CEO Tim Cook is directing Apple's big event Monday in San Francisco, unveiling a new deal between Apple TV and HBO, touting growth in iPhone sales and Apple Pay adoption and other developing products.

Apple cut the price of Apple TV by $30 to $69 and is partnering with HBO to offer its stand-alone streaming service, HBO Go, on Apple devices in time for the "Game of Thrones" premiere April 12. It will cost $14.99 monthly. Cook said 2,500 banks are now signed up with Apple Pay, which is available in 700,000 retail locations nationwide.

Cook is expected to unveil the company's newest device, the smartwatch, and make the case for why it's a must-have gadget. Apple teased the smartwatch in September but has given few details.

Scheduled to hit the market in April, industry watchers are eager to see if Apple's version will be the tipping point for the sluggish smartwatch market. There was similar skepticism when Apple released the iPad in 2010, yet the company has successfully sold millions and its popularity has shaken up the PC market.

The stakes are high for a company that just dislodged AT&T as one of the 30 stocks comprising the venerable Dow Jones industrial average. The watch is the first brand-new device Apple has launched without Steve Jobs.