New Date Enters The Schedule
Updated Aug. 16 with further details for the full schedule of what’s coming when plus more analysis.
In less than four weeks, all will be revealed about the iPhone 17 series. That’s because on Tuesday, Sept. 9, Apple will hold its keynote unveiling the new hardware, I believe. Now, a new date has been added to the mix. You can read the full schedule here but it’s also laid out in detail below. Meanwhile, an invite to the keynote has appeared — but it’s almost certainly fake. More on that below.
It looks like this year’s iPhone unveiling will be on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
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It’s also worth remembering that the iPhone won’t be the only product announced at the keynote. Apple is almost certain to introduce two new Apple Watches (Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3), and maybe even a new version of AirPods Pro. All will be announced at the same time and will almost certainly have the same release date.
Apple iPhone 17 Release Date: The New Entry In The Schedule
Mark Gurman’s Bloomberg Power On newsletter is always full of interesting nuggets. In the latest issue, he mentioned something that has so far been absent from release date schedules. Among all the talk of the keynote date, the onsale date and even the date for when the keynote date will be unveiled (all of which are below, with timings down to the minute), there has been scant talk of the release for iOS 26.
More than in recent years, the new software has captured the public’s imagination this year. Although iOS 26 will be pre-installed on the iPhone 17 series, it will also work on iPhones all the way back to the iPhone 11. So, when will it go on general release?
Gurman commented that the new software is “pretty smooth”, and has since said on X that the latest, sixth developer beta is “ridiculously snappy”. So much so that “it’s clear that we’re pretty close to the release of the final, public versions,” he said.
I believe it’s possible to pin the release down further than “the first half of September,” as Gurman comments.
Last year, iOS 18 went on general release on Monday, Sept. 16, exactly a week after the keynote and four days before the Friday, Sept. 20 onsale date of the iPhone 16 series.
I believe this year’s general release for iOS 26 will follow a near-identical schedule, and will be available from around 10 a.m. Pacific on either Monday, Sept. 15 or just possibly Tuesday, Sept. 16.
I favor the Monday because excitement in the new software is so high Apple will want it out as soon as it can, plus, it seems in good shape already.
That’s the day to mark in your diary, unless Apple contradicts the iOS 26 release date, which it will likely announce on the day of the keynote. I’ll update this post as soon as the details are confirmed.
iPhone 17 Release Date: The Full Schedule
As for the rest of the schedule, here are the most important dates. I’ll also update this post as soon as any are confirmed officially.
First up is the announcement of the keynote. This is likely to be around 8 a.m Pacific, on Tuesday, Aug. 26. This is when invites are sent out by email to selected members of the press and special guests. The exact time is subject to an hour or so’s leeway, and it’s even possible that the invites will go out a day before. Check back here for details as soon as it’s gone live.
There’s already been one “leak” of the invite — you can see it here. Nothing is impossible but to my mind there’s not a shred of doubt: it’s a fake. The time and date are accurate, and the place, but the rest of it is wholly unconvincing. Apple is a stickler for detail, but I’m not sure I believe it needs 87 drafts of an invite.
The next big piece of the puzzle will be the keynote itself. The time will be 10 a.m. Pacific, as this is always Apple’s chosen time for Cupertino unveilings. I believe it will be on Tuesday, Sept. 9 and the possibility of a date change now seems vanishingly small.
Here’s the rest of the schedule. Pre-orders opening is the next event and, if previous timetables apply, will be at 8 a.m. Pacific, Friday Sept. 12.
After that, the first reviews will appear. There’s a bit of latitude here but I believe it will either be Tuesday, Sept. 16 or Wednesday, Sept. 17. As for the timing, that’s likely to be 6 a.m. Pacific, 9 a.m. Eastern, 2 p.m U.K, though it could be later.
Note that whichever date is not when iPhone reviews appear, that day will almost definitely be used for Apple Watch reviews. If there is a third marquee product, such as new AirPods Pro, the review date will be Thursday, Sept. 18, at the same time. Apple recognizes that sticking to the same time each day makes sense.
Finally, the big day itself is the onsale date: it looks to be Friday, Sept. 19 at 7.a.m. wherever you are (so first photos of people leaving Apple Stores clutching iPhones will come from Australia and New Zealand, with Europe later and U.S. after that.
More analysis is reaching us on a near-daily basis. Happily, everything still points to the dates in the schedule above. Few commentaries mention the times, but I’m sure that the timings are correct unless Apple changes from its tried-and-true process (If it ain’t broke…).
Ryan Christoffel at 9to5Mac has useful analysis that specifies what happened when in recent years to help specify the release date. “Regardless of the exact day of the week the iPhone 17 announcement falls on, pre-orders should begin that Friday, with the official release date the following Friday,” he reports.