And that's it for our live updates. Stay with us for more coverage across www.thenational.ae.
10.52pm: It comes in 64GB and 256GB, and will cost $999, pre-order from October 27, shipping starts on November 3.
10.50pm: Emojis come to life by reflecting your own facial expressions.
10.45pm: So, the iPhone X has more battery life - it lasts two hours more than iPhone 7. It is wireless so charges remotely. You can charge your phone, watch and airpods all at the same time via "AirPower".
Read more: Apple Watch 3 enables users to make calls
10.22pm: It has edge-to-edge glass, it is water and dust resistant to microscopic level, has a super retina display on its 5.8in screen. The super retina display "supports HDR, has an incredible 1m-1 contrast ratio, and has true-tone."
Tap on the screen and it wakes up. There is no more home button. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go home. If in an app, just swipe up. For Siri, speak to your phone or press the side button in (which has been made larger). How do you lock your phone? Look at it until it recognises you. "We call this face ID." Impressive.
10.20pm: There's another product says Tim Cook.... it's a phone ... it has an all glass screen ... the crowd are impressed ... it is iPhone X.
10.15pm: Wireless charging is now possible with the glass backs on the phones.
Meanwhile, the phones come in silver, space grey and a new shade of gold.
The iPhone 8 will come in 64GB and 256GB versions and will retail from $699. The 8 Plus will come in 64GB and 256GB versions and will retail from $799. They will be available to pre-order from September 15 and will release on September 22.
10.05pm: iPhone 8 has a glass finish, aerospace-grade aluminum. It has a 50 per cent deeper strengthening layer. "The most durable ever in a smartphone." 5.5in screen and 4.7in screen in iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 respectively. New speakers - 25 per cent louder than iPhone 7. The new chip in the phone is called A11 bionic - "the most powerful ever in a smartphone." Graphics are 30 per cent faster. The camera is of course better, with more colour saturation and all-new sensors. They are now showing photo examples. The 8 Plus has a dual lense 12MP camera. We're now seeing how the new phones can handle augmented reality apps.
10.00pm: Tim Cook is waxing lyrical about the iPhone and how it has transformed the way we live. "It has revolutioned security and privacy. It put amazing and easy to use cameras into our hands. We have pushed forwards with innovation after innovation after innovation."
9.55pm: It's iPhone time!
9.40pm: For those wanting news of the new iPhones, it's bad news. The event has now moved on to Apple TV and its 4K display - they're currently showing images of Dubai, however!
9.30pm: The Apple Watch Series 3 has cellular built in. "Our vision from the beginning." Instead of streaming music from your phone you will be able to do it from your wrist. There's a new processor and Siri is able to talk. So, you don't need to be linked to your iPhone to browse the internet. Orders begin September 15, availability from September 22. The new watch will start at $399 in the US for the cellular version and $349 for the non-cellular.
9.20pm: Tim Cook is now talking about the Apple Watch and is showing a video of how it has impacted lives around the world.
9.18pm: There's no phones or products for that matter on show yet, as we learn about Apple plans for its stores which it is to rebrand as "town squares".
9.11pm: He's now talking about Apple Park ... it's powered by 100 per cent renewable energy, he says. "It has been designed with extraordinary attention to detail and precision."
9.08pm: Cook: "Steve's vision and passion live on here at Apple Park and everywhere at Apple. Today and always, we honour him.
Cook follows with some words for those whose lives were affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
9.02pm: And we're off...Tim Cook is on stage after a few poignant words from Steve Jobs played over the speakers.
"There's not a day that goes by that we don't think about him," says Cook. "We can now reflect on him with joy and not sadness."
9pm: Apple's website is banging out some tunes as it introduces the location of the event - first Coldplay and now The Beatles are playing over shots of the crowds arriving.
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8.35pm: The doors are open and the crowds are heading inside...
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8.10pm: Apple chief executive Tim Cook has arrived at the Steve Jobs Theater. He just tweeted this picture...
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7.55pm: For most people there is a walk they will always remember - down the aisle at their wedding, across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York perhaps or from the pavilion to the wicket at Lord's cricket ground for those fortunate (and skilled) enough. For the technology obsessed, this is a walk that should linger in the mind...
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7.40pm: Have you ever wondered what the 'i' stands for in iPhone, iMac etc? Here's an explanation courtesy of the world of Twitter:
And what if Steve Jobs chose a different letter? aPhone, or aMac? Doesn't sound right does it.
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7.20pm: The wait goes on. It's now under two hours until kick-off, or should that be press-off or tap-off? Swipe off perhaps? For those who can't stand the waiting, I recommend dipping into the fabulous biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson who interviewed more than 100 people as well as Jobs himself for the book.
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6.55pm: A personal iPhone history:
I started with the iPhone 2 but the button ceased working after a couple of years. That is an obvious problem with an iPhone - no button, no function - but this is reported to be something they are about to change with the introduction of a button-less phone. Anyway, after a couple of happy-ish years with Apple's finest, I moved on to BlackBerry, then Nokia, on to Samsung and now I'm back in the house of Apple with an SE handset. It's small, it works, I like iOS, but now kind-of wish the screen was bigger. iPhone X make your way to me.
Some people meanwhile just want the new phone just a little too much...
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6.30pm: A quick US market run-through from Bloomberg:
Wall Street stocks rose early Tuesday, adding to records ahead of a big Apple product launch and as worries about US hurricanes continued to recede. Apple dipped 0.3 per cent ahead an event expected to launch new iPhone models to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the game-changing smartphone. Analysts expect one of the new offerings to include augmented reality capabilities and facial recognition features.
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5.45pm: The internet is awash with iPhone buzz, and that means plenty of attempts of comedy on social media.
And meanwhile, Greenpeace has weighed in...
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5.35pm: You know something big is coming when the Apple store goes down...
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5pm: Who watched the launch of the first iPhone in 2007? If you didn't, and want to admire the mastery of Steve Jobs, you can view his speech which went down in technology folklore here:
And to summarise what he said, here's the key point of his speech: “Well, today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class,” he went on. “The first one: is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second: is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device.”
“Are you getting it?” he asked as he repeated the three progressive pieces of tech.
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4.45pm: For anyone who wants to watch the event this evening, I'm afraid you will require certain software to do so.
Here's the list of requirements from Apple:
Live streaming uses Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) technology. HLS requires an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with Safari on iOS 9.0 or later, a Mac with Safari on macOS v10.11 or later, or a PC with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10. Streaming via Apple TV requires an Apple TV (2nd or 3rd generation) with software 6.2 or later or an Apple TV (4th generation).
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4.40pm: Good evening all and welcome to our updates on the biggest consumer launch of the year. Whether you like Apple or not, it's hard not to take at least a faint interest in what the company is set to unveil this evening.
Below you can read our preview of the launch with what can be expected and how we ended up here.
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Forget winter, the new iPhone is coming.
A decade after the then-CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the very first iPhone, the tech giant is set to officially release its new iPhone.
Despite a leak earlier this week revealing some key insights into the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X, no pictures or details pertaining to the updated functionality has surfaced.
There's a UAE link to proceedings. The large scale event will take place in the swanky Steve Jobs Theater at the Apple Park ‘spaceship’ campus.
The saucer-shaped roof, an 80-tonne disc composed of 44 identical carbon-fibre panels, was built by Premier Composite Technologies (PCT), which is based in Dubai Investment Park.
The announcement is live here at 9pm UAE time (10am local).
Apple under pressure
Despite having sold 1.2 billion iPhones over the past 10 years, the brand is under pressure to reveal something significantly better and more advanced than its predecessors.
iPhone 7 sales dipped drastically with many citing too many similarities to the 6. With the upcoming iPhone X, Apple is hoping to silence critics who claim the brand has "lost its innovative edge".
There's also the added pressure of Samsung getting ahead of their rival with the launch of the Note 8, which the Asian tech giant says is making a roaring trade in pre-orders.
Some of the features you can expect in the iPhone X include an edge-to-edge display with richer colours and facial recognition to unlock the phone without the need for a fingerprint reader or physical home button.
Sounds good, right?
Well with the new features in the iPhone X comes a significantly heftier price tag. Analysts predict that the top-end model could reach the $1,000 mark (Dh3,600).
This is due to more expensive parts being used in the phone, like a higher-resolution display, 3D sensors and more memory capacity.
"Some of these components are just darned expensive. There's just no doubt about that," said Brian Blau, an Apple analyst at Gartner.
Peter Nowak: New iPhone could put privacy front and centre
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
In addition to X, Apple will reveal two other models, expected to be called the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. These are likely to be general updates to the iPhone 7 series.
It’s possible that the company could bring back features like the glass back similar to the one seen in iPhone 4, which would help facilitate wireless charging.
Read more: Most popular mobile phones in UAE, Q2 2017 – in pictures
A useful graphic for those keeping score at home:
Other items on Apple's agenda
Details around Apple TV, HomePod, its voice-activated home speaker that competes against Amazon.com Inc's Echo and the Google Home speaker, as well as its latest Apple Watch version are expected to be part of the line-up announcement too.
