Apple officially set the date for its biggest product event of the year. The company sent out invitations on Wednesday for a special event dubbed “Surprise and shine,” promising a major hardware showcase at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park on September 9.
The first folding iPhone will be the star of the show, along with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, but there’s surely plenty more on Apple’s agenda. And one iPhone that’ll be notably missing.
Apple September event is the peak of the company’s year
The invitation that went out Wednesday features a glowing Apple logo surrounded by a blue haze, with the words “Surprise and shine.”
Surprise and shine! It’s almost time for the #AppleEvent, on Wednesday, September 9! pic.twitter.com/SLkIcNmLwP
— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) August 26, 2026
The Wednesday, September 9 event begins at 10 a.m. Pacific time, or 1 p.m. Eastern. Apple is expected to livestream the presentation for everyone who can’t attend in person.
The “Surprise and shine” invitation doesn’t offer any hints about specific products, but Apple’s September event is traditionally when it unveils its latest iPhones and Apple Watch models.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 26 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
