Newly appointed CEO Tim Cook will do the honors this time from Apple's headquarters, running the first major product launch in years without impresario Steve Jobs as he tries to take Apple to still-loftier heights.
iPhone 5 -- expected to be faster, thinner and larger-screened -- would arrive just in time for the crucial holiday shopping season. It should sustain Apple's smartphone momentum and help ward off a challenge from close runner-up Samsung Electronics.
Apple launches are some of the hottest events on the tech calendar, scrutinized by fans, investors, the media and industry insiders alike. Tuesday's "Let's talk iPhone" show, starting at 1 pm Eastern time, will mark Cook's unofficial debut since taking over from co-founder Jobs in August.
Some shareholders and analysts expect a cameo appearance by Jobs, now chairman, though a no-show would not be a major disappointment.
With the launch of the new phone, Apple faces the challenge of surpassing the popularity of its current iPhone 4, a 15-month-old model and bona fide hit with more than 20 million sold in the third quarter ended June 25.
Some on Wall Street also expect the company to unveil a cheaper model tailor-made for the fast-growing Asian market, one of the few arenas where Apple can accelerate its growth.
"We expect improved processing power and camera capabilities, with a potential bump in RAM, though that may not be needed with iCloud," said William Power, analyst with Baird Equity Research.
"Various sources have suggested that Apple will debut more robust voice control functionality," he added.
The new iPhone is also expected to come loaded with the updated iOS5 software that Apple unveiled in June. Some of the new features include improved notification functions and better Twitter integration.
The iPhone -- still the gold standard in the smartphone market -- has been a huge success since it debuted in 2007, transforming it into one of the world's leading consumer electronics powerhouses.
On the iPhone, the smaller-scale screen and more tightly packed pixels might not fully show what these updated graphics can truly accomplish, but the move to more advanced graphics should benefit the iPad 2. Game development, which centered on the iPhone 4's graphic capabilities, will likely shift and gear up a little. This could result in developers aiming higher on the iPad 2 as well, since the two devices should have very similar hardware.
Game Center has been upgraded, allowing friend suggestions and more social connectivity. Anything would help at this point: compared with Xbox Live, Game Center feels sterile as a social gaming hub. Hopefully Apple's Game Center will evolve into a better Xbox Live/PSN counterpart, but for now it's not a very compelling part of the iPhone gaming experience.
An improved 8-megapixel camera with facial recognition could mean a new generation of augmented-reality games, a subgenre that's been gaining a little traction. Camera-based AR games are often more novelty than substance, but perhaps the new iPhone 4S can inspire a few new ideas.
It wasn't advertised at today's Apple event, but the iPhone 4S has Bluetooth 4.0. The lower-energy spec could perhaps make wireless controllers or peripherals for gaming a more realistic and non-battery-killing possibility.
Battery life should be the same as for last year's iPhone 4, if the iPad 2 is any indicator. With a promised 10 hours of video playback and 9 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, gaming should net a battery life somewhere in that ballpark, most likely less. The Nintendo 3DS lasts 3 to 5 hours on a charge, and the PlayStation Vita might not fare much better, so the iPhone 4S remains very competitive if it can deliver the same kind of time--although, of course, depleting your phone's battery playing games can be far more annoying than draining the charge from a 3DS.
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