May 4 update: this post, first published on May 3, was updated with further details of the unveiling and launch schedule for the next iPhones.

Apple will launch its next iPhones in September, doubtless. It looks like this fall will see three phones: iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and the company’s first folding phone, which is increasingly believed to be called iPhone Ultra, but could still be named iPhone Fold. But when, exactly?

Apple iPhone 18 Pro: The Keynote Date

Apple is a creature of habit (except for surprise announcements like the recent AirPods Max 2 ), and September is its month of choice for its biggest event of the year. The keynote is the starting pistol for the schedule which finishes with the new iPhones going on sale, less than two weeks later.

Apple’s biggest keynote of the year always features the iPhone, and usually the Apple Watch plus, sometimes, another product like AirPods. It always falls in roughly the first half of September, mostly on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Very occasionally, it happens on a Monday. And the keynote never falls on Sept. 11.

This year, that means there are two sets of dates in contention: Tuesday, Sept. 8 or Wednesday, Sept. 9 or the following week, Tuesday, Sept. 15 or Wednesday, Sept. 16.

But there’s already one of these dates which we can rule out. Apple doesn’t hold the keynote on the day after Labor Day, the first Monday in September. That’s because it needs to fly members of the press and special guests in to Cupertino from around the world.

This year, Labor Day falls on Monday, Sept. 7, so Tuesday, Sept. 8 is out of the question.

The Familiarity Of Sept. 9

If Apple chooses Wednesday, Sept. 9, it will be the exact same date as in the last two years (though that date fell on a Monday in 2024 and Tuesday in 2025).

Alternatively, the following week could mean switching the keynote to the Monday, as in 2024. That would be Monday, Sept. 14, though the Tuesday and Wednesday are still possibilities.

Apple won’t announce the date for a while yet, and production capabilities may play a part: the predicted folding iPhone Ultra is a new product category and sometimes that can lead to delays.

That said, the iPhone Air was a new endeavor and appeared bang on time.

I’m going to stick my neck out and say the keynote will be on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

iPhone 18 Pro Release Date

Apple is at its most consistent when it comes to onsale dates: for the flagship iPhone it’s always the Friday in the week following the keynote.

That means the release date will be either Friday, Sept. 18 or Friday, Sept. 25. My gut says it will be the first of those two, though don’t be surprised if the iPhone Ultra is announced with the other two iPhones but hits shelves a week or two later to accommodate the complexities of foldable screen production.