Updated Aug. 9 with more details of exactly what’s coming and when plus further analysis and timing details.
In September, Apple will launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and an all-new model that’s especially slim and is nicknamed iPhone 17 Air. Here’s everything that will happen between now and the day you can buy one, down to the minute, including when pre-orders will open, how you may be able to jump to the head of that line, and when to expect reviews of the phones to appear.
And remember, everything here applies to Apple Watch as well, as the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 (with a bigger-than-ever display) are also predicted to appear, possibly alongside Apple Watch SE 3rd generation and Apple AirPods Pro 3.
iPhone 17: Keynote Announcement
The keynote is when Apple will reveal its new handsets (plus new Apple Watch models, including an Apple Watch Ultra 3 which may have the biggest display yet). I believe it will be announced at around 8 a.m. Pacific on Tuesday, Aug. 26. You can read full details of the announcement and how it will happen here.
iPhone 17: Keynote at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9
Once the keynote has been announced, around two weeks will pass until it takes place. Unless there’s a major surprise, it will be in the 1,000-seater Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park, the company’s Cupertino headquarters.
It will start at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. U.K. time.
As for the date, that’s looking increasingly likely to be the date I predicted in July: Tuesday, Sept. 9 — a recent leak based on data from internal documents from one or more German carriers points to the same date. That said, things can still change, so the Monday or Wednesday of that week are still possible.
Much less likely is an event in the week before: Labor Day would push the event to the Wednesday instead of the Tuesday events Apple likes best and it would clash with the Berlin tech show IFA, so many favored press would be in the wrong country.
More voices have been heard on the date of the keynote. Regular leaker Instant Digital has said on Weibo, “iPhone 17 released on Sept.9,” though according to your machine translation, this could include the words “may be released,” which isn’t quite as certain.
David Snelling, highly respected Technology Editor of the U.K. newspaper the Daily Express, has said, “Apple never reveals anything until closer to the launch date but Express.co.uk has done some detective work and we think all will be unveiled on Tuesday, September 9,” which is more positive.
There is a cautionary note, however: “Of course, we could be completely wrong as Apple likes surprises, but that date seems the most likely,” and while that’s right, I’m sure there are no surprises coming in terms of the date.
There are plenty more articles online which bet on Sept. 9, but please note that almost all of them are based on the same rumor based on alleged German carrier data mentioned above. In other words, though there has been plenty more coverage of this date, most leads back to the same source.
What you’re reading here is not based on that report.
By 12 noon Pacific the keynote will be over and we’ll know all the new iPhones by name, and have access to all their secrets, including pricing.
If by any chance it’s on another date in the same week, then all the other parts of the jigsaw remain in place, such as release date, reviews appearing and, our next topic: when pre-orders open.
iPhone 17: Pre-Orders Friday, Sept. 12
The date for pre-orders opening is routinely the Friday following the keynote, so even if the announcement falls one day earlier or later, pre-orders will be on Friday, Sept. 12. The time, if it’s the same as last year, will be 5 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. U.K.
Sometimes Apple lets customers get ahead of the curve by choosing their preferred phone (model, color and storage level) the night before and put them in their shopping bag ready for pre-orders to open the following day.
Note also that it’s possible that not all phones will be released on the same day, even though they’ll be announced together. This has happened in the past when there have been new categories, for instance.
This includes 2018 when the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max went on sale on one day, but the iPhone XR was held back — it came in five colors and introduced Liquid Retina Display, an LCD screen which appeared to have curved corners. Similarly, the first smaller-screened iPhone with Face ID, the iPhone 12 mini, landed around three weeks after the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. The iPhone 12 Pro Max also arrived with the iPhone 12 mini. But all iPhone 12 models were announced on the same day.
iPhone 17: Reviews
Reviews from selected press will be under embargo until one day in the run-up to release. For the iPhone, this will likely be Tuesday, Sept. 16 or Wednesday, Sept. 17.
The timing can change but the embargo lift is often at 6 a.m. Pacific, 9 a.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. U.K.iPhone 17: Release Date Friday, Sept.19
This is customarily the Friday in the week following the keynote, and will be in the morning. Usually, this is 7 a.m. local time.
