Apple Confirms September 9 iPhone Launch Event as Tim Cook Prepares to Hand CEO Reins to John Ternus

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple has confirmed it will hold its annual fall product event on Wednesday, Sept. 9, kicking off a stretch of major changes for the company that includes a new lineup of iPhones, a fresh round of desktop computers and, for the first time in more than a decade, a new chief executive.

The company sent invitations to media Wednesday featuring a glowing Apple logo set against a blue haze and the tagline “Surprise and shine.” The event will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific time at the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple’s Cupertino campus and will be livestreamed on Apple’s website, the Apple TV app and YouTube.

This year’s gathering carries added significance because it will be the first major product launch overseen by incoming chief executive John Ternus, who takes over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1. Ternus, Apple’s longtime senior vice president of hardware engineering, is widely expected to lead the keynote.

Apple announced the leadership change in April, saying Cook would become executive chairman of the company’s board of directors while Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran, would step into the chief executive role. The transition was approved unanimously by Apple’s board following what the company described as a long-term succession planning process.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in Apple’s announcement of the transition. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people.”

Cook also praised his successor, calling Ternus a leader with “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor.” Ternus will also join Apple’s board of directors effective Sept. 1, while board chairman Arthur Levinson transitions to lead independent director.

Cook’s departure closes out nearly 15 years at Apple’s helm. He succeeded company co-founder Steve Jobs in August 2011 and went on to oversee the launch of the Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Pay and Apple Vision Pro, along with the Mac’s multiyear transition away from Intel processors to Apple’s own silicon. As executive chairman, Cook is expected to continue representing Apple in dealings with policymakers around the world.

At the Sept. 9 event, Apple is expected to introduce its first foldable iPhone alongside updated iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Unlike in past years, Apple does not plan to introduce a standard iPhone 18 model at the September event; that version is expected to arrive in spring 2027 instead, according to widely circulated supply-chain reports. The new Pro models are expected to run on Apple’s A20 Pro chip, built on a 2-nanometer manufacturing process the company says will improve both speed and power efficiency compared with the current generation.

Industry analysts tracking Apple’s supply chain have said pricing across the new iPhone lineup could rise compared with last year’s models, citing an ongoing global shortage of memory chips that has affected component costs across the technology industry.

The September event follows a surprise announcement this week that Apple had already begun refreshing its Mac desktop lineup, releasing new Mac mini and Mac Studio models days before the iPhone showcase. In a press release, Apple said the new Mac Studio, powered by its M5 Max and newly introduced M5 Ultra chips, delivers up to 4.3 times faster on-device artificial intelligence performance than the previous generation, along with faster graphics, additional storage speed and up to 512 gigabytes of unified memory in its highest-end configuration.

The redesigned Mac mini, meanwhile, is now available with either Apple’s new M6 chip or the M5 Pro chip introduced earlier this year. Apple said the M6 chip includes a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, along with the company’s first dual Neural Engine configuration, intended to boost on-device AI processing.

Pricing on both machines increased alongside the hardware upgrades. The Mac mini now starts at 899 dollars, and the Mac Studio starts at 2,499 dollars, with the high-end M5 Ultra configuration priced at 5,499 dollars. Apple has attributed recent price increases across its Mac lineup to rising component costs tied to global demand for memory chips used in AI data centers. Most of the new Mac configurations are set to ship Sept. 22, with the highest-memory Mac Studio option arriving in late October.

Apple has not detailed what else will appear on stage at the Sept. 9 event, though the company traditionally uses its September keynote to introduce new iPhone and Apple Watch models alongside updates to its software platforms. The event marks a rare instance in recent years of Apple launching new desktop hardware just ahead of its iPhone event rather than folding all announcements into a single keynote.

Apple’s stock has traded near record levels in recent months as investors weigh the company’s plans to expand artificial intelligence features across its devices, alongside broader industry pressure from competitors racing to build out generative AI tools. The Sept. 9 event will be closely watched both for its product announcements and as the public debut of Ternus in Apple’s most high-profile executive role.

Apple did not respond to requests for additional comment ahead of the event.