When you can (probably) order and actually get an iPhone 7

The Apple press event is Wednesday. Officially, we don't know what the company is going to roll out, because Apple never officially tips its hand about such things ahead of time.

Unofficially, there's an entire cottage industry devoted to reading the tea leaves grown in Cupertino. So not only do people think they know what Apple is revealing tomorrow, they also feel pretty confident about when you'll be downloading all your favorite games and apps onto it.

Let's start with the what. It's so widely believed that the next iPhone will be introduced that some people are referring to this presser as the 'iPhone 7 event.' So the iPhone 7, and probably the iPhone 7 Plus to continue Apple's expansion into the phablet zone, would be major surprises if they didn't show up. It's not expected to be an evolutionary leap forward from the iPhone 6, but that shouldn't matter to devotees.

(Incidentally, there's also a chance the iPhone 7 won't really be the new phone's name, but we'll just assume for the sake of argument it will be.)

Less urgently for our purposes, many reports are circulating that Apple will reveal new wireless earbuds of some sort to pair with the iPhone 7 since it will supposedly do away with a headphone jack. Also, a new Apple Watch, in case you forgot about those.

Getting back to the iPhone 7, once everyone sees what it can do and how much it costs, the question will inevitably turn to when they will become available. Pre-orders for IPhones tend to follow very quickly after a reveal, and Know Your Mobile believes the iPhone 7 will be available for pre-order on September 9, a.k.a. this Friday.

The phone won't be available to actually hold in your hand that same day of course, but it likely won't be too long after that. Again, using previous Apple history as a guide, that same site guesses the official release date will be September 16, just nine days after the iPhone 7 is unveiled to the world.

For app and gaming purposes, the release of iOS 10, rumored to be coming in October is more significant for everyday life. But that;s a topic for a whole other post. Be sure to catch the Apple event online beginning at 1 pm Eastern time on September 7 and see if these guesses are correct.