[NewsPoster]

I've been battered with requests on Facebook and Twitter to talk about what we see for the rumored (but likely) September Apple media event. My response sits on a clipping on my desktop, and says in essence, that there is little value in speculating, as Apple will do what Apple will do, but the requests continue. Fine. I give up! I've corralled the staff, and forced them to write about what they see for the next event, and to criticize the rumor mill at large. Read on for our thoughts.

Managing Editor Mike Wuerthele

The only thing I know for sure is Apple will disappoint the mercurial stock market with whatever they release, and I say that without fear. I've never really thought that the subscription television service was going to materialize this year, and all of the regular channels that report this are walking it back already, all part of the rumor ecosystem. So, color me about as shocked as you'd think, given my previous stance on the service.

To go with this, I don't foresee a hugely different new Apple TV either. There's just no reason to do so at this point! If there's anything to it at all, it'll get a new processor, and perhaps app support, but I doubt either of those at this time. I don't see more than a token nod to the Apple TV at all.

The iPhone will get "s" versions -- faster processors, and the force touch screen that we've been hearing rumors circulate. I don't think the force touch screen will be on the non-plus version of the phone, though. This event, whenever it will be will be iterative, and not revolutionary in any way.

There will be no new "c" version, and I think the old "c" version sticks around as the new phone with contract, for the carriers that still offer those. The industry is fading away from contract subsidies, and I think this Apple event will gloss over that, but I also think that there won't be a new "low-end" phone to support that "no cost" offering.

As far as iPads go, count on a new mini, and a new iPad Air 3. I don't think we'll see a larger format iPad Pro, as that will be able to hold its own event, nor is it for the holiday season. Obviously, no new iPods.

This event won't be an omnibus event, updating the entire product line, nor will there be any real "one more thing." I'm not predicting anything more than lip service for anything OS X. I suspect a more OS X and hardware-focused one will be in October.

Staff Writer William Gallagher - Definitely maybe

There's a British footballer named Paul Gascoigne who reportedly once declared "I never predict anything, and I never will." I don't follow football, and could barely pick the guy out in a TV interview with his name at the bottom of the screen, but he reminds me of the Mac press. That instantaneous and utterly unconscious move to predicting no future predictions feels like when technology writers say you can't get any future product news out of Apple -- and then claim to have inside information that does exactly that.

We do see this with Microsoft, as people try to predict what number the next version of Windows will be. We do get it with Samsung, when people try to guess which Apple technology they're going to "invent." Yet it's really only with Apple that we get this excruciatingly in-depth prediction with every blurry photograph of aluminium studied for clues. If the same amount of effort that is put into analyzing photographs of leaked parts was put into taking better photographs of them, we might have something.

Only, I'm slightly biased against predictions because I don't want them. Spoilers. It's amazing to me that a technology company's product release list could be something I want to enjoy, but it is. Steve Jobs saying "stop me if you've heard this one" is funny, but I'd rather not have heard until things are unveiled.

I have an old colleague who got mightily annoyed at one WWDC when, as he put it, Apple took two hours to say what they could've done in a press release. They always do it, he says, and they did it again. I can understand why he wasn't thrilled by the demos that make a mountain out of some tiny template feature in Pages, but he predicted it would last two hours based only how Apple said it would, and Apple always does this. That's a 100 percent correct prediction, and it was so worthless as to make it difficult for me to nod politely at him.

In contrast, I freely predict that my MacNN colleagues will be more astute than he was, and also cleverer than I am. It's an easy prediction: I know them, and I know that they are both knowledgeable and battle-worn experienced. If they say something is going to happen, I'd put their money on it.

I just know something they don't. You can't get this from Apple, they won't say it, but it's fact. Guaranteed. Apple will not introduce new iPhones. I've only just bought an iPhone 6 a few weeks ago, they wouldn't do that to me.

At the very most, maybe they could do a new version of the Plus, I'd be okay with that. Actually, they could do something about the Plus's weird downscaling display. I might have gone for an iPhone 6 Plus if I could've afforded it, but what I tell people held me back was how the screen feels like a temporary stopgap. Where the Plus deals with 1242 x 2208 pixels, it only displays 1080 x 1920. I say only: that's still enough to make it sharp and gorgeous. Yet it's surely squeezed down to that because the phone has 1080 x 1920 physical pixels in the screen. So I'm expecting the 6s Plus or perhaps the 7 Plus to have a greater resolution screen.

Staff Writer Malcolm Owen

I will willingly admit that I have an extremely poor track record when it comes to predicting things. Aside from the large number of losing lottery tickets I have bought over the years, I also admit to owning an Ouya, acquiring a Sony Xperia Z2 just before the company decided to do a six-monthly update cycle, and believing that going to work in a call center for many years was a highly lucrative thing to do. Poor predictive skills or a reverse "Midas touch?" You be the judge.

Luckily, the way that Apple and the tech industry as a whole holds their events means there is a deep sense of predictability that is evident when you look at two or three years of promotional output from a company. So long as I don't make any majorly outlandish suggestions, maybe my predictions will actually be accurate. Hopefully.

Seeing as though Apple used the 2013 September event to introduce the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the 2014 version, it doesn't take that much of a stretch to suggest a new iPhone generation is on the way. I'd expect a continued use of ion-strengthened glass, despite everyone's clamoring for sapphire, with a normal pedestrian unibody design that doesn't use that much Liquid Metal, except for maybe a few decorative items.

I'm guessing there will be two phones, with the larger one using a 2560x1440 resolution to keep up with competing flagship devices, while the "regular" version will get the 1080p resolution. As for the naming convention this time, Apple could end up going with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Overall thickness will be marginally smaller than the iPhone 6, if only for Apple to claim it to be the "thinnest iPhone ever," the A8 processor will continue to be used, and Apple will finally upgrade that eight-megapixel rear sensor to something beefier, like a 16MP or 20MP version.

It has been a while since Apple did something with the iPad, and we have two possible routes for it to follow if a new one is on the way. It could go for a new iPad Air or Mini, with the usual thinner, lighter, better looking, and higher specification claims, or it could go down the route of the iPad Pro. This would involve an even higher specification tablet with a larger, higher-resolution display, though this this the more unlikely of the two.

For the Macbook ranges, I'm guessing there will be few in the way of changes to the lineup. Sure, the Intel processor refresh to Skylake could happen, but nothing outlandish will come from the event. There is an outside chance that Apple will consider adding at least one more USB-C port to the MacBook, but I doubt it.

Last September, the Apple Watch had its official launch as the "one more thing" item. One year later, I believe Apple hasn't yet reached the point where it needs to change the design or release models at different price points, other than what it already offers. Users are extremely satisfied with the Watch, and Apple is unlikely to want to rock the boat, especially this soon into the product's life. Maybe it will show off some third-party docks for it with the charger built into the design. Maybe it will have some extra add-on hardware.

Lastly, there have been relatively few in the way of Mac Pro-related announcements since we had the waste paper bin design introduced to us. Maybe Tim Cook will come out on stage and advise of higher-specification models, or even a choice of finish, so users can choose an extremely shiny chrome version, or even one under the Product (RED) campaign. Or maybe not.

Charles Martin - Editor

Congratulations, you've made it to the bottom of the list. I'll keep it short and sweet and safe: two new iPhones (6s and 6s Plus) with updated processors and better cameras, more lightly-refreshed iPad Air and Mini, an updated Apple TV with a new interface and its own App Store section, and a lengthy tour through iOS 9, OS X 10.11, and watchOS 2. Things I would like to see, but can't count on seeing: an apology for messing up iTunes, a new 4K Thunderbolt Display, a major update to Photos, Canada and/or China gaining Apple Pay, a new podcast-creation tool (to replace what they took out of the previous version of Garageband) because podcasts are a thing again, and updated versions of the (formerly known as) iWork apps.

[what-a-day]

The only thing that is for sure, is that Apple will continue to make products that have limited repair, expansion possibilities. They are destined to become the largest disposable product company in the world. Just like diapers.

[Charles Martin]

Actually, as numerous third-party companies will attest, the iPhone is pretty easy to repair. As is the Mac Pro and the non-Retina MacBook. It's true that most other Mac models have decreasing numbers of user-replaceable parts, but likewise it is also true that the need to repair those "sealed" components has gone down dramatically since the company started doing that.

[Charles Martin]

PS. I am personally in favor of limited user-replacability for things like hard drives (in the decreasing number of Macs that still use them) and RAM, but beyond that there's very little need to make any other components user-replaceable, since only a tiny percentage of Mac owners ever upgrade components at all, and just a fraction of a percent go beyond upgrading RAM, and since the invention of USB 3 and Thunderbolt, there's been very little reason to upgrade internal storage.

[what-a-day]

It is not just the expansion but repairing. No Apple help after vintage, and parts start disappearing when vintage - gone when obsolete. Many of these computers capable of using latest OS but not repairable. Apple moves users to lower RAM to outdate upgradability sooner rather than later. Look at new 12in macbook what's upgradable? I get it. Let's make it really portable, but carry around an external drive with the rest of your data. Throw in some more adapters to boost sales profits. Instead of replacing standalone parts. Try 3 Topcase, Logic Board and Screen. Now what do those cost each? Where can I get them? For how long?

[what-a-day]

Soon we will have from the recent patent filing, rechargeable batteries that may not be replaceable. Apple's 'Magic Mouse 2' and updated wireless keyboard will feature built-in Li-Ion batteries.