This week, new iPhone details emerge, as well as the possible event dates for next month.
iPhone Day, Revealed?
Every year, Apple goes to extraordinary lengths to keep its iPhone launch date under wraps. And every year, something leaks that gives the game away. This time, it wasn't a supply chain slip or an analyst prediction. It was a staff lottery.
Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Apple has opened an "Event Support Experience Programme" for US retail employees, inviting them to enter a lottery for the chance to travel to Apple Park and help staff the in-person iPhone unveiling. Roles include organising lines, checking in guests, greeting attendees, offering directions, and supporting security teams. Applications close today, and Apple will notify the lucky winners by August 17th.
The memo sent to employees didn't include a specific date, but it did say the event would take place during "the first half of September." That narrows it down considerably. September 7th is Labor Day in the US, and Apple traditionally gives invited media a day to travel. That makes Tuesday September 8th or Wednesday September 9th the two most likely dates, with Bloomberg leaning towards the 9th. Apple has historically favoured the second Tuesday or Wednesday of September for its iPhone events, and September 9th fits that pattern neatly.
If it is September 9th, that would put pre-orders around Friday September 12th, with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max likely shipping a week later on Friday September 19th. The iPhone Ultra, as we've discussed in previous newsletters, is expected to be announced at the same event but may not ship until later, potentially October or November.
Alongside the iPhones, we're expecting the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, and potentially the first details of Apple's smart home hardware. It's also going to be John Ternus's first product launch as CEO, since Tim Cook officially steps down on September 1st.
One nice detail from the lottery: employees who worked WWDC 2026 or last year's iPhone launch aren't eligible. Apple is spreading the love, giving other retail staff the chance to experience an event at Apple Park. It's a small thing, but it's a good thing.
We should have official invitations from Apple going out to lucky recipients (I'm not holding my breath) within the next couple of weeks. But at this point, clear your diary for September 9th. That's almost certainly when we'll get our first proper look at the most anticipated iPhone lineup in years.
What's new in iPhone Essentials Plus?
The major upgrade to iPhone Essentials Plus is now essentially complete. The course has over 400 lessons, and every single one now follows the same format: a high-quality video walkthrough, a detailed written step-by-step guide, and a downloadable PDF you can save, print, or keep on your device for reference. That last piece was the bit that had been missing, and I'm really pleased with how the PDFs have turned out (it was an ENORMOUS undertaking). They match or, in my opinion, exceed the quality of the written guides. This is the standard you can expect from every lesson going forward.
If you already own the course and haven't looked recently, it's worth going back and having a browse. It's changed significantly. You can log in here and explore everything that's been added.
I've also launched a dedicated iOS 27 module that's currently under construction. I'm adding new content to it every week in the run-up to the official September launch, so whether you've been exploring the public beta or you just want to get ahead of what's coming, there's already a lot in there with more arriving regularly.
Behind the scenes, work is continuing on iPhone Essentials, the structured beginner course with a proper beginning, middle, and end. This is designed for people who are brand new to the iPhone, switching from Android, or just want to feel more confident with the fundamentals. It's a big project and should be launching within the next few weeks.
The offer still stands: anyone who buys iPhone Essentials Plus now will receive iPhone Essentials for free when it launches. Once iPhone Essentials goes live, the two courses will be sold separately at the same price point, and given everything that's been added, there's a strong likelihood the price of Essentials Plus will increase to around $149/Ā£149. Buy one course now, get both. Once iPhone Essentials launches, that offer disappears.
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The iPhoneā€™s Next X Moment
We're barely a month away from the iPhone 18 Pro launch, but rumours this week have already started building a picture of what comes after that: the 20th anniversary iPhone, expected in the autumn of 2027, and by all accounts, it could be the biggest iPhone redesign since the X.
If you cast your mind back, the iPhone X arrived in 2017 to mark the device's 10th anniversary. It killed the Home button, introduced Face ID, and gave us the edge-to-edge display that has essentially defined every iPhone since. Apple is reportedly planning to do the same thing again for the 20th anniversary, with a device codenamed "Glasswing" that could set the design direction for the next decade.
So what are we hearing? The headline is glass. A lot of glass. Multiple sources, including Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Chinese leaker Fixed Focus Digital, describe a device made primarily from curved glass that wraps around all four edges. No flat sides. No visible bezels. No Dynamic Island. The aim is apparently to create something as close to a seamless sheet of glass as Apple can engineer, with Face ID and the front-facing camera moved underneath the display entirely. If Apple can pull that off, and that's still a significant "if," it would be the first truly edge-to-edge iPhone with nothing breaking the surface of the screen.
The Liquid Glass design language that Apple introduced with iOS 26 last year now looks like it was laying the groundwork for exactly this. Gurman has explicitly linked the two, describing the software redesign as a "launchpad" for the physical hardware that would follow. Transparency, gloss, curved reflections in the UI, all designed to mirror a device that's literally made of glass.
Beyond the design, the rumoured feature list reads like Apple's engineering wish list finally being ticked off. Samsung-manufactured micro-curved OLED displays that are brighter and thinner than current panels. Solid-state buttons, meaning no physical buttons at all. Reverse wireless charging. Under-display audio that eliminates the earpiece slit. A next-generation Ceramic Shield. Display sizes of 6.4 inches and 7 inches. And improved cooling technology borrowed from the iPhone Air, which will be necessary if you're wrapping the entire phone in glass and expecting it not to overheat.
It's worth keeping perspective here. We're talking about a device that's still over a year away, and rumours at this stage are exactly that. Fixed Focus Digital, who has been the source of several of these details, has a mixed track record. They correctly predicted the iPhone 16e name but incorrectly claimed the standard iPhone 17 would get a 120Hz display. Some of the more ambitious features, particularly the under-display camera, may not be ready in time. Display analyst Ross Young has suggested Apple might still need a small notch or hole-punch for the camera even in 2027, which would slightly undercut the "pure glass slab" vision.
There's also a naming question. Logically, the 2027 iPhone should be called the iPhone 19. But Apple skipped the iPhone 9 to jump straight to the iPhone X for the 10th anniversary, so there's precedent for doing something similar here. Whether it ends up being called the iPhone 20, the iPhone XX, or something else entirely is anyone's guess, but Apple is clearly treating this as a milestone product rather than a routine annual refresh.
The 20th anniversary iPhone is expected to launch in the autumn of 2027 alongside a second-generation foldable iPhone. That means the iPhone Ultra arriving next month is essentially Apple's dress rehearsal for an even bigger year in 2027. If Glasswing delivers on even half of what's being rumoured, it could be the kind of product that makes people genuinely excited about iPhones again in a way they haven't been since the X itself.
We've got a long way to go before any of this is confirmed. But as a preview of where Apple's headed, it's hard not to feel a little bit excited. The iPhone X changed everything. Glasswing might do it again.
Tip of the Week
Did you know, you can quickly jump into many of the Camera App's main settings simply by long-pressing on the App Tile from the Home Screen. You can then choose options like Selfie, Video and Portrait.
