Apple's highly anticipated September media event is being held today at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Cupertino, the site of the unveiling of the original Macintosh and iMac.
The event begins at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time, and Apple is expected to unveil several new products including the iPhone 6 and an "iWatch" wearable device.
Apple will be providing a live video stream on its website for Mac and iOS users and via Apple TV, and the company is also sharing some photos and live blog updates on its event page.
In addition, we will be updating this article with summary coverage and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account as the event unfolds. Separate news stories regarding the event announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.
Apple's online stores around the world are currently down in advance of the event.
Archive of Live Updates in Reverse Chronological Order
Apple is looking to expand its presence in the Pittsburgh area by possibly doubling its office space in the city, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Apple currently operates out of the Robert Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center located at Carnegie Mellon University. Apple joined Intel, Carnegie Mellon CyLab and other innovators when it moved into the site in 2005 .
Apple's lease on the location ends at the end of the year, and there is no room for expansion at the Collaborative Innovation Center. The Cupertino company reportedly talked to Carnegie Mellon about alternative on-campus sites while also hiring a realtor to find a larger facility in a different part of the city. Apple currently leases 12,000 square feet at Carnegie Mellon and is looking to move to a location that offers up to 20,000 square feet. It is not known whether this new office will supplement or replace the current facility at the Collaborative Innovation Center.
Apple is expanding its domestic footprint on many fronts, including building a new data facility in Reno, Nevada and expanding its operations office in Austin, Texas. And just yesterday it was reported Apple is working to expand its facilities in the Boston area where it has a team working on speech recognition.
The company also is building a new corporate office in Cupertino that is under extensive construction. The highlight of the new campus is Apple's "spaceship" office building, which will occupy 2.8 million square feet when it is completed in 2016. The site also will house a 2,400 car parking garage, 100,000 square foot fitness center, 120,000 square foot auditorium, and more than 4,500 trees.
Samsung's Belgian division is having some fun with the hype surrounding Apple's press event and using this occasion to support a worthy cause. According to the division's website, the company will buy a pear for each tweet about an apple. Samsung will distribute the pears free of charge tomorrow at the Brussels-North railway station.
This #aPearForAnApple promotion is one of several campaigns to support Belgian pear farmers who face financial difficulty after Russia recently banned the import of some foods from the EU and the US. Russia is Belgium's main pear purchaser, buying up to $127 million or 40 percent of the total pear harvest each year. Belgians are using the hashtags #ToffePeer and #ShareAPear to encourage citizens to eat more pears and offset the financial consequences of the ban.
It's not surprising to see Samsung use the hype surrounding Apple as part of a marketing stunt. The Korean company is known for its clever marketing blitzes that often focus on the iPad, iPhone or Apple fans. In its recent Galaxy S5 commercial, Samsung mocked the iPhone's integrated battery design and short battery life, calling iPhone owners "wall huggers" who can't stray from their public power outlets.
Apple's keynote kicks off at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, and MacRumors will also be providing a live blog, live tweets via the MacRumorsLive Twitter account, and a spoiler-free page for those who want to watch the full keynote at a later time.
Over the weekend, Weibo user zzrayshowed off an apparently working 4.7-inch iPhone 6, offering a first look at the device. Now, the user has also posted more information about the device (Google Translate, via GforGames), including results from a Geekbench 3 test that reveal a 1.4 GHz ARM processor and 1 GB of RAM for the device.
The results show that the iPhone 6 scored a 1633 on the single-core test and a 2920 on the multi-core test, which is greater than the 1305 single-core and 2347 dual-core Geekbench 3 scores for the 1.3 GHz A7 chip on the iPhone 5s. This also contrasts a previous report, which claimed that the A8 chip would top 2 GHz while remaining dual-core.
The data also displays 1GB of RAM, which is the same amount of RAM included on the iPhone 5s. A wiring schematic said to be from the iPhone 6 that surfaced last month also indicated that the device would have 1 GB of RAM.
iPhone 6 shot (left) compared to iPhone 5s (middle) and LG G3 (right)
The user has also posted a photo from the iPhone 6 and compared it to the same shot taken with iPhone 5s and LG G3. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is said to come with an improved camera module which is said to offer faster focusing speeds and power efficiency. Other leaks have pointed to the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 featuring an optical image stabilization system.
Apple is expected to reveal both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 alongside the iWatch at a media event scheduled for today at 10 AM. MacRumors will have live coverage of the event as it unfolds.
Minnesota-based medical group Mayo Clinic will be at Apple's special media event tomorrow to demonstrate how iOS 8's new Health app can benefit medical professionals, reports the Star Tribune. The paper states that Mayo will show how data from the Health app can flow into a sophisticated management system of a major health center.
Apple and Mayo Clinic have reportedly been working together for two years. The medical group's CEO Dr. John H. Noseworthy was quoted as saying that Apple's Health and HealthKit development tools have the potential to "revolutionize how the health industry interacts with people" when both were introduced at WWDC this past June.
Last month, Apple was also said to be in talks with health providers at Mount Sinai, Cleveland Clinic, John Hopkins, and Allscripts to roll out HealthKit to their facilities. According to sources close to the discussions, Apple has been positioning HealthKit and its Health app as an all-in-one solution for medical professionals to store patient data for easier access and to improve diagnostics.
Apple's media event kicks off at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, and MacRumors will have full coverage of the event as it unfolds.
This past July, Apple and IBM announced an exclusive enterprise mobility partnership that would see both companies collaborating on a series of new business apps and services. As a part of the agreement, IBM would begin selling iOS devices to its corporate customers, create iOS apps, and provide cloud services, while Apple would offer a new AppleCare service tailored to specific enterprise needs.
Apple CEO Tim Cook and IBM CEO Virginia Rometty (Apple/Paul Sakuma)
Now, in an interview with Tech Pro Research, IBM executive Glenn Finch has given new details on the company's partnership with Apple, including how its enterprise apps will fit into the iOS ecosystem. According to Finch, IBM will create a hundred apps across a number of industries including software for financial services, telecom, and health. The executive also noted that the apps with be tailored to "client demand", as feedback will play a major role in making design changes.
"The promise of this whole partnership," Finch explained to me, is that "you have a built-in adoption curve already present." His customers in the enterprise already use iPhones and iPads at home; they trust Apple, they trust the apps, and they intuitively know how to work with them. The devices are known.
Finch also spoke on where the companies overlap, stating Apple's focus on user experience and design compliment IBM's data-driven approach. AppleCare support for enterprises will also be a joint effort between the two companies, as Apple technicians will perform warranty work on hardware while app maintenance and support will be provided by IBM.
From a procurement perspective, Apple already has an enterprise group and IBM isn't looking to step on their toes - however, IBM has an army of salespeople with clients every day, something that Apple is sorely lacking. The two companies are working out the specifics there to make sure they don't trip over each other too much.
Apple and IBM will begin rolling out its first apps under the new partnership later this fall, as more apps are scheduled to be released in 2015. Both companies will also look to launch AppleCare support for enterprises later this year.
On the eve of Apple's September 9 special event, the Financial Times has released a new look at how Apple is impacting the wearable market despite not having officially announced its first wearable product. Specifically, the paper cites Forrester Research, who notes Apple could sell 10 million iWatches in its first year, which would make it the best-selling wrist-based wearable ever.
Forrester Research believes Apple will sell as many as 10m iWatches in its first year. That, Forrester says, is more than all the other manufacturers of wrist-based wearables have sold to date, including Nike’s Fuelband fitness tracker, Samsung’s Gear smartwatches and devices by younger companies such as Fitbit and Jawbone.
Other analysts, like Morgan Stanley, predict that Apple could sell as many as 30 - 60 million iWatches within the first year. Both research firms predict that Apple would lead the wearable market, with Forrester Research analysts James McQuivey and JP Gownder saying that only Google and Amazon would be "close behind", while everyone else would be the equivalent of the "next Flipcam, Palm Pilot or Nook eReader".
Late last week, Sung-jin Lee, LG's director of watch product planning, toldReuters that Apple offering its own wearable product would expand the market. Sunny Lee, CEO of Samsung Europe, agreed, noting that that is "what [Samsung] wanted". While it doesn't seem like LG and Samsung's comments corroborate McQuivey and Gownder's prediction, it does seem to indicate that both companies think that Apple could give the wearable market a boost.
Today's event, which looks to be one of the biggest Apple events in some time, will begin at 10 a.m. PST. The company is expected to debut its long-rumored wearable and a brand new mobile payment initiative alongside the debut of the iPhone 6 in both 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch varieties.
Last week, rumors suggested that Apple was planning to involve U2 in its upcoming iPhone 6 launch, with the band possibly performing at the event or including its new album on the iPhone 6. Those rumors were later dismissed by a U2 spokesperson, but it appears U2 may indeed be a part of tomorrow's event.
According to a new report from The New York Times, U2 will play a "significant part" in Apple's event at the Flint Center. Not only will U2 play at the event, its upcoming album will be integrated into Apple's products in some way.
Extending a decade-long connection with Apple, U2 will play a significant part in Apple's event, which will be held at a performing arts center in Cupertino, Calif., the company's home base, according to three people briefed on its plans. In addition to performing, the band will reveal an integration with Apple's products that is connected to its next album, which is expected to come out by the end of the year, according to these people, who spoke anonymously because the band's appearance -- and its deal with Apple -- is supposed to be a surprise.
Apple and U2 have had a long partnership, as Steve Jobs and Bono were good friends. Starting in 2004, Apple released several special edition U2 iPods, which included the band's signatures and U2's music. Apple has also been a longtime partner of (Product) RED, a charity founded by Bono, so another major partnership is no surprise.
Bono with Steve Jobs at 2004 U2 iPod event courtesy of The New York Times
It is not clear exactly what U2 will reveal on Tuesday or how it will be connected to Apple, but The New York Times says that reports suggesting the iPhone 6 will come with U2's newest album were false. Instead, U2's deal with Apple will see the band's music released in an "innovative way" with Apple's event serving as a "big, splashy stunt to generate publicity."
Apple, for its part, has been building a massive structure at the Flint Center at De Anza college, where its iPhone event will be held. Some rumors have suggested that the structure could be a stage, with a Cupertino resident remarking that it "looked like a sound stage going up for a rock concert."
Tomorrow's event, which will kick off at 10 a.m. PST, is expected to be Apple's biggest event in some time. The company will debut the iPhone 6 in 4.7 and 5.5 inch varieties and it is also said to be unveiling both its long-rumored wearable device and a new payments initiative involving both the iWatch and the iPhone 6.
With Apple's September 2014 media event kicking off Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, some users are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with the link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.
Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow the events refrain from making any posts in the thread about Tuesday's announcements.
Last year, we highlighted a profile of Apple's Boston-area speech technology team speculated to be working on enhancements to Siri. The group's efforts appear to have been ramping up since that time, with a June report claiming Apple is seeking to eventually move away from the Nuance-powered system currently used for Siri.
Apple's team in Cambridge appears to still be growing, with BetaBoston reporting Apple has leased 13,000 square feet of new space to house the team.
Several commercial realtors tell me that the Cupertino company has leased more than half a floor at One Broadway, an MIT-owned building that also houses Facebook’s small local team, several venture capital firms, and the Cambridge Innovation Center. The new office, about 13,000 square feet on one of the building’s upper floors, is a major expansion for Apple, which currently has a small team on the building’s fifth floor.
Earlier reports had noted Apple's recruitment of several former Nuance employees for the team, and BetaBoston reports Apple has recently added members from Amazon, research and development firm BBN Technologies, and data management firm Actifio.
Apple has reportedly not yet begin building out its new space in Cambridge, but it could house up to 65 employees once completed.
Apple may be developing a rewards program as part of its mobile payments initiative, reports Bank Innovation. Apple is reportedly working on a pilot program that will see it developing partnerships with multiple retailers, which goes hand in hand with several previous loyalty program rumors. A proprietary rewards program could give Apple a way to distinguish itself from other mobile payment services.
According to sources with knowledge of Apple's plans, the company has been in talks with InterContinental Hotels Group (seemingly incorrectly referred to as "IGH International" in the report), a global hotel chain, about a possible partnership for a loyalty program and has been hiring to fill positions related to the pilot program, which may be built into iTunes.
Bank Innovation specifically points towards an Apple job opening seeking a "Senior World Wide Partner Marketing Manager," who will create programs and training materials for "external partners" and who will focus on driving customer adoption of "existing and new features." Other similar job postings also hint at the development of a major program focused on third-party partnerships, which may be a loyalty program.
The site suggests that the company is just now beginning to hire for the division, which means a possible loyalty program is unlikely to be available right when its payments service launches.
Sources close to Apple say the company has just started hiring for this division, and that, before the recent high-profile iCloud hack, the plan was to announce the pilot on Tuesday along with Apple's other announcements. That very well may happen, or the announcement could be postponed until a later date -- when more deals are in place and the mainstream media moves on from the iCloud cyberattack. Since Apple's hiring for positions for this program now, but we don't expect this program to be fully ready in the near future.
If a rewards program is indeed in the works, it appears to be in the early stages. There's no word yet on the scope of the program or how it might work, but more information may be revealed tomorrow, when Apple unveils its mobile payments initiative for the first time.
Rumors about Apple's payment plans have been leaking out in recent weeks, and the company has reportedly signed deals with major credit card companies including Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, as well as major credit card issuers. Apple is also said to be partnering with multiple retailers for the service, including Walgreens, CVS, and Nordstrom.
Apple's payment service is said to rely on NFC, which will be built into both the iPhone 6 and Apple's upcoming wearable device. It will also integrate with Touch ID for security purposes, and it will take advantage of tokenization to provide additional security and to prevent theft.
With less than 24 hours to go until tomorrow's major media event, Apple has begun redirecting its entire homepage in the U.S., Apple.com, to Apple.com/live, which displays a countdown to the event. Apple's move to redirect all homepage traffic to its event countdown is undoubtedly an effort to ramp up anticipation for its upcoming announcements.
Apple's promotion of the event along with its location at the Flint Center, where the original Mac was unveiled, suggests that Apple has something huge in the works for tomorrow's announcements. While Apple's media events are always major affairs, Apple has made an extra effort this year to build up hype for the big unveiling.
Apple has plans to live stream the event on its website and the company will likely stream the event to the Apple TV with a dedicated channel, as it has done for past events. MacRumors will be providing live coverage of the event, both on MacRumors.com and on the MacRumorsLive Twitter account for those unable to watch Apple's live stream.
Tomorrow's event kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific Time at the Flint Center at De Anza College in Cupertino. Apple is expected to unveil a multitude of new products and services, including two versions of the iPhone 6, its much-rumored wearable device, and its mobile payments initiative.
When iOS 8 is released to the public this fall, users will be able to take advantage of several new operating system features, including app extensions. App extensions are designed to allow third-party apps to share services with other apps, letting apps work together and interface in ways that they never have before.
We've shared a brief look at app extensions in the iOS 8 version of 1Password, but as the launch date of the new operating system approaches, developers are hard at work integrating Apple's APIs into their apps and have been sharing more information on some of the ways app extensions will work.
Microsoft will be updating OneNote for iPhone and iPad to take advantage of Apple's iOS 8 share extension, adding useful new capabilities to the note taking app through built-in share sheets.
As demoed in the video above, a OneNote button in Safari (accessed via the share sheet) will let users quickly clip articles and information from the web, automatically inserting content into the OneNote app. The OneNote Share Extension will also allow users to export files to OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage service, and it's also possible to save photos from the device's camera roll to the app.
The sharing functions built into the OneNote app will undoubtedly become common features in many iOS apps in the future, making it easier than ever to share content between apps and services. In addition to offering inter-app sharing features, Apple's Extensibility APIs let apps access system-wide third party keyboards, add widgets to the Notification Center, share photo editing extensions, and more.
Microsoft plans to release its OneNote update on the same day that iOS 8 becomes available to the public, which should be shortly before the iPhone 6 begins shipping to customers.
Though Apple is planning to unveil two iPhones tomorrow, in 4.7 and 5.5-inch varieties, there's been surprisingly little information on what the two devices might be called. According to a new report from Mac Otakara [Google Translate], Apple will refer to the smaller 4.7-inch iPhone as the "iPhone 6," while the larger 5.5-inch version will be called the "iPhone 6 Plus."
It is unknown what source Mac Otakara derived its information from, but the site has provided accurate predictions in the past. MacRumors has also heard the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus monikers from a second source, but it remains unclear if that is indeed Apple's naming plan.
iPhone 5s next to physical mockups of 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6
Interestingly, the "plus" naming schematic actually dates back to very early iPhone rumors, where the device was reportedly referred to as the "iPhone Math" in a mistranslation that many assumed meant "iPhone Plus." Other possible names for the 5.5-inch iPhone included "iPhone Air," a term that surfaced from Chinese media sources and seemed to fit in with the rest of Apple's "Air" lineup, including the MacBook Air and the iPad Air."
With approximately 24 hours to go until Apple's September 9 media event, it won't be long before we find out the official names for the two devices. Along with the iPhone 6, the event is also expected to see the unveiling of the much-anticipated "iWatch" and Apple's mobile payments service.
A new report [Google Translate] from French site iGen.fr claims Apple may begin selling both of its iPhone 6 models at the same time. According to the report, which is based on the same source who accurately predicted previous Apple product launches, the two models would go on sale starting Friday, September 19. That has been the most widely expected date for the first wave of launches given Apple's previous announcement and launch patterns.
Perhaps in line with a lack of significant leaks of parts for the larger model, a separate source indicates that the 4.7-inch model is likely to be available in higher quantities than the 5.5-inch model. MacRumors has heard similar news from a reliable source, who has indicated that two different iPhone models are incoming with the larger model shipping at only half the rates of the smaller one.
Reports of a simultaneous launch for both iPhone 6 models contradicts some earlier reports, including a recent research note from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who believes Apple will stagger the launch of the two iPhone models. According to Kuo, Apple will begin selling the 4.7-inch in September and the 5.5-inch before the end of the year. This staggered launch is attributed to production issues with the 5.5-inch model.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 6 tomorrow at a press event being held at the Flint Center in Cupertino. Besides a larger display, the new iPhone may include a faster A8 processor, up to 128 GB of storage, an updated Touch ID and an improved camera module with image stabilization and a round True Tone flash.
As Apple prepares to launch its new iPhone 6, the iPhone 5 remains the company's most popular model in use, claims Localytics in a report that examines both mobile and web app analytics data from over 100 million iOS devices for the month of August 2014. According to the report, the iPhone 5 has 27 percent market share, edging out the year-old iPhone 5s, which has 25 percent. The now free on contract iPhone 4S rounds out the top three with 21 percent of the iPhone market.
With a new iPhone 6 on the horizon, these iPhone numbers will undoubtedly shift as owners upgrade their phones. The biggest change will likely be in the iPhone 5, which will lose market share as customers take advantage of upgrade offers.
The iPhone 5, launched in 2012, is Apple’s most popular phone with a 27% share, but only leads its successor, the 5s, by a small (2%) margin. This is likely because most iPhones come with a cheaper price if the consumer locks into a two-year contract, putting the average consumer on a two-year upgrade cycle. With the new iPhones expected to be available for purchase later this month, the iPhone 6 will likely eat into the iPhone 5’s market share.
While consumers tend to upgrade their iPhone on a regular basis, the latest Localytics data suggests the iPad has a longer lifespan. Though it is more than three years old, the iPad 2 remains the most popular iPad model in the company's lineup with 29 percent market share. Though it is heavily advertised and has received rave reviews, the current iPad Air occupies fifth place with 13 percent market share, beating only the original iPad.
In the past couple of years, Apple has launched the iPhone in September and the iPad in October, but one recent rumor claimed the company may unveil both devices during its press event tomorrow. But while numerous have pointed toward introduction for both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6, along with the iWatch, new iPads are less certain.
In an interview last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that Apple would be beefing up iCloud security measures in response to the recent disclosure of compromised celebrity accounts. Among the additional security features said to be rolling out over the following two weeks were new email alerts whenever there is an attempted password change, a device restore from the account, or a login from a new device. Password change and login alerts had previously only been sent when the event took place on an unknown Apple device.
As noted by Letem světem Applem and confirmed by MacRumors, Apple has already begun sending out alert emails when iCloud accounts are accessed via web browsers. The alerts are being sent out even if the specific browser has been used previously to access iCloud, but this is presumably a one-time measure that will not be repeated for future logins with that combination of browser and machine.
With Apple rumored to be announcing a mobile payments service at tomorrow's event, it is clear the company needs to reassure users that the company is taking security seriously. While the compromised celebrity accounts were targeted attacks rather than a wholesale breach of Apple's iCloud systems, the company's move to enhance security and keep users informed is an important one.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Apple's highly anticipated September media event is being held today at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Cupertino, the site of the unveiling of the original Macintosh and iMac.
Last year, we highlighted a 
Apple may be developing a rewards program as part of its mobile payments initiative, reports 
