Here’s When Apple Will Reveal Its iPhone 18 Pro Special Event - Forbes

Consumer TechHere’s When Apple Will Reveal Its iPhone 18 Pro Special EventByDavid Phelan, Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about lifestyle techFollow AuthorAug 09, 2026, 05:42am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.SummaryApple's highly anticipated iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and its inaugural folding iPhone are expected to launch in September. Experts predict the official unveiling will occur at a special keynote event on Wednesday, September 9. This date is favored due to Apple's historical avoidance of the day after Labor Day, a pattern even Bloomberg's Mark Gurman now supports. The announcement for this keynote is likely to come two weeks prior, on Wednesday, August 26, strategically placed before the IFA tech show. Following the keynote, the new iPhone 18 Pro models are projected to go on sale Friday, September 18, though the foldable iPhone's exact retail availability remains unconfirmed. This post, first published on Aug. 6, was republished on Aug. 9 with further details of the iPhone release schedule from keynote announcement to iPhone on-sale date and everything in between. Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, plus the first-ever folding iPhone, are set to go on sale in September. They’ll be unveiled at the September keynote — the biggest event of the Apple calendar. When, exactly, will the company announce the date of the keynote? Read on. Apple iPhone 17 Pro — when will the next iPhone special event be launched?Getty ImagesApple doesn’t care to be predictable, or a creature of habit, but it often is. If we can pin down the date of the keynote, we can figure out with some accuracy both the on-sale date for the new products and the date the keynote will be revealed. Nothing’s certain until it’s been confirmed, but I believe the keynote will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 9. Some analysts, including Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, have been saying that it could be on Tuesday, Sept. 8, though I’m happy to see that even Gurman is now coming round to the Wednesday date I’ve been promoting for some months. “Since Labor Day in the US falls on Monday, Sept. 7, a Wednesday event appears slightly more likely, as it would preserve the workday travel window Apple has historically provided for attendees,” he said. Personally, I’d say incredibly more likely, not slightly! Apple has never held an iPhone special event on the very next day after Labor Day. You can read full details of the research I did into previous keynote dates here. It used to be the case that Apple announced its iPhone keynote a week before it took place. That was the case in 2020 and 2021, according to Joe Rossignol at MacRumors. In every year since, though, the announcement has been exactly two weeks before the event. This is to do with other items in the calendar, notably IFA, the massive tech trade show held in Berlin at the beginning of September each year (or very occasionally the end of August). Apple likes to catch the moment before IFA begins. This year it runs from Sept. 5-9 but press days happen before that. Which means that the last week of August fits well with Apple’s intentions, and two weeks before Sept. 9 is Wednesday, Aug. 26. I think that’s the date to expect an announcement, though (again, not to be predictable) Apple could easily go the day before or the day after. A recent post on X from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggested there could be a different look to the keynote this year. The phrase he used was “Apple gears up for in-person iPhone event,” which some have suggested means that Apple might move from pre-recorded videos to live demos this year. Let me say, I don’t think that’s going to happen or even that Gurman was suggesting it. More likely, he was commenting on the fact that there will be 1,000 filled seats in the Steve Jobs Theater — those will be what makes it an in-person event. That said, I’d expect there could be some tweaks to the format, but not much: new CEO John Ternus will want to show continuity, just as Tim Cook did in his first keynote. Also, I know that Apple loves the seamless professionalism that the video presentations bring. Demos have gone wrong in keynotes before and you might not want that in your first outing as CEO. In a way, I hope I’m wrong: I loved how the keynotes were able to bring Apple’s sense of humor to the fore when they were live, in a way that recorded sessions don’t always, as the videos can’t wait for the audience laughter to die down. Even so, I think the slick movies we’ve seen in recent years will continue this September. There are reports that supplies of the new iPhones will be constrained at first — read this for more details. Which means, if true, that to grab the model, storage capacity and color of iPhone that you want, you’ll need to be quick on the draw. Pre-orders open at the same time all around the world, so nobody gets a chance to jump the line. Which means it will be a more convenient time for some than others. The date will be Friday, Sept. 11, unless there’s a major upheaval. Note that some products launched in September go to pre-orders sooner than the iPhone, but exactly what and when will become clear at the keynote. As for the time, this can change, but last year it was at 5 a.m. Pacific, which is 8 a.m. Eastern and 1 p.m. U.K. time. In other words, it’s a time much more convenient in New York or London than in Cupertino, unless you’re a habitual early riser. Some years Apple has added another element, where users can put their chosen item in the online shopping bag the night before at apple.com, ready to purchase the second pre-orders open. A note on the first Apple foldable phone: there have been contradictory reports on when the foldable will go on sale. It could, like the iPhone X in 2017, be announced at the keynote (I believe it will) but launch a little later. Read this for the latest on when it might arrive. If the launch date does come later, so will the pre-orders date. We’ll learn what selected press with early samples think in the days running up to the on-sale date. Sometimes the reviews appear on the Tuesday following the keynote, which this year would be Sept. 15. Last year, the reviews embargo lifted on Wednesday, Sept 17. Since the keynote is happening a day later than in last year’s timetable, I believe, it’s possible that the reviews could land a day later as well, which would be Thursday, September 17 this year. However, my best guess is that we’ll see the first verdicts on the Wednesday, September 16, 2026. As for the time, last year this was the same time of day as pre-orders, that is, 5 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Eastern and 1 p.m. U.K. Assuming the Sept. 9 keynote date is what’s announced, then the on-sale date of the new products will be Friday, Sept. 18. While the iPhone 18 Pro will go on sale then, there’s still a question mark over when the foldable will hit store shelves. Read this for the latest details.