Technologies
Apple Event 2023: iPhone 15 Launch and Everything Else We Expect to See on Sept. 12
We could see the iPhone 15, Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and, maybe, an iPhone 15 Ultra.

In another sign that fall is just around the corner, Apple sent out invites for an event that’s set to take place at the Steve Jobs Theater on Tuesday, Sept. 12, where we expect to see the next iPhone and Apple Watches announced. The annual fall iPhone event has become a cultural touch point heralding the end of summer, right up there with pumpkin spice.
For months, a seemingly endless flow of iPhone 15 rumors have circulated online. Some hint at a rather straightforward round of year-over-year upgrades, while others point to the possibility of a rebranded larger Pro model called the iPhone 15 Ultra. Let’s break down everything you can expect from Apple’s fall event.
Wanderlust or wonderlust?
The event’s invite is characteristically enigmatic, showing an Apple logo made up of tiny dustlike particles. The logo has grooves carved out of it, a bit like the forms you see on windswept sand dunes.
The tagline, «Wonderlust,» is of course a play on the word wanderlust, which means a strong longing for or impulse toward wandering. Does wonderlust mean a strong longing for or impulse toward wondering? Like everyone else, we’re trying to read something into the invite and wondering what it has to do with Apple’s upcoming announcements. Could the grooved cutouts in the logo refer to a less boxy iPhone design? Could the particles refer to improved cameras capable of capturing more detail? Could the colors — metallic shades of gray, blue and even gold — be a reference to the colors of the new iPhone or Apple Watch?
Or is this all just Apple acknowledging the fleeting nature of existence? No idea. But I expect the iPhone 15 Pro will be the headliner.
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus
As in the iPhone 14 series, there will likely be four models in the new iPhone lineup: the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has a solid record when covering Apple leaks, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will basically be a repackaged iPhone 14 Pro without the telephoto camera or stainless steel body.
The new phones would inherit a 48-megapixel main camera and the A16 chip from the 14 Pros. On the outside, the two phones will trade their display notches for the Dynamic Island cutout that also debuted on the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.

Despite the addition of the Dynamic Island, don’t expect any other changes to the screen. Display analyst Ross Young said in a September 2022 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he isn’t expecting base iPhone 15 models to get a high refresh rate like Apple’s Pro iPhones.
And according to a May report by ChargerLab, a battery and charging specialist website with a steady track record for rumors, all four iPhone 15 models will support 15-watt wireless charging using the Qi2 open standard announced earlier this year. If this turns out to be true, it could mean the iPhone 15 would open up a whole new world of wireless charging devices that don’t necessarily need to be licensed Apple MagSafe accessories.
See also
But the biggest change expected for all four iPhones will be the shift away from the Lightning connector. Likely driven by pressure from the European Union, which passed legislation adopting USB-C as a common charging standard, the iPhone 15 series will have a USB-C port instead of a Lighting port. The last time Apple switched the iPhone’s power port was in 2012, when it debuted the Lighting port on the iPhone 5, which spelled the end of the wide 30-pin iPod connector that was previously used.
It’s a bit hazy how exactly Apple will handle this, like whether USB-C will be on all new iPhones globally or just in the EU. But it’s highly likely that all new iPhone models will be sold with a USB-C port for the foreseeable future.

The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max
Of everything Apple’s expected to announce, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max could have the biggest changes. According to Bloomberg’s Gurman, stainless steel is gone, and instead the Pro model’s frame will be made from titanium. The shift in materials could help reduce the overall weight of each phone, which is hefty even without a case.
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max will likely get a new chip called A17 that features a supertiny, 3-nanometer processor, Apple’s smallest silicon to date. Around the front, the two phones will likely have thinner display bezels.

The Pro models’ biggest change will be the USB-C port, which in a break from the regular 15 and 15 Plus could support faster data speeds for things like transferring files and ProRes video files.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max may get a new 6x optical telephoto camera. Ming-Chi Kuo, a noted Apple analyst with TF International Securities, predicts the iPhone 15 Pro Max will have a horizontal mounted periscope lens and camera unit inside the phone’s body, similar to ones in the Pixel 7 Pro, Galaxy S23 Ultra and Sony Xperia 1 V.
Doubling the native optical zoom from 3x to 6x should enable you to capture zoomed-in photos with better detail, resolution and dynamic range compared with the 6x digital zoom on a current iPhone 14 Pro.

Kuo’s report also hints at both Pro models having solid-state volume and power buttons, which would further differentiate them from the regular 15 and 15 Plus. The buttons wouldn’t be mechanical and would be more akin to the touch sensitive area that debuted on the iPhone 7 and acts like a «home button» thanks to some clever haptic feedback. Back in 2018, the HTC U12 had solid-state buttons instead of mechanical ones; however, the experience using them wasn’t great.
There are a couple of rumors that have been circulating despite being a bit dated or unlikely. The first is that the iPhone 15 Pro Max may be rebranded as the iPhone 15 Ultra. Bloomberg’s Gurman mentioned the possibility nearly a year ago, but that should be taken with a grain of salt since more recently Gurman hasn’t brought it up.
Another up-in-the-air rumor comes by the way of MacRumors, which found code in a beta version of iOS 17 that describes functionality for an action button like the one on the Apple Watch Ultra. Such a hardware addition would be a first for Apple, and the iPhone’s action button would be for more-phone-oriented tasks like shortcuts or triggering the camera shutter. We’ll have to wait until the 12th to find out.
Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2

In a less ambitious update, it seems the next regular Apple Watch will likely be a relatively modest year-over-year iteration of the Apple Watch Series 8. The Series 9 could come in a new color. As reported by MacRumors, based on a post by X/Twitter user ShrimpApplePro, the Apple Watch Series 9 might come in a new pink color.
The Series 9 will likely be powered by a new S9 chip, which Bloomberg’s Gurman, posting to his Power On Discord channel back in May, described as bringing improvements to performance and efficiency. That’s another way of saying the battery life might be better.
The Apple Watch Ultra could see a second-generation version. The rugged watch debuted last year, and a new version could bring a faster chip and come in a black titanium finish, according to an X/Twitter post by ShrimpApplePro. A black version of the Ultra could look amazing!
All right, let’s talk about everything else.
Potpourri and wrap-up

The AirPods case could see a new version with a USB-C connector. iOS 17 and WatchOS 10 will likely get an official release date. And I can’t imagine that Apple would pass up a chance to update everyone on its Vision Pro headset that was announced in June at WWDC.
Obviously, until Tim Cook and crew walk onto that stage in the Steve Jobs Theater and make their announcements, we won’t know anything for certain.
Technologies
This Transformable Electric Truck Could Become the Cheapest EV in the US
Merging retro touches with a high-tech electric platform, the Slate Truck offers a customizable, budget-friendly alternative to traditional EVs.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #686
Hints and answers for Connections for April 27, #686.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections puzzle might make you hungry — especially if you spot the four words in the blue category. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Do the math.
Green group hint: Tresses.
Blue group hint: Munchies.
Purple group hint: Think Stockholm.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Calculator buttons.
Green group: Amounts of hair.
Blue group: Salty snack unit.
Purple group: Swedish ____.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is calculator buttons. The four answers are equals, minus, percent and times.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is amounts of hair. The four answers are lock, shock, thatch and tuft.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is salty snack unit. The four answers are Combo, Goldfish, Ruffle and Taki.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is Swedish ____. The four answers are Chef, Fish, massage and meatball.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #420
Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 420 for April 27.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Sleep used to be so simple, but now it can be complex, as we try to add in extra things to help us get that good night’s rest. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights sleep assistance, and a few of the words are tricky. If you need hints and answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Sleep tight
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzzz…
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- BEDS, MINE, TAKE, TAKES, TAKER, STAKE, LATS, EARL, PLUG, PLUGS, ROUT, MIKE, DATE
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- MASK, EARPLUGS, MELATONIN, MEDITATION, MOUTHGUARD
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is BEDTIME. To find it, start with the B that’s five letters down on the farthest row to the left and wind across.
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