Apple's 'iPhone 7' Could Hit Stores on Sept. 23, a Week Later Than Expected

This year, Apple is expected to hold its September media event on Sept. 7; given the company's past performance, this led us to expect preorders for the handsets to launch on Sept. 9, and availability to begin the following week, on Sept. 16. However, as 9to5mac observes, Apple could delay the anticipated launch of its new smartphones by one week this year, launching the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and possibly even the iPhone 7 Pro on Sept. 23, instead.

This is all based on a leaked AT&T retail schedule, above right, in which the carrier details “upcoming merchandising reset hours.” The reset dates, Sept. 9 and Sept. 23, indicate that preorders for the iPhone 7 could indeed begin on Sept. 9, but that the new devices might instead launch on Sept. 23, one week later than expected.

Put in historical context, both the September 16 and September 23 release dates are possible based on September 9 pre-orders. In 2014, the iPhone 6 launched on September 19 after a September 12 pre-order (7 days); and in 2015, the iPhone 6s launched on September 25 after a September 12 pre-order (13 days) so either a one week or two week period between pre-orders and launch is possible.

Of course, this is all pure speculation: Apple hasn't announced its iPhone 7 event date, and this could be different, too – especially since new Apple Watches are expected to be announced alongside the iPhone 7 series handsets.

Earlier today, we heard Apple could bring a blue iPhone to the market, after all: a blue prototype iPhone 7 appeared to hit the Web in a Twitter update, indicating that the navy-colored handset isn't just a Space Black iteration, after all. We'll keep you updated with further information concerning the new handsets as we receive it; in the meantime, check our main page for the rest of today's Apple-related news.