From iPhone 17 to fridges: What to expect from Apple's September Keynote

Just as the air gets crisper and the red leaves start dropping from the trees, it tends to be time for September’s annual Keynote speech from Apple. In the past, this much-hyped event has been a chance for Apple to unveil its latest iPhones, or surprise new products (such as the Apple Watch back in September 2014) to the world. And experts believe this year’s event is sure to come with news of the iPhone 17 and the Apple Watch Series 11. 

Usually held between Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the second week in September, the Keynote is a natural accelerant for internet speculation. Therefore, in order to save you from having to scroll through endless Reddit theories in the build-up to next month’s event, Back Market has rounded up in one place all of the biggest rumours around what Apple might unveil for their 2025/26 product pipeline.

An iPhone 17 with radical camera changes 

Billed by The Independent as “Apple’s biggest shake-up in years”, the iPhone 17 will surely be a key part of the presentation. One trusted leaker claims the new iPhone will see the volume and action buttons aligned into one single button. There’s also speculation that the iPhone 17 Air will have a single 48MP rear camera bar, which will take crisper images and be part of a 5.5mm thick device; potentially resulting in the thinnest iPhone design ever.

One of the most obvious design changes is the new camera bar layout, which is the first time Apple has focused significantly on altering this area. While it will still have the classic triple-lens triangle first debuted with the iPhone 11 Pro, the microphone, LiDAR scanner, and flash are reportedly all shifting to the right side of the iPhone 17. A new iPhone 17 Air model is expected to be unveiled as well, which will also have the single camera design and should be even thinner than the standard handset. 

When it comes to colours, reports and leaks have both suggested sky blue, pastel purple, and dark green are all being strongly considered as options for the base iPhone 17 models. With Apple’s smartphone rival Samsung making serious strides in the foldables market, don’t be surprised if iPhone follows suit and unveils a much-whispered foldable version of its own. Although, maybe not this year.

A key part of the new iPhone rollout will be iOS 26, which will feature a brand-new operating system that pledges to change the way we scroll. Liquid Glass is the name of this bold design language for Apple’s new operating system, and it uses see-through elements that adapt to finger movement and should – in theory – make it easier to get things done on-the-go. 

But with this iOS update likely to work on iPhones all the way down to the 11, this also means the older models still have a lot of life left in them and should be considered as an eco-friendly, more affordable alternative to getting an iPhone 17.

Apple Watch Series 11 focuses on blood pressure 

The Apple Watch Series 11 is set to be unveiled at the Keynote, alongside the more premium and budget versions like the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3. One feature sure to make the Series 11 popular is a new blood pressure monitoring mode, which ensures levels are healthy and prompts you whenever they’re not, and also 24-hour battery life. 

The new Apple Watch series will be able to connect to 5G due to a better internal modem; its interface will be more intuitive due to linking into Liquid Glass; and there’s also rumours of an AI-powered coaching app, which constantly analyses the body data you upload to Apple Watch and gives you custom workouts designed to keep you as healthy as possible.

The rumours around the latest Apple Watch arguably don’t suggest anything too ground-breaking, either; this, therefore, might make sticking with what you’ve already got, or even turning to an older, more affordable Apple Watch model, the better alternative.

Noise-cancelling AirPods and the long-rumoured Apple Home 

Keynote is the perfect window for Apple to launch the AirPods Pro 3. The internet talk is that the new earphones will sync up with heart rate monitoring apps to give you a live view of your health and feature better noise cancellation software than previous iterations. 

Speculation is also rife around Apple finally unveiling a long-rumoured Apple Home device, which essentially controls your house for you, whether that’s the central heating or monitoring carbon monoxide levels in the air atmosphere. In theory, this should be able to link up to a fridge, with some of the more fanatical corners of the internet claiming Apple has been teasing kitchen devices for years and years now. With or without an iFridge, Apple Home would try to compete with Amazon’s Echo Show and Google’s Nest Hub.

At the WWDC Keynote in June, Apple announced new iOS 26 features will allow an iPad to run more like a MacBook. Now, there are rumours that Apple will make its new AirPods listen to all live conversations and translate them for you, should they be in a foreign language. Whatever the reality (and we’d love it if Apple released a new iPod), there’s an obvious excitement building among Apple’s cult fanbase as the countdown speeds up to the second week of September. 

As the rumour mill continues to spill over, Back Market remains the destination for refurbished Apple devices (and even Apple alternatives) ahead of what’s sure to be a very expensive new line-up of products.