If increasing the amount of RAM will make the new iPhone models support Apple Intelligence foundation models with a higher parameter count (and thus higher accuracy), it can immediately justify the upgrade. - **Touch ID:** I know this is a very old complaint at this stage, but I always wish I also had access to Touch ID, e.g., on the power button, as an alternative to Face ID when my face might not be accessible for whatever reason. Two of the reasons that I have recently encountered them the most, making me unable to use Face ID, were A) when having a scarf tightly around your mouth in the winter, and B) when wearing the Apple Vision Pro. Adding Touch ID support will still maintain a secure unlock without the need to resort to less-secure approaches. Speaking of iPhone, I have two more notes to share: - I have been recently thinking that they might announce the iPhone 17 Air as iPhone 17E. This is unlikely because A) iPhone 16E has just been announced this February, B) the E series seems to be about older chassis fitting new hardware, not coming with a new design, and C) the pricing does not match the rumors. However, arguments in favor of this can include the iPhone 17 Air A) not being as cutting-edge as the more powerful 17 series models, fitting the spirit of the E series, and B) sharing some characteristics with 16E, such as the Apple-designed modem. I ultimately guess this won't be the case, although not releasing any successor to 16E will leave it in an awkward position; the last generation of iPhone models sport the number 17, while this phone comes with the number 16, indicating it belongs to the *previous* generation of iPhones (and that there is no *budget* alternative in the 17 series). - I think there is a probability that the numbering scheme of the iPhone models change to match the new versioning system in iOS, using the years as version numbers. I haven't read this in rumor blogs (let me know if you have any reference); rather, it is just coming from instinct and trying to read Apple's minds when changing the version numbers of their operating systems. (They could have surely decided to do this only for the operating systems to make "all updates at the same time" consistent, while not using it for devices that are released scattered throughout the year.) I suspect this won't happen at least this year. ## Apple Watch Compared to the new iPhone models, the leaked information on Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 are much more scarce. ### Good - **Blood pressure monitoring:** It's needless to say how important the new health features are on each generation of Apple Watch, with some features reportedly saving lives each year. - **Larger and wide-OLED display for Ultra:** The improvements in display are always nice-to-have, particularly for people like me who type messages on their watches from time to time, or use it a lot outdoors. However, it will likely not be felt by some customers. (If accompanied with a matching watch face, it could turn out to be a great feature!) - **Faster charging:** It would be great for the Ultra 3 to *inherit* the fast charging capabilities of Series 10 to an extent. - **Satellite connectivity:** Although I'm not sure how many people go to remote areas *without* bringing their iPhone, having this feature on the watch work independently is useful and a peace of mind. ### Indifferent - **5G connectivity:** Always nice to have, but I really don't see the point to have 5G on an Apple Watch (when was the last time you were thinking that the internet connection on your Apple Watch was so slow?). I hope Apple can provide some valid reasons during the event. - **Refresh rate in Ultra:** Having the same technology in Series 11 that allows the second on some watch faces to tick in the always-on mode, would be very beneficial for the Ultra model. However, I believe that many users won't see a difference, especially as many watch faces don't support this feature. ### Bad - **Not providing specific readings of blood pressure:** While billing this feature as a general wellness feature is better than nothing, the watch can really shine more if it is a helpful tool not only for background reading, but also for on-demand measures. This can also make the job of the marketing teams at Apple easier, as users can test the features themselves and check their blood pressure on-demand, rather than blindly trusting the watch upon purchase to alert them if something goes wrong about their blood pressure at some point in time. ### Wishes - **Blood glucose monitoring:** Long in development, it's yet another "peace of mind" feature to have. - **Always-on ticking seconds in more places:** I know this can be more of a software side ranting, but it still bugs me why the ticking seconds in the always-on model is not available on more watch faces. There are several watch faces that I like the appearance of, but I don't put them on, just because I lose the ability to find the current second by a quick glance at my watch screen. Even more bugging is the fact that in the Timer app, the current "second" is shown only for the first and last minute in the Always-on mode; I don't see any reason to why this is the case. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, [claimed](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2014/09/09Apple-Unveils-Apple-Watch-Apples-Most-Personal-Device-Ever) in September 2014 that Apple Watch is "the most personal product we've ever made." Over time, this personal device started shifting even more towards the personal domains of connectivity and health/fitness, and the rumored features still seem to be mainly in this direction. With that said, I still believe Apple Watch is so underutilized by many people, including me, and the lack of certain necessary apps for day-to-day work and life, e.g., Slack, is not helping either. Figuring out small issues over time by Apple, and adding features to watchOS every now and then, can be a nice idea to further cement the position of Apple Watch as a wearable that can *actually* be a phone replacement, as opposed to many AI devices over the past few months and years. ## AirPods Even less compared to Apple Watch, we have very little leaked information on the to-be-announced AirPods Pro 3 model; as a result, I was only able to put one item underneath the titles of good, indifferent, and bad. ### Good - **Better active noise cancellation:** AirPods are already very great on this front in my opinion, but who won't want any further improvement? As personal experience, I used them for noise cancellation on a flight recently, and while they were very effective, I still think there is the room for even further improvements. ### Indifferent - **Heart rate monitoring:** While a very useful feature in general, I don't see its importance for people already wearing an Apple Watch. (Of course, for others, the story is different.) ### Bad - **Defaulting to Apple Watch for heart rate data:** It's a shame if the heart rate sensors on the AirPods would be useless if the user has an Apple Watch. At least, the readings from the two sensors can possibly be merged and taken into account together in order to provide a reading with a higher accuracy. ### Wishes - **Color options:** Apple will likely not follow this route, to keep the white colors of AirPods as an indication of the branding. However, I have seen people around me craving for colorful in-ear headphones while still wanting to have the quality and ease-of-use of AirPods. ## What about other products? - **Mac:** Given that we have experienced an almost predictable release schedule of the different Mac models over the past few years, it's sad to see we won't have new MacBooks this fall. I have been asked every now and then "I want to upgrade my device, should I wait for M5 or just go with M4?" and I'm really not sure how to provide an answer. Even though the difference might seem to be only one generation, Apple might have some tricks up its sleeve. - **Vision Pro:** I've long been a proponent of the *success* of spatial computing, as opposed to many tech bloggers. (My evidence? Just see their progress on visionOS versions!) Actually, parts of this blog post were written on a Vision Pro. A new model is rumored to be announced this fall, with an M4 or M5 processor, and a better strap making the device feel lighter on head and neck. However, in the case that the strap also fits the first generation, I think Apple needs to unlock enough new capabilities in the device through the M4 or M5 processor in order to justify the release of the new generation. - **iPad:** The rumors about having two front cameras will certainly alleviate tradeoffs of putting it on top in only the landscape or portrait orientations, a debate that has been long going in the community. The M5 chip will bring some percent of improvement, but I'm not sure if there will be any visible effects on the final experience. We should wait and see. - **Future devices:** - The device mostly rumored as "HomePad" seems to still have some time before release. This might be due to the difficulties in the LLM-based Apple Intelligence currently under development; I guess Apple believes the device might turn out to be a letdown if released without the full promised set of Siri Apple Intelligence features, and as a result, is waiting until the new Siri is ready, before announcing the product. - While a new Apple TV has been rumored, I have started to think maybe the new Apple TV and HomePad both refer to the same device; based on the current descriptions, there would be some functionality overlap and I think a single device might fulfill both roles. However, we need to wait to be sure. - And finally, the new AirTag... [9to5Mac](https://9to5mac.com/2025/08/27/new-airtag-2-is-coming-soon-with-these-rumored-features/) believes it will be released alongside the new iPhone models in the same event. Improvements in precision finding and privacy will be certainly appreciated. I would love to hear the opinions of readers on the points above. We should all wait to see what will be the reaction of the community to the announcements on September 9.