Apple’s highly anticipated fall event is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9 at 10 AM PT (10:30 PM IST), promising what could be the company’s biggest product refresh in years.

The iPhone 17 Lineup:

• iPhone 17 Air: Ultra-thin at just 5.5mm thick, 6.6-inch 120Hz display, A19 chip
• iPhone 17 Pro: Starting at $1,099 (up $100), 256GB base storage
• iPhone 17 Pro Max: Redesigned camera system
• Standard iPhone 17: Expected pricing and specs

• Major Software Updates:
• Apple will announce the official release dates for its 2025 software lineup, all numbered with “26” to represent the September 2025-2026 season:
• iOS 26: Features the new “Liquid Glass” user interface, redesigned Camera app, enhanced ChatGPT integration, improved Apple Intelligence capabilities
• iPadOS 26: Introduces a completely new windowing system, Preview app for iPad, enhanced Files app with folder customization, Background Tasks for intensive operations
• macOS Tahoe 26: New features and improvements for Mac users
• watchOS 26: Updated features for Apple Watch
• visionOS 26: Updates for Vision Pro headset
• The iOS 26 public release is expected around September 15-16, with release candidates available immediately after the September 9 event.

Other Expected Launches:

• Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3
• AirPods Pro 3 with health tracking
• Possible Mac updates

Key Dates:

• Event: September 9, 10 AM PT (10:30 PM IST)
• Pre-orders: September 12, 5 AM PT
• iOS 26 Release: September 15-16 (expected)
• Hardware Release: September 19

The iPhone 17 Air represents Apple’s biggest design shift in years, prioritizing thinness over battery life with only a single rear camera.

Multiple undersea fiber optic cables in the Red Sea were damaged, causing significant disruptions to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and affecting internet connectivity across India, Pakistan, UAE, and other regions.

The impact:

• Microsoft Azure users experiencing increased latency, especially for Asia-Europe traffic routes
• Nearly 17% of global internet traffic flows through Red Sea cables
• Key systems affected include SMW4, IMEWE, SEACOM/TGN-EA, AAE-1, and EIG cables
• Failures occurred near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Microsoft’s response: “Undersea fiber cuts can take time to repair; as such, we will continuously monitor, rebalance, and optimize routing to reduce customer impact in the meantime.”

The broader concern: The Red Sea is one of the world’s most critical internet chokepoints. With ongoing regional conflicts, experts worry critical digital infrastructure could become deliberate targets.

Repair timeline: Subsea cable repairs typically take weeks due to the logistics of mobilizing cable repair ships and securing permits in politically sensitive waters.

Microsoft announced today, it will provide free Copilot access to US federal workers as part of a broader push to get government agencies hooked on AI tools. The General Services Administration confirmed Microsoft is offering discounts on cloud services alongside the Copilot deal.

This is a massive play by Microsoft to embed AI tools directly into government workflows. Once federal workers start relying on Copilot for daily tasks, it becomes much harder for agencies to switch to competitors.

Strategic implications:

• Government workers become trained on Microsoft’s AI ecosystem
• Creates vendor lock-in for future AI contracts
• Gives Microsoft inside track on enterprise AI adoption patterns
• Potentially influences how AI tools get regulated

The move comes as the US government is pushing departments across the executive branch to sign deals with tech companies for AI capabilities. Microsoft is clearly trying to win this race early.

Smart move—get the government addicted to your AI tools while they’re still figuring out what they need, then charge premium prices once they can’t live without them.