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The event is nearly one month later than normal and comes as the
coronavirus pandemic has disrupted Apple's well-oiled machine
for designing and churning out its biggest-selling product.
Wall Street analysts widely expect Apple to launch four new
iPhones at the event broadcast from its Cupertino, California
headquarters at 1 p.m. ET (1700 GMT). (https://www.apple.com/apple-events/)
Two will be "Pro" models expected to have more camera sensors
and a higher-quality display, with one coming in a large version
for fans of big screens. In the middle is likely to sit an
iPhone 12 with the broadest appeal: A big enough display and
enough cameras to satisfy most of Apple's fans, with a more
attractive price.
Finally, analysts expect Apple to return to offering a
smaller-screened model of its flagship phone after several years
of relegating fans of smaller devices to its legacy models.
The iPhones announced Tuesday will test whether Apple can keep
up that streak and ride a wave of consumer excitement around 5G
wireless data networks, whose speediest variants outstrip their
predecessors' data rates multiple times over. Android devices
from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> and others have
featured the new networking capabilities for months, and
analysts say 5G phones are driving upgrades.
But Apple is in a delicate position of needing to excite
consumers with 5G without setting them up for a disappointment:
For many of its fans, it will be their first experience with 5G
networks, which in the United States remain years away from
delivering dramatic speed boosts for most consumers. Some
analysts worry Apple will be selling a high-powered sports car
while its customers remain confined to sleepy village roadways.
Ahead of the event, Apple's stock jumped 6.4% on Monday, adding
$128 billion to its stock market value.
Apple in January quit giving financial guidance, citing
uncertainty from the pandemic. But despite waves of retail store
closures and travel bans that delayed the development of the
iPhone because Apple engineers were not able to cross the
Pacific to Chinese factories as frequently, Apple's financial
results have largely bucked the pandemic.
In July at its most recent earnings, the company posted
year-on-year revenue gains across every category and in every
geography as consumers working and learning from home during the
COVID-19 pandemic turned to its products and services.
Apple last month launched new watch models with blood oxygen
sensors and updated its iPad models while also rolling out a new
bundle of its paid subscription services called Apple One.
The company has also committed to introducing new Mac computers
before year's end based on processors of its own design rather
than those from Intel Corp <INTC.O>.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
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