What would really 'surprise' at Apple’s iPhone event

This episode of One More Thing is brought to you by Xfinity Mobile

How do you get people to pay twice as much for an iPhone? That's the question Apple needs to answer in just a few days

when the company is expected to reveal a folding iPhone and it may cost more than $2,000

The big event happens September 9th. It has the tagline, surprise and shine

Yes, we get new iPhones every September, no surprise there. But there still will be surprises

You should not expect the usual playbook this time. It is the first event with Apple's new CEO, John Turnus, taking the lead, and we may not get every flavor of iPhone this time around

This is One More Thing, the weekly show on all things Apple. And with one more show before the big iPhone event, I'm going to tell you the things to watch for in Apple's presentation and what would really surprise me

Consider this a bit of an inside guide. Most Apple users have had the same iPhone design for over a decade

It's a rectangle. So lots of people are going to be super curious about what a folding iPhone can do to spice things up

But folding phones do not come cheap from any brand. They're usually around two grand and some ysts say Apple's going to charge even more than that

So Apple needs to be focusing its message not just on form, but on function

If we are paying for what feels like two different devices, are you able to live a better life by being able to do more with a folding phone

and what's going to be unique about how apps work on it. I hope to see some demos on how apps function

when the screen is open and large compared to when the phone is closed

What does multitasking look like on this thing? With the price being so high

I want you to listen in when Apple talks about how much more you can get now for trading in your iPhone

After all, it helps cut down the cost. And Apple has a new leasing program

where you can pay for a product in monthly installments and then upgrade a year later

That also eases the pain of a large price tag. If you go off of all the leaks we've seen of the design

there seems to be one downside of this folding iPhone, which many are calling the iPhone Ultra

You see, there are just two camera lenses on the back. That's one less camera

than what you get with an iPhone Pro model. And if you already have an iPhone Pro

you may feel this is a sacrifice to pay more to switch to a fold

Meanwhile it rumored that the new iPhone 18 Pro Max will have an even better camera Here comes the shine part in the surprise and shine Because reports are pointing to the iPhone Pro Max as having a camera with a variable aperture lens

That means something mechanical inside can change the size of the lens opening to control how much light reaches the sensor

So if it's a dark environment, you might get crisper photos in less light

It sounds like Apple might really be leaning into more professional photography use

But the whole reason that I go with an iPhone is because I don't want to think about changing camera settings

I don't want to mess with things like aperture and f-stops. The iPhone just does it

I'm not supposed to think about all this stuff. I just want the phone to do it and I want to have fun with the zoom

So how will Apple present this new feature? That's what I'm watching for

If the iPhone can still make it super easy, but also give me all the benefits of a variable aperture, like give me the real optical depth and not fake blurry backgrounds using software tricks, then this would be a real toss up for the Apple fan on which iPhone to go with in the upgrade

The new iPhone 18 Pro line is said to also come in new colors this year, a light blue and perhaps this deep wine red, like a plum or dark cherry color

Sort of like this, these cases are for an iPhone that's not out yet

It's from a company called Case Coup. They're out of China, and the Case Coup company believes so strongly in these colors that they sent over the cases early

And you know what? They look all right. And it seems to be a good bet because the Apple event teaser announcement

also has a similar light blue in the background as a clue. But that's it for fun colors

We are likely not getting a base model iPhone 18. For the first time, Apple may delay other iPhone models until next year

saving the iPhone 18, the 18e, and perhaps the iPhone Air 2 for March

Let's talk Apple Watches. They're expected to get some minor changes with a new Series 12 and a new fourth generation Apple Watch Ultra

Some reports say we could get Touch ID on the watch on the crown wheel thing, letting you unlock it by putting a finger on the crown

But that seems a little complicated for me. I'm more curious about how Apple is going to talk about improved health monitoring

considering Apple has more competition now in this space with the Whoop bands and Fitbit There been buzz about continuous heart rate monitoring being a possible feature that Apple testing But to do that accurately

you really need to have a base measurement done a few times with an actual blood pressure cuff

Now, I would be surprised if Apple claimed to do continuous heart rate monitoring accurately

without syncing information from a blood pressure cuff because experts I've spoken with say

the light sensors alone are not enough for accurate continuous readings. There's another product, AirPods

They're also rumored to get an upgrade. We could see AirPods 5 and AirPods Pro 5, but don't expect AI camera sensors just yet

There were reports of videos leaking from Apple software about how you might use AirPods to scan your environment with cameras

But Bloomberg is reporting that the feature isn't ready yet. So instead, I am focusing on how AirPods just will work better with Apple's new AI Siri

As for other surprises, I think there might be a few with CEO John Ternus

It is his first big presentation at the helm. Pay attention to the tone he sets for the start of his next chapter

Will Apple use humor as Tim Cook passes the baton? Here's John

Apple does like to laugh a bit with skits, so it would be surprising if John Ternus didn't flex that he could have a little fun in this new era

But the biggest surprise would be if he has his first one more thing

And that would need to be big, something more wild than a folding phone, something like the reportedly in the works smart home hub with a screen

Apple is overdue in giving us a new HomePod speaker and an Apple TV that can work well with the new AI Siri

But will this event really be the moment that we learn about Apple's ambitious plans for the smart home

I would be very surprised if Apple gives us a big new category of smart home product

the same time we get a brand new folding iPhone. Of course, I really want a cool home device

I'm just figuring Apple has two choices here. It can tease a home hub and put it all out now

show the world it has a CEO that wants a future with fun hardware experiments

or Apple can play it safe for the first Ternus iPhone event

and save the smart home talk for next month. I just don't think Apple should wait that much longer if they do wait on HomePods and Home Hubs

iOS 27 with AI Siri is coming out just a few days after the event and people are going to want this new assistant working in harmony on all their devices And with that I better squeeze in one more tip

You need to prepare for the arrival of iOS 27 and also iPadOS 27 and MacOS 27 and all the 27s

I'm just gonna focus on the iOS part now because this update will roll out to more iPhones

than ever before, all the way back to iPhone 11. That means phones from 2019

I have a son that was born then and look at how old he is now

That's a full grown child that defeats Zelda games and that's how far back the iPhones are supported

But yeah, not every iPhone will get every feature of iOS 27

Some of the new Siri AI tricks only come to you if you have the iPhone 15 Pro and newer phones

So while we wait, first you need to back up your iPhone. Now make some space, send a backup to iCloud

In settings, go to iCloud, then iCloud backup, and backup now. This is also a good time to review your iCloud storage situation

You may want to buy more space. And if you do, perhaps consider getting an Apple One account

because that bundles iCloud storage with those other Apple services like Apple Music and Apple TV, and you can share it with family

But here's the thing. More iCloud storage also means you get more AI perks

Yes, Apple has said higher tiers of iCloud Plus subscriptions can unlock the ability to generate more AI photos in Image Playground

Also, if you pay for 2 terabytes of iCloud storage, you can also unlock a way to search through your smart home camera footage using Apple's AI

And please clear out some space on the phone itself to be ready to download and install the update

Some beta versions of iOS 27, they have been said to take up around 16 gigs of storage

It's hard to say exactly until it's officially out, but I would clear around 20 gigs of space to make sure you have a smooth update

And if you don't know what to delete, I have a whole video on how to clear out space fast

The big Apple news all happens Wednesday. My team and I are streaming live that morning before and after Apple's event to cover all the news

You can find our stream on CNET's YouTube page. So please subscribe so you don't miss it

I'll be live at Apple's campus covering this for next week's One More Thing

Be sure to catch this show every Friday on your favorite tech websites

And next time I see you, I'll be breaking down all of those surprises. Maybe I'll also be shining

We're going to see