Apple Event Recap: Everything Announced on September 9th

Apple just wrapped its so-called “Awe-Dropping” event, and the irony writes itself: awe was in short supply, but dropping—expectations, mostly—was plentiful. Yes, the company pushed out some legitimately slick hardware. But if you were hoping for Apple to finally throw something curveball-worthy into the mix, you’re still waiting. Let’s cut through the stage lighting and look at what was actually announced, and what Apple left to collect dust in the rumor mill.

The Headliners: What Apple Did Announce

iPhone 17 and Its Pro Siblings

The iPhone 17 landed with predictable polish: a brighter 6.3-inch ProMotion display, dual 48-megapixel Fusion cameras, Apple’s new A19 chip, and the usual claims of “all-day” battery life. The Pro and Pro Max got their share of upgrades too: vapor-chamber cooling, triple 48-megapixel lenses, and aluminum unibody redesigns. Translation: iterative bumps in the same body style. Preorders start September 12, shipping September 19.

iPhone Air: Thin Is In

The one moment that actually qualified as “new” was the iPhone Air—a wafer-thin slab at just 5.6mm, built with spacecraft-grade titanium. Same camera system, same internals, less mass in your pocket. Price tag? $999.

Spicy.

Same preorder/ship dates as the rest of the line. It’s an engineering flex, sure, but whether people want their phone to be that thin is another matter.

AirPods Pro 3: Translation in Your Ear

AirPods Pro got their third revision with actual substance this time: improved noise cancellation, live translation, and even heart-rate monitoring. Think earbuds that double as a fitness tracker while whispering Mandarin translations into your ear at $249. Out September 19.

Apple Watch Series 11 (Plus SE 3 and Ultra 3)

The Apple Watch is still Apple’s Trojan horse into your health data. Series 11 and Ultra 3 now claim hypertension detection, sleep “optimization,” and – for the Ultra – 5G connectivity. The SE 3 rounds out the bottom end. Apple sweetened the aesthetic pot with new Hermès bands and animated watch faces. The prices didn’t budge: $249 for SE, $399 for Series 11, $799 for Ultra.

watchOS 26: Liquid Glass and AI Sprinkles

Coming September 15, watchOS 26 introduces wrist-flick gestures, ambient noise alerts, Workout Buddy (a thin coat of “Apple Intelligence”), and a shiny new “Liquid Glass” UI aesthetic. It’s gloss. Whether it’s substance depends on how much you like your notifications refracted like crystal.

Nothing new here – we expected this after the iOS 26 release.

The Ghosts: What Apple Didn’t Announce

Now for the real story—the missing pieces.

Foldable iPhone: Still a Fantasy

Samsung has been openly trolling Apple with “it still can’t fold” campaigns. Reddit users piled on too: “Just bring on the foldable already.” Apple, as always, pretended the entire category doesn’t exist.

Apple TV and Apple TV+: Radio Silence

Zero updates on Apple TV hardware. No A17 Pro box, no HomePod mini refresh, no Apple TV+ announcements, not even a token sizzle reel of upcoming shows. For a company pitching itself as a services giant, the silence was deafening.

Siri and AI: Deferred to 2026

Apple mumbled about “Apple Intelligence” in small ways (translations, contextual nudges), but the promised Siri overhaul? Delayed again. The competition is racing ahead with aggressive AI integrations. Apple’s still beta-testing its poker face.

Audio Beyond AirPods: Nothing

Hope for a new HomePod mini? Crickets. The audio lineup stayed frozen in time.

Real Breakthroughs: Also Missing

If you were waiting for fast charging, radical design shifts, or anything that genuinely breaks with iPhone convention, better luck next September. One Redditor nailed it: “The design is almost the same; the features are not that breaking… tougher glass, faster chip, and that’s it.”

The Takeaway

Apple’s September 9 event didn’t crash and burn—it never does—but it also didn’t deliver that jolt of surprise people keep hoping for. We got a thinner iPhone, earbuds that translate on the fly, and a watch that now thinks it’s your doctor. Useful? Sure. Groundbreaking? Not really.

What stings more are the silences: no foldables, no Apple TV+ updates, no bold AI move. Just another year of incremental upgrades wrapped in shiny marketing. And maybe that’s the point—Apple’s banking on refinement while everyone else throws spaghetti at the wall. For fans, it’s a comfortable routine. For skeptics, it’s starting to feel like déjà vu.