Back in July, I began to work on an article called “Apple in 2014- The Halfway Point”. I had written it, all 12,000 words, but never published it.

And i’m glad I didn't.

The article was going to be the second in the Apple in 2014 series, and was to be a summary of everything we knew was coming the rest of this year in what Eddy Cue called the most exciting product lineup in his time at the company — over 25 years.

“Later this year, we’ve got the best product pipeline that I’ve seen in my 25 years at Apple” — Eddy Cue

I began the article with this quote, and went on to explain what I believed Apple had in store for this supposed product pipeline.

If I had published that article, I would have told you my theory on why Apple wouldn't be launching a 5.5-inch iPhone this year, nor would they launch any iPads.

Obviously, I no longer agree with my theory.

Back in December, I predicted this to be the year of the iWatch. Looks like my prediction is about to come true.

For the past two years, Apple has done this really weird thing were they attempt to cram all of their product launches for the year into two keynotes; one in September and one in October. This year, it seems we will have two keynotes once again, just this time one will introduce the biggest revolution to the Mac in over a decade, and one, the one we’ll be talking about today, will have the potential to be the biggest in the companies history.

It will be the most cramped time of Apple products in history as we see the first true rethinking of the iPhone, a new MacBook that will once again revolutionize the laptop, and the long awaited Apple wearable device. This will be the biggest non-Steve Jobs moment, and maybe overall moment, in Apple’s history.

September 9, 2014 will be one of, if not the, biggest day in Apple’s history.

iPhone 6

On September 9th, Apple will hold their first event of the season where they will introduce the long awaited 4.7-inch iPhone, rumored to be called the iPhone 6.

The iPhone 6 will feature a 4.7-inch display, the largest of any iPhone to date and a .7 inch increase from the 5s. John Gruber did some fantastic reporting on what the screen size will likely be, and I highly recommend you read it. Gruber’s sound logic seems to suggest the new iPhone will feature a resoulution of 1334 x 750 and 326 PPI.

This display’s big trick, however, is its sapphire crystal panel. On the Mohs scale, a measurement of the toughness of metal, diamond is the strongest metal in the world. Sapphire is the second.

In reality, this isn’t a full blown sapphire glass display. It’s actually 2 glass panels, fused with a panel of sapphire in the middle to make it tougher then glass, but more flexible then sapphire.

The sapphire display had been rumored for a while to be an exclusive to the 5.5 inch iPhone due to supply constraints, however those rumors were debunked after well known tech personality, MKBHD, posted this video on YouTube.

The iPhone 6 will also feature an all new, all metal design similar in shape to Apple’s iPad line, as well as an all new A8 processor, and improved cameras.

In addition to an array of new health related sensors to be used in conjunction with iOS 8's new Health app, Apple plans on finnaly introducing NFC to the next iPhone, according to both WIRED and John Gruber.

The NFC chip will likely be a highlight feature of the new device, and will finally bring Apple into the mobile payment industry. Apple has reportedly struck deals with both Master Card and American Express regarding the new feature. Both the new mobile payment features and health features will be tightly integrated with the new Apple wearable device.

The iPhone 6 will likely follow it’s predecessors with a price in the US of $199 on contract and $649 off, and will likely launch on September 19. However, unlike it’s predecessors, it seems plausible that Apple will finally double the baseline storage in each model, and possibly introduce an 128GB model.

The 5.5-inch iPhone

Despite my original presumption that it made little sense for it to happen, Apple seems to be ready to launch a long rumored 5.5-inch version of it’s iPhone with similar specifications to its iPhone 6, reportedly titled the iPhone “6L”.

While original reports seemed to claim that the new sapphire panel would be exclusive to this model, it seems the new displays will be on both the 6 and 6L.

The display on the model will likely have a resolution 2208x1242, considerably higher then the 1920x1080p resolution on many of the 6Ls potential competitors. This would give the new device an unprecedented 461 PPI.

Besides the display, most everything about the larger iPhone will be the same as the smaller counterpart, including the new design, NFC, and new sensors.

The iPhone 6L will likely launch at a price around $300 on contract in the US and $750 off, however due to the larger and higher quality display may not launch as soon as the 6, but will likely still launch in September.

On September 9, Apple will finally unveil it’s long awaited wearable device, rumored to be called iWatch, although that will likely not be the name.

The device will be the companies biggest launch, and first new product category, since the announcement of the iPad in 2010, and has been rumored for over three years now.

What you are about to read, unlike what you have previously read, which was a mixture of reports, rumors, and my opinion based on previous knowledge of Apple as a company, is entirely based upon my opinions and knowledge on writing about Apple for the past few years. Due to the secrecy surrounding new product categories, very little in terms of features and details has been reported or leaked about the new device, and this is purely speculative.

Similar to the iPhone launch, I believe the new device will have three “pillars” of features:

Notifications

Similar to devices running Google Wear and the Pebble, the first main focus of the Apple wearable will be Notifications.

The new device will sync with other devices running iOS 8 and give you your updates on your wrist, as well as allow you to reply and manage these updates using the device or possibly Siri, which will likely be integrated with the device.

With iOS 8, Apple introduced a number of features that likely hint at the iWatch and would work in conjunction with the wearable, one of which being quick toggles for notifications, contacts, and more.

In iOS 8 Apple added a feature to the multitasking menu with bubbles of peoples faces for recent contacts, which seem like a good feature for the wearable, as it will likely be able to make phone calls.

Being able to manage notifications on a small device will require the new, large buttons added for managing notifications in iOS 8 to make an easy to use experience.

Health

The second major focus of the Apple wearable will be Health, which will tightly integrate with the new Health app in iOS 8.

For about a year, Apple has been hiring professionals throughout the fitness and medical world to work on advanced new sensors and features for the Apple wearable.

With the Health app in iOS 8, you will be able to sync any health related accessories to the app, and then use the app as a center location for all of your health related wearable statistics.

Looking at the app currently, there is a laundry list of health related catagories that can be tracked with 3rd-party devices, only problem being that some of these categories, such as oxygen saturation, can not be tracked by devices on the market today.

It is likely the iWatch will track most of the many categories in the new health app, almost definitely including activity, weight, nutrition, heart rate, blood work, oxygen saturation, blood sugar, hydration, respiratory rate, and sleep, amongst others.

While many health related bands on the market track one or two of the categories listed above, no device on the market currently tracks all of them, and it is clear the new wearable will be truly disruptive to the health and fitness industries.

The Magic Band

If you wanna have a good sense of what Apple is thinking as the third pillar of the iWatch, all you have to do is look at Disney World.

When you book a Disney World vacation, you will be prompted to register for what Disney calls their ID Band program. The process will connect your band to a credit card that can be used at shops around the park, as well as create a PIN for your band. These bands will also be used as your room keys.

The bands use RFID radios for communicating with door locks, restaurant terminals, park entrence gates, and more. When you enter the park for the first time, you’ll be prompted to connect your band to a fingerprint for two-step authentication, and then you’ll have a choice of using your PIN or your fingerprint. You’ll also use these bands as fast passes to get on rides.

The bottom line is these bands are amazing, convenient, and flawless.

Apple and Disney have a very good relationship. Disney’s CEO Bob Iger sits on the board, and upon his passing Steve Jobs was amongst Disney’s biggest shareholders, while his wife still sits on the board. I believe Apple has gone to school on this band ID concept and we can expect this to be one of the key pillars of the new Apple wearable.

The potential for Apple’s future with ID band implementation alone could make it a huge hit. Imagine going into a store and just touching your iWatch to the reader, entering a PIN number and it is charged to your Apple account. Or to enter your house, you just touch the Apple wearable and enter a PIN number and you’re in.

Apple has the fingerprint reader, which would bring even greater levels of security to any wearable. While using a PIN number is acceptable, a fingerprint reader at stores and tied to door locks amongst other devices could provide better security people will want if using a wearable since these device could be stolen or lost.

Apple would likely have to create something like HomeKit and HealthKit for commerce related transactions, which seems to be the plan regaradless based on the addition of NFC to the new iPhones.

In addition to the three main pillars of features for the iWatch, Apple likely plans on adding additional features to the device based on the three main pillars.

Home

Apple likely plans on adding ways to control connected homes through the new HalthKit API for developers with the iWatch, with the features likely falling under the ID Band section of the three catagories

Siri

Siri will likely be a major component of the new device, as an input method besides keyboard is necessary on the smaller device.

Widgets

The main concept behind the smart watch is for a user to have quick acsess to glance-able information. With iOS 8, Apple introduced widgets for getting quick, glance-able information from Apps inside notification center. It is possible Apple will use the widgets as one of the main ways of gathering information with the new wearable.

Search

Spotlight search in iOS 8 has been greatly improved to include results from the internet, wikipedia, movie showtimes, iTunes store results, and more. It is likely Spotlight will be an important feature in the new wearable, as it provides a quick way to find information.

Messages

iOS 8 will likely allow you to send messages and voice memos using your voice, similar to the new Messages app in iOS 8.

Handoff

Handoff, one of the biggest new features in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, will be tightly integrated into the new wearable. Similar to how a Mac can now automatically turn on mobile hotspot on your iPhone to receive a connection, the iWatch will be able to automatically use your phones connection to connect to the internet.

Lightning MFI Headphones

iOS 8 adds support for headphones that use the lightning connector. While there is no reason to suspect Apple will depart from the standard 3.5mm headphone jack on iPhones and iPads, it is plausible Apple only allow headphones using the smaller port on the wearable.

iCloud

As the device will be small, Apple will likely opt not to put much storage inside the wearable. Instead, the device will sync with iCloud to stream all of your music, photos, and content.