NEW PHASE OF TECH. WITH APPLE 

 September is upon us, which in the tech world means it's time for Apple news. As it's done for the past four years, Apple is holding an event to unveil the next generation of its biggest products. This time around, it'll be held on September 7th and is expected to bring new versions of the iPhone and Apple Watch. It should be an interesting launch. This is technically a generational leap for the iPhone, but it sounds like Apple has taken a different approach this year, with subtler physical changes to the phone. This'll also be the first time Apple has updated the Apple Watch, so we can’t depend on history to tell us what kind of changes to expect. As always, The Verge will be in San Francisco to cover the event live. You should check back here on the 7th for our live blog and nonstop coverage. But for the time being, read on below for all the nitty-gritty details on what we're expecting to see.

iPhone 7

It's a new iPhone with a new number. That usually comes alongside a brand-new design, but this year it seems more like Apple is going to tweak its existing formula — improving things here and there and maybe laying the foundation for some bigger changes down the road. Here's the deal:

A new(ish) design: Hopefully you like the iPhone 6, because the iPhone 7 is supposed to look pretty much the same. The big difference is that it's expected to have a cleaner look, with some (but not all) of those unsightly antenna lines disappearing off the back. It's a small change, but this mockup at MacRumors suggests it could have a strong effect.

No headphone jack: This obviously isn't a new feature. In fact, it's the very opposite of a new feature. But it's turning out to be The Big Story of the iPhone 7. Apple is expected to remove the headphone jack — a standby of consumer electronics since the invention of consumer electronics — from the next iPhone, meaning all headphones will have to be wireless or connect through the Lightning port. There are certainly upsides to Lightning headphones, but there are a whole lot of downsides, too. If you have a lot of devices that work with a 3.5mm headphone jack (and who doesn’t?), you're going to have an annoying tradeoff to consider.

Possibly new Pods: Without a headphone jack, Apple will probably want to offer another way to listen to music. Rumors have been really sketchy on this front, so take this all with a grain of salt, but they point to two possibilities: the Apple will make new EarPods that terminate in a Lightning connector instead of a headphone jack, or that Apple will make wireless earbuds, supposedly called AirPods.

Another camera: It’s not for selfies. Apple is expected to add a second camera onto the back of the iPhone, which it could use to produce higher-quality photos or offer a zoomed-in view. For example, Huawei’s P9 uses a second black-and-white camera for added sharpness and detail, while LG’s G5 uses a second camera to offer a zoomed-out perspective. Bloomberg says Apple will have a twist on the latter approach, with the second camera offering a zoomed-in view.