Apple has taken its online store offline ahead of its highly anticipated September special event, as the company prepares to unveil its next generation of products.
Visitors attempting to access the Apple Store are currently being greeted by Apple’s familiar holding page, with the company temporarily preventing customers from making purchases while changes are made behind the scenes.
The downtime comes just hours before Apple’s ‘Surprise and shine’ special event, which begins at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, or 6:00 p.m. in the UK.
Taking the Apple Store offline ahead of a major product event has become something of a tradition for the company. Apple typically closes the storefront several hours before its keynote begins, allowing it to prepare new product pages, pricing, configurations and other changes that will appear once the announcements have been made.
This year could bring one of the biggest changes to Apple’s iPhone lineup in years. The company is widely expected to introduce the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max alongside its long-rumored first foldable iPhone, which is expected to be called the iPhone Duo.
The iPhone 18 Pro lineup is rumored to introduce Apple’s first 2nm A20 Pro chip, alongside camera improvements, a smaller Dynamic Island and the company’s second-generation C2 modem. The iPhone Duo is expected to take things considerably further with a book-style folding design and separate external and internal displays.
Unlike previous September launches, however, Apple is not expected to introduce the standard iPhone 18 alongside its Pro models. Reports suggest the company is moving to a split release schedule, with the iPhone 18, iPhone 18e and iPhone Air 2 instead expected to arrive in spring 2027.
New Apple Watch models and AirPods are also expected to feature during the event, potentially making the September presentation one of Apple’s largest hardware launches of the year.
The Apple Store is expected to return online following the keynote, when customers should be able to view Apple’s newly announced products, pricing and availability. Pre-orders for some of the devices are expected to open later in the week.
