Apple has announced that its much-awaited iPhone 13 will be unveiled this coming September 14, and just like how it introduced iPhone 12, the event will also be fully virtual.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, there wouldn't be just one, but four variants of the iPhone 13 that will be released: the iPhone 13, the iPhone 13 Mini, the iPhone 13 Pro, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
CNET analyzed Apple's event timeline a few years ago which led it to create a theory called the "Labor Day hypothesis." Based on Apple's 2021 calendar, the Labor Day rule would have put the September Apple event, including the new iPhone's unveiling, this week.
But since Apple has officially announced that it will roll out the iPhone 13 on September 14, it appears that the hypothesis has "failed" to work this year.
Apple kicked off 2021 by launching its first event last April (which was fully virtual) and unveiled its new iPads, purple iPhone 12, AirTags, and its eye-candy yet powerful iMac computers. After that, the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference arrived in June and the tech giant unveiled its iOS 15.
What's notable about these two events was that there was not even a hint or a short mention about the next iPhone. But as excited as everyone is with the iPhone 13, nobody was really expecting that it will be announced that early.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has predicted that Apple would again push for another all-virtual affair since it has pushed back its return to in-person work because of the ongoing global health crisis.
Previously, Apple has already made public that all its employees would be required to report for work three days a week starting this month.
Gurman said that if Apple remained on its original September timeframe, then an in-person iPhone 13 event would be possible.
Also, the pandemic hasn't spared anyone, even major tech companies like Apple, whose original production schedules for its products were delayed because of COVID-19.
But many analysts predict that Apple might return to its normal production and unveiling schedules this 2021.
Apple is also expected to unveil its next-generation Apple Watch Series 7, and a new pair of AirPods, in addition to the iPhone 13's release.
