Apple hid an AR effect in its iPhone event invite

Now that speculation over the date of the highly anticipated "iPhone 13" event has been put to rest, we can turn our attention to the trail of clues Apple has left inside its announcement.

Opening the September 14 event page on an iPhone reveals a graphic that mimics the video being shared by company bigwigs on Twitter: The glowing Apple logo floating over an alpine lake. But it's when you tap on that logo that the augmented reality magic happens.

Tap the Apple logo to launch the AR feature. Credit: apple

This will launch the ARKit viewer within iOS using your iPhone's camera. After moving your phone around for some quick calibration, the AR Apple logo will then appear over your surroundings. Zoom into it and you'll be able to enter the lake image from the invite. Once inside, the date of the iPhone 2021 launch event will appear.

The AR logo appears with an image of a lake inside.

Credit: apple

Zoom in on the logo to immerse yourself in the image and see the launch date hovering over the lake.

Credit: apple

So what does this mean for the next iPhone? Well, under Tim Cook's leadership, Apple has made its embrace of AR very clear — the latest iPad Pro is optimized for the tech and the company's even rumored to be developing a dedicated headset. Given all that, it's safe to say we might soon see an iPhone AR.