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Nine Points To Watch For During Apple's September 10th Event

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Craig Federighi introduces iOS7 at WWDC 2013 (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Apple has invited the world's press to an event this Tuesday, September 10th, and everyone has an idea of what will be announced. Short of making some hard and fast calls, here are nine points to watch out for during the presentation that will drive Apple forward in the mobile market for the next twelve months.

Tuesday's iPhone Will Be Brought To You By The Number 5 And The Letters S and C.

Everyone is confidently expecting two new iPhone models, the 5S and the 5C. The 5S is expected to be an iterative release, building on the iPhone 5. Given the majority of iPhone 4S owners are on two year contracts which are coming to an end, the 5S will be coming along at the right time for them to sign on and stay in the Apple ecosystem. What will the 5S bring along that keeps Apple's offering as fresh as possible against handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S4.

The 5C Price On Stage Will Not Be The Price In The Stores.

Expect the iPhone 5C price to feel very high for what it represents. The lower cost version of the iPhone could open up new markets for Apple, but at the same time it will be a departure from their previous strategy. The pricing of this handset will be interesting. I'd expect the SIM free price to be relatively close to the prices of the other iPhones in the range, especially the older iPhone 5. The key is the subsidised price the handset will be offered at on the individual networks, which is unlikely to be announced on stage by Apple.

The Vanity Rainbow For The Youth Market.

What colors are going to be available for the lower-cost Apple model (presumably the Apple 5C). Your bingo chart is black/slate, white, red/pink, yellow, green, and blue. That's the color palette used by Nokia for their fashion handsets, so it makes sense to match up against those. And if you want bonus points, look for purple to make the jump from the iPod Nano range.

Look To The East, Not To The Cheap.

One word, China. The iPhone 5C looks like it is going to be available at some point on China Mobile, giving Apple a presence with one of the largest wireless carriers in the world. Negotiations are ongoing, so while this should happen, the ink may not be on the agreement in time to be mentioned on Tuesday.

If nothing else this would be a smart explanation of the lettering, the 'C' is for China, not for cheap.

Not Everything Needs A Cellular Radio.

Don't forget the iPod range of devices, which might not be sexy in terms of consumer electronics but are perfect for bringing new customers into the Apple ecosystem. The iPod Touch hardware could be refreshed to keep it in touch with the iPhone 5S hardware, but it's more likely that with the availability of iOS 7 the hardware can be sold as 'new' for another year, with a price drop to keep it under the presumed price of the iPhone 5C.

And for the old timers keeping count, will the iPod Classic survive for another year, or will the hard drive based music player finally succumb to the solid state players?

A New Star Returns To The Stage.

Connie Guglielmo has already touched on this one here at Forbes. Following Craig Federighi's performance at WWDC earlier in the year (where he had more stage time than any other Apple executive) how visible will the SVP of Software Engineering be? He's been at Apple since April 2009, but it's Tim Cook who's promoted him into the limelight.

Reacting To Chromecast.

The multimedia puck has always been a curious little beast in the Apple line-up. The hardware has kept Cupertino attached to the TV and set-top box market since it broke cover in September 2006, with iterative improvements to the software and three revisions of the hardware (the latest being in January this year). With Google's Chromecast also available, the seven years of consumer data is worth a lot to Apple. A software update for Apple TV is likely, anything beyond that would be a nice bonus.

But No Reaction To The Galaxy Gear.

The iWatch is going to be news if Apple announces it. It's also going to be news if Apple doesn't announce it. Unlike the leaks around the iPhone handsets, there's been very little to read around the iWatch. Samsung haven't changed the game in terms of hardware or software with the Galaxy Gear, it's simply all the current component put together as best they can. Unless there's been a huge breakthrough in technology that Apple has kept quiet, I don't think an iWatch would be functionally different to the Galaxy Gear. Historically Apple don't announce their entry in to a new market unless they believe they can make a significant improvement, so I'm not expecting to see anything on Apple's wrist.

Did You Forget Something?

What's not going to be said is just as important. Apple have a number of products that are expected before the end of the year, including the announced MacPro, and many are expecting an update to the iPad and iPad mini line-ups. I'm expecting Apple to focus on just the iPhone and iPod family announcements on Tuesday (capturing the news cycle for the rest of the week), with release dates on the hardware nearer the end of the month. Then do it all again with the iPad in October. It worked last year, kept Apple in the headlines, and I don't see the PR formula changing this year.

We'll be covering Apple's announcement here on Forbes Tech on Tuesday and looking at the implications for Apple and the rest of the Consumer Electronics market as the week progresses.