The foldable iPhone, finally
If you have been waiting for Apple to join the foldable party, your moment is here. At a wide ranging Wednesday event livestreamed from Cupertino, the company pulled the wraps off the iPhone Duo, its first phone that opens up. CEO John Ternus took a jab at rivals' designs, saying some feel like "two phones glued together," and pitched Duo as Apple's more polished take.
Open the Duo and you get the largest iPhone screen Apple has shipped at 7.6 inches, plus a 5.4 inch outer display when it is closed. It works with the Apple Pencil used on iPad, and Apple says the hinge and display aim for a sturdier feel with a subtler crease. The interface has been tuned to make the most of the fold. Apple framed the Duo as the biggest design change in iPhone history and as its answer to a category first pushed by Samsung Electronics Co. and others.
Price, dates and the market's first take
Duo sits at the very top of the iPhone range with a $1,999 starting price. Preorders start on Oct. 16 across more than 70 countries and regions, and units arrive in stores on Oct. 23. The announcement did not spark a rally. By 2:11 p.m. in New York, Apple shares were off 1.4% at $311.92, a muted reaction to a long anticipated reveal.
What else Apple announced
The company also refreshed its core lineup. New iPhone Pro models move to the A20 chip and, according to Apple, deliver the longest battery life ever on an iPhone. The larger Pro Max is rated at 45 hours, while the Pro targets 36 hours.
Plugging in with a wire for only five minutes, Apple says, is enough to watch video for six hours. A next generation vapor chamber is onboard to help with heat management.
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Apple added $100 to the price of its Pro phones: iPhone 18 Pro lands at $1,199 and the Pro Max is $1,299. Preorders for the Pro models and for the updated entry level earbuds, AirPods 5, begin Sept. 12, with both arriving Sept. 18. AirPods 5 still start at $129 and now include noise cancellation. On the watch front, Series 12 and Ultra 4 boast more powerful chips and broader audio features, including Live Rewind, which can jump back 15 seconds to show what was just spoken.
Color wise, the iPhone 18 Pro comes in burgundy, black, silver and a bluish shade Apple calls glacier. After declaring, "We made massive advances in the most important areas," Ternus cited upgrades in artificial intelligence, performance, battery life, and the camera. He added, "I couldn't be more proud of the teams across Apple who made today possible."
What's next and why it matters for your wallet
No base model iPhone 18 showed up. Apple is shifting timing so the entry iPhone 18 arrives in the spring alongside a lower budget iPhone 18e and a slimmer iPhone Air 2. The event also marked John Ternus's first big outing as CEO after taking the helm on Sept. 1, with Tim Cook staying on as executive chairman. Put it together and you see Apple leaning into premium pricing and a staggered schedule, which can influence where demand - and your tech spending - goes over the next few quarters.
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