Presidential politics could change the date when Apple first shows you the new iPhone 16 line
Politics and smartphones don't mix, especially when it comes to the president. Because of security reasons, former President Obama was given a BlackBerry 8830 World Edition loaded with a special app called SecureVoice which provided the president with access to Top Secret information from the NSA. Getting Obama to use a BlackBerry was not a hard task since he was a huge BlackBerry fan when he entered the White House in 2009.
By 2013 Obama was asking for something cooler, like an iPhone, but was not allowed to own one for security reasons. He did use an iPad 2 while in office. The tablet was given to him by the late Steve Jobs. When making calls that needed to be super secure, our forty fourth president used the Selectra Edge which was based on the Palm Treo 750, and also used Windows Mobile. Obama was the first U.S. president to use email, and his successor was the first to use social media.
The BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, one of the phones used by President Obama while in office. | Image credit-PhoneArena
Donald Trump reportedly used a pair of iPhone models. One was pre-installed with Twitter and some news apps. The other iPhone, which was referred to (in jest) as his "burner phone" was used to make phone calls. Both units were given to Trump by the White House Communications Office which is staffed by military officials in charge of telecommunications at the White House. President Joe Biden has been photographed using an iPhone Pro model with the presidential seal on the rear panel.
What brings up this brief history lesson is a report stating that Apple might have to introduce the iPhone 16 series a week earlier than usual. Rumored to be taking place on September 10th, Apple would have to share that day's news cycle with the debate between each major political party's presidential candidate. While Kamala Harris and Donald Trump wouldn't face off until later in the evening on that date, the debate could take some of the luster off the introduction of the iPhone 16 line, the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch SE 3, Apple watch Ultra 3, and two rumored fourth-gen AirPods (one a more capable model with Active Noise Cancellation).
While some of you might agree that it could be the debate that loses some of the spotlight because of the iPhone 16 event, not the other way around, Apple doesn't want to take the chance that the debate knocks the iPhone 16 series off of the front page. With September 2nd Labor Day and summer's last gasp, it is unlikely that Apple would hold the event on that date. More likely is that the event gets moved up to September 3rd or September 4th.
Over the last few years, the earliest in September that the new iPhone series was announced was in 2022 when the iPhone 14 line first met the light of day on September 7th. Keep checking in right here at PhoneArena and as soon as Apple announces the date of its new product event, we will let you know!
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