Invitations went out Tuesday for Apple's Sept. 9 event, which means it's time to crank up our speculation engines and figure out the real messages behind the slogan "Awe dropping" and the orange, yellow and blue glowing Apple logo that accompanies it.
Why does Apple tease its events like this? Obviously, one reason is to encourage articles like the one you're reading. But also, in an environment where details about what's coming invariably get leaked ahead of time, it's a way to pique interest and add a sense of -- yes, I'm going to say it -- magic. It's no bombshell like Taylor Swift getting engaged, but we can still have fun scrutinizing Apple's hidden clues.
The hottest event of the season
Exactly one year ago, Apple teased its upcoming fall event with "It's Glowtime" and an Apple logo design that highlighted the new Siri glow as part of Apple Intelligence. Unfortunately, the actual "glowtime" got pushed out a few weeks, since the AI technology wasn't ready to ship with the rest of iOS 18 and the iPhone 16 line. And in fact, Apple Intelligence itself turned out to have less of a glow and more of an unpleasant aroma as it failed to deliver what Apple hyped. (To be fair, I've found several Apple Intelligence features to be helpful on a day-to-day basis, but they don't live up to the company's vision at the time.)
So now we have a design that evokes a heat map, particularly when you view it animated; go to Apple.com to see it in action. Not only that, it's interactive: Press a finger (phone or tablet) or pointer with the mouse or trackpad held (on a computer) on the logo to make a bright orange "warm" spot appear, then drag it around. Also notice that the edges of the logo behave the way Liquid Glass items in iOS 26 do, with the light bending according to the contour of the glassy shape.
The logo for Apple's fall 2025 event invitation is interactive: a heat signature stays where you touch or click and hold. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
What does a heat map evoke in the context of new Apple products? Heat is the nemesis of mobile electronics, which shut down when they get too toasty. Perhaps the rumored A19 Pro chip is so powerful that it just runs hot, leading to Apple flipping a problem into an opportunity: "At Apple, we believe that overheating phones are a feature. It's the evolution of Screen Time parental controls, but designed for everybody: When you've been on your phone too long, it shuts off to force you to do something else."
I particularly liked one of my colleague's suggestions that the iPhone 17 models will get "Predator vision," a sensor that reveals nearby heat signatures. Surprisingly, that isn't such an outlandish idea. You can buy thermal cameras that connect to a phone and can reveal hotspots that you might otherwise miss, such as in the home.
Although not as visually exciting, the Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro each include a thermometer amid the camera array that can be used to check surface temps of things like food, cookware or other phones while playing games on them.
Still, I can't imagine Apple putting a temperature sensor on the iPhone, much less one that would generate a heat map of the surrounding area.
Perhaps I'm being too literal. Could the orange and blue colors hint at two possible new colors for the iPhone 17 Pro?
Dropping some awe-someness
The slogan is also a curiosity, seeing as how the last thing you want to do with a phone is drop it. The iPhone 17 Pro is rumored to feature an aluminum shell this time around, supplanting the titanium chassis of the iPhone 16 Pro, so perhaps the new models will be more resilient to the everyday knocks that our phones endure?
Of course, "awe dropping" could just be a pun of "jaw dropping," given that Apple will certainly make the claim that this year's products are the best, fastest ones the company has ever made. Somewhere at Apple Park there must be a powerful executive who can't let a good (or bad) pun go un-shared. Consider "It's Glowtime" for the iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence, "Wonderlust" for the iPhone 15, or "Far Out" for the iPhone 14 -- all groan-worthy plays on words of common phrases.
Apple's invitations weren't always so coy -- or punny. Here's a collection of former invites ranging from 2008 through 2013 that were more straightforward but still entertaining.
Like any good puzzle, most of the fun is trying to figure it out. Hopefully, what Apple reveals on Sept. 9 will be worth the wait.