We now know – or at least are almost certain – that the iPhone 17 series will be announced on September 9. That includes the iPhone 17 itself along with the iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and probably a totally new model that could be called the iPhone 17 Air.
Why the near-certainty of this date? Well Apple has sent out invites for an event on September 9, starting at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, which is 3am September 10 AEST for those in Australia.
And while the company hasn’t mentioned any iPhone 17 models by name – or even mentioned any phones – based on past form this timing is exactly when I would expect new iPhones to land, so it’s incredibly unlikely that they won’t be present.
But September 9 is just the date when Apple will probably announce these phones – not when they’ll actually be released. So for information on the likely release date, read on.
Expect pre-orders to open on September 12
While I can be confident of the September 9 announcement date, Apple hasn’t provided any clues as to when the iPhone 17 will go up for pre-order. But I still have a very good idea, as all it takes is looking at Apple’s previous patterns.
You see, the company usually opens pre-orders on the Friday of the week the phones were announced, so with the iPhone 17 series expected on Tuesday, September 9, we fully expect pre-orders to open on Friday, September 12.
There’s an outside chance this won’t be the case, but the company rarely breaks from this pattern, so I’d be surprised if September 12 wasn’t the pre-order date.
Likely available from September 19
The iPhone 17 release date is probably what you’re really here for and that’s the date I’m least sure of, but as with the pre-order date we can take a very good guess based on past form.
Specifically, the iPhone 17 series will probably start shipping one week after pre-orders open, which in all likelihood means Friday, September 19. That fits Apple’s typical patterns and is also a date that has been leaked.
That means September 19 is probably the day your iPhone 17 will arrive on your doorstep if you pre-ordered it, and that it’s also likely the day you’ll be able to walk out of a shop with an iPhone 17 or one of its siblings.
That said, even assuming that is the release date, it’s worth noting that these phones may well sell out, so if you don’t put in a pre-order on September 12 then you could be waiting longer.