Apple takes so few risks these days that when Mark Gurman reported in his PowerOn newsletter that the company was gearing up for its next event in early September, we didn’t even flinch. Our faces remained unchanged when he said that Apple was taking the opportunity to debut its flagship iPhone 17 at the event.

If Gurman is right (and he typically is), then Apple has carved out 9 September for the event — the same as last year’s iPhone 16 keynote. Gurman isn’t firm on this, however, noting that Apple may also favour a Monday or Wednesday date, falling on 8 or 10 September respectively. Apple usually sends out invites a week in advance.

Creatures of habit

“The company usually unveils its new iPhones the week after Labor Day. If that holds — and there’s no reason to believe it won’t — you can pencil in the keynote for the week of Sept. 8,” he wrote. “In the past, Apple has typically favored Tuesdays, but there have been some exceptions in recent years. So it could be that Monday (the 8th), though I suspect the 9th or 10th is probably more likely.”

While the iPhone 17 and its similarly-named brethren may be the apparent stars of the show, that’s not all waiting in the wings. It’s also planning to show off a slew of upgrades to the Apple Watch, and if the rumours are true, a new ‘iPhone 17 Air ‘. We’re expecting Apple to keep the talk of its AI ambitions to a minimum while it quietly works on the issues in the background. Or pays to have them fixed.