With last month’s WWDC safely behind us, the next big date in Apple’s calendar, indeed the biggest date in its entire year, is the launch of the new iPhones this fall. It doesn’t take a genius to guess the month when they’ll arrive–it’s almost always been September–but a new report goes one better by predicting the week and even specifying two days that are most likely.
Near the end of his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman briefly discusses the timing of the iPhone 17 announcement. Noting that iPhone launches in the past have traditionally taken place in the week after Labor Day week, Gurman says there is no reason to believe things will be any different in 2025. And since Labor Day falls on September 1 this year, the iPhone 17 should appear in the week starting September 8.
As for which day in that week we can expect the event to take place, Gurman points out that Apple’s hallowed tradition of launching key products on a Tuesday has become less reliable in recent years. The iPhone 16 was announced on a Monday; the iPhone 14 was announced on a Wednesday. Such exceptions are more common than they used to be.
For historical context, here are the dates of the last six (fall) iPhone launches. The obvious anomaly was the iPhone 12, which was delayed until October because of Covid.
- iPhone 16: Sept 9, 2024 (a Monday; Labor Day was Sept 2)
- iPhone 15: Sept 12, 2023 (a Tuesday; Labor Day was Sept 4)
- iPhone 14: Sept 7, 2022 (a Wednesday; Labor Day was Sept 5 so this is an exception)
- iPhone 13: Sept 14, 2021 (a Tuesday; Labor Day was Sept 6)
- iPhone 12: Oct 13, 2020 (a Tuesday, delayed due to Covid-19)
- iPhone 11: Sept 10, 2019 (a Tuesday; Labor Day was Sept 2)
With this in mind, it becomes logical to assume that the iPhone 17 will arrive on September 7, 8, or 9 this year. “It could be that Monday (the 8th),” Gurman writes, “though I suspect the 9th or 10th is probably more likely.” He adds that Apple avoids announcing product launches on Sept 11 for obvious commemorative reasons in the U.S. and never holds an event on a Friday. So the 11th and 12th are extremely unlikely.
With (probably) less than two months to go until the new handsets to arrive, we’re starting to get a decent idea of what to expect. For all the latest news and rumors, check out our regularly updated iPhone 17 superguide.
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
David has been writing about technology for well over two decades, and got on board the Apple hype train when covering the original iPhone launch in 2007. He is an enthusiastic Apple Watch evangelist and feels that the HomePod is misunderstood.