So this past weekend, AllThingsD, a tech site owned by the publishers of the Wall Street Journal, posted a  report that Apple plans to hold a media event on Tuesday, September 10th. The purpose? Why to introduce a new iPhone of course.

Now I normally do not give a whole lot of credence to speculation about future Apple products or launch events, unless they are actually confirmed by the company. But some media outlets have a better track record than others, and we know that AllThingsD, and WSJ for that matter, have contacts within Apple. So when they publish stories of this sort, you should probably them seriously.

In addition, The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple, who is also well connected, has an uncanny record of getting things of this sort right. In his typical terse fashion, Jim’s response to the story is, “Yep.” You can take his word to the bank, and I fully expect the event to take place as planned, unless something unfortunate occurs. Let’s leave it at that.

Instead, it’s a good time to speculate yet again what Apple might introduce four weeks from the day this commentary is being written.

So it makes sense to conclude the new flagship iPhone will be a 5S. This is in keeping with Apple’s policy of not changing form factors every single year. Yes, the iPhone 5s will be difficult, if not impossible, to tell from an iPhone 5, but there will be load of internal differences. Ranging from a more powerful processor to possibly improved power efficiencies, there’s the possibility of a fingerprint sensor. That makes perfect sense, since Apple did acquire a company, AuthenTec, which developed fingerprint scanners, back in 2012. Apple doesn’t buy technology without the expectation of using it in a future product.

Besides, fingerprint detection makes perfect sense. It’s a simple, secure way to protect your iPhone, and perhaps even an iPad, if the next version includes the same feature. Sure, I can see the conspiracy angle: If Apple is collecting your fingerprints, could someone somehow in authority get ahold of them? But this feature would be used in the same way as a password, for local identification of the device’s owner.

The other expected features are little to shout about. The iPhone 5’s eight megapixel camera will likely be upgraded to 12 megapixels; some suggest 13 megapixels. Certainly that’s enough to capture a superb photo at any reasonable size, and one expects Apple to improve lens quality, the ability to capture a good picture in low light, and the flash system. Some reports cover a twin-LED flash. That, plus software enhancements, may assure that the iPhone remains the number one source of online photos, even compared to any specific Android model.

And then there’s that other rumor about a new entry-level iPhone, referred to, variously, as the iPhone 5c, iPhone 5M or iPhone Lite. Regardless of what you call it, this is said to be a plastic-cased model in multiple colors, sporting somewhat lower specs than the iPhone 5s, and being available without a carrier contract for maybe $200 less, same as today’s iPhone 4.

Now maybe, just maybe, Apple will find a way to make it somewhat more affordable, say with a $350 purchase price. Still expensive, but free with most any carrier contract, and other carriers may offer customers the chance to pay it off over 20 or 24 months. Regardless, this could be the top-selling iPhone if it is marketed heavily, particularly in countries where the the iPhone 5s would be too much of a luxury.

As it stands, Apple is selling older models, with great success, so there’s clearly a healthy demand for something less expensive. As rumors go, this seems to be something in the “it’s a given” category. The real question would be what the final purchase price would be and, for those who care about Apple’s financial fortunes, whether Apple can make an acceptable profit. Let’s assume they will.

It’s also a given that the arrival of a new lineup of iPhones will be accompanied by the release of iOS 7. It does appear, based on published reports, that development of the new mobile OS may be in the final stages, and that it could arrive a few days before the iPhone goes on sale.

But when will that be? Well, if you follow traditional practice, the new iPhones will be available the week after the launch event, on Friday, September 20. iOS 7 will be available for download a few days earlier. Will OS X Mavericks be out at the same time? I suppose it’s possible, since both were released to developers the very same day. But that would depend on whether OS 10.9 is also now in a late development stage, and the rumor sites haven’t mentioned a final candidate release, something close to the final version — at least not yet.

Not to be outdone, Samsung will reportedly introduce yet another Galaxy smartphone a week ahead of Apple’s event. Is anyone surprised?

Apple hasn’t made an official statement. But according to published reports about the developer betas of OS X Mavericks, it appears that any Mac that can run OS X Mountain Lion can be upgraded to the forthcoming OS release. What this means is that if you’re using OS 10.8, you shouldn’t have much to worry about, at least when it comes to your Mac hardware.

If you never upgraded to Mountain Lion, you’ll want to determine whether your Mac is compatible, if not, end of story. There’s no sense reading further, unless a new Mac is on the horizon for you. In that case, it’ll be compatible with Mavericks, and will be preloaded with the new OS within weeks of its release.

In the old days of Mac OS and OS X installations, you had something called a clean install, that basically created a new system setup, but left the older stuff in a separate folder for you to check at your leisure. For better or worse, Apple has given up on that sort of thing. Supposedly it’s not necessary except for extreme situations.

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For better or worse, Apple has been busy integrating its mobile and desktop operating systems since Lion arrived in 2011. To some, this move was a bad thing, particularly when it came to redesigning the scrollbars and making them only show up on mouseover as a default setting. Reversing the scrolling behavior to something Apple labeled “natural” was also severely criticized, though both settings can be turned off in System Preferences.

Add to that including Launchpad in OS X, which may be fine on an iPad or an iPhone, but fails to pass the usability test, and you can see where some devoted Mac users complained about the “iOSification” of OS X.

Of course, having similar apps on a Mac and an iOS device can make the user experience more consistent. So if such apps as Contacts, Calendar and Messages for OS X work similarly to their mobile counterparts, that’s a good thing. When iCloud keeps things in sync — and that’s not always the case — this means that you won’t have to cope with having to re-engage your muscle memory every time you switch between the two.

But Apple has kept other key elements of the two operating systems separate. In using his famous mixed metaphor, about integrating toaster ovens and refrigerators, Tim Cook clearly understands a nasty truth that Microsoft has yet to grasp. You do not interact with your Mac the same way you interact with your iPad. Under the hood, the two operating systems share a common origin, and many core features, but are otherwise quite different in look and feel.

With a Mac, you expect OS efficiency, and Apple has promised more of it for OS X Mavericks. But you still expect to use all sorts of apps that will require tons of memory and storage space. The limits are fewer on a traditional personal computing operating system, and you want to want to know you won’t hit the boundaries very often, if at all.

But on a mobile device, you are severely constrained when it comes to storage space and RAM. Apps and the operating system both have to be specially tuned to work efficiently under such restrictions. That is an area where even Google runs into trouble with Android. Many Android handsets and tablets have a lot more memory than an iPhone or an iPad. They also have processors that might, in theory, be better at number crunching. But Apple’s iOS gear still offers a fast, fluid experience, often faster than products that should, in theory at least, be noticeably snappier.

Consider Samsung’s Galaxy S4 smartphone, which, in the real world, seems hardly faster than its predecessor, the Galaxy S3, despite having much better benchmarks. Of course, Samsung has been exposed for cooking the books, making the S4 run faster in certain benchmark apps to produce better ratings.

As for Apple, some suggest the ultimate game plan is for iOS and OS X to merge, to be the same. That may go against what Cook says now, but Apple is notorious for saying they won’t do something, while eventually doing exactly what they once denied.

On the other hand, there seems little indication that a Mac will suddenly blossom into a larger tablet with a touch screen. Microsoft has tried that tact for over a decade with nothing to show for it. While I suppose it’s possible for more iOS interface elements and apps to be brought over for compatibility, it’s clear to me that Apple needs to keep OS X moving in a more expansive direction.

I notice, for example, that The Mac Observer’s John Martellaro has written an intriguing commentary suggesting Apple should make OS X more friendly to power users. He, in part, echoes something I’ve written about from time to time, that OS X should offer an “expert” mode, where power users get additional settings and more features that might otherwise be hidden beneath the command line. This special mode can possibly be engaged in System Preferences or via the Setup Assistant when you first boot a new Mac OS or a new Mac.

Sure, you can access many of these features with a third party utility, which do little more than put a friendly face on a Terminal command. But why should Apple add a feature that’s not going to be used? I don’t think OS X is designed that way merely to fuel opportunities for third party developers. Right now, however, Apple appears to be removing visible features rather than leaving them intact and adding more.

So starting with Lion, if you want to visit the user/library folder to zap a damaged preference file or remove some other file to troubleshoot your Mac, you’ll find the folder is invisible. Sure, you can hold down Option and choose Library from the Go menu, but why? You can also make the change permanent via the Terminal. Maybe Apple sought to avoid mischief from Mac users who were in a little bit over the heads, but there are other folders on your drive that also ought to be hidden for the same reason.

The Expert mode would reveal those folders, system settings for power users, and provide other tools to enhance your Mac experience. Sure, a regular Mac user can have the simplified interface and do perfectly well, but maybe Apple needs to differentiate it even more from iOS.

From the earliest days of the iPod, you could easily sync it with your motor vehicle’s audio system, or at least in some models, usually by connecting a USB cable. But it took years before you could wirelessly sync an iPhone or another mobile handset via Bluetooth, and, to this very day, not all models support this feature as standard issue. This is particularly true of entry-level cars, where you may have to buy a premium radio or navigation package to get what you need.

Even then, please don’t assume the feature will work properly. I’ve had three cars in the past decade that promised some sort of Bluetooth capability. While syncing with a mobile handset is usually pretty reliable, don’t expect voice recognition to always succeed. More often than not, anything more complicated than a name from a stored address book will be misinterpreted by the voice recognition system. So you end up having to repeat a phone number two times, three times, or even more frequently before you’re recognized. That’s true even if you speak in a casual, conversational voice and say “zero” for the number “0.”

My Honda Accord, for example, features the company’s “HandsFree” system, which is fairly decent, but far from perfect. But I’ve  tried voice recognition on far more expensive vehicles with even less success. No need to mention the brand names, such problems are par for the course.

As for the rest of the Honda’s audio system, it’s actually quite decent, although the interface is ancient. The radio, for example, sports a single-lined LED display, shades of the 1980s. The bitmapped display on the onboard navigation display, which stores data on a DVD, is more 1990s issue. But there are physical buttons for most critical functions, such as the climate control system, and even radio presets. Indeed, some vehicles require that you go through some horrendous menus just to store your favorite stations. Absurd? You bet.

Now Honda has updated the entire system for the 2013 Accord. In a brief test drive, I found it both good and bad. If you get the navigation system, you have two LCD displays, and some of the information is duplicated. Unfortunately, there are fewer buttons, which works against simplicity.

The totally redesigned 2014 Mazda6, the first version built without help from Ford, has a fairly decent, workable audio and navigation system. You have onscreen buttons to store and select radio station presets, and most functions are fairly easy to access.

Having too many features can be a bad thing, as Ford learned with the MyFord Touch system, developed in partnership with Microsoft. Ford’s reliability record has sharply declined because of constant defects with the audio and navigation components. Apps crash and freeze, and the touch screens may fail to recognize your fingers. Yes, Ford continues to push updates, but some problems persist.

In passing, I wonder how many accidents are caused by drivers frustrated by fiddling with temperamental computerized systems that don’t recognize voice commands or taps.

Apple has been trying to make inroads into the audio business. Some cars, including the Chevrolet Sonic, are boasting of Siri Eyes Free integration, which puts that “lady” from your iPhone and iPad in your car. It’s not a full-featured system, but manages such things as phone calls and navigation.

For iOS 7, Apple is touting iOS in the Car, which will expand the focus, at least when car makers get with the program. Most of the major manufacturers are already involved in adapting iOS for some of their models, with the first supported vehicles expected to appear in 2014, according to Apple.

Now until the product is available in a few vehicles, it’ll be hard to see how far Apple is going to take their services, and whether it will be able to control such functions as the air conditioner and system adjustments. Would you be able to tell Siri, for example, that you’d like to have the door locks automatically engage as soon as you exceed 5 miles an hour? Yes, a number of cars let you do that, but the setup, if not stock, often requires going through several hard-to-configure menus.

This doesn’t mean Apple is going to conquer the motor vehicle, or that such powerful competitors as Microsoft are standing still. Some companies may prefer to stick with their own onboard systems rather than license technology from anyone.

Providing a full-featured service for someone else’s retail product is fairly new with Apple, and it extends way beyond developing iTunes for Windows. What it does mean is that Apple doesn’t have to buy a premium auto maker such as Tesla, or build an iCar to extend the iOS joy. However, one thing is sure. As more and more people become accustomed to living with Apple in their cars, assuming they’re satisfied, they’ll want to transport that experience to their homes and offices. That will create yet another halo effect for Apple, as more people will want to buy Apple gear to remain immersed in a user experience they love.

Of course, that assumes iOS in the Car will succeed. Some reports suggest that the existing Siri integration is somewhat imperfect, but when you compare Apple to the miserable user experience other companies offer, maybe customers will tolerate a few quirks if things rapidly get better. I mean, they haven’t stopped buying Fords.