Apple's Foldable iPhone Debuts Today: Will AAPL Stock Take Off?

Apple unveils its first foldable iPhone and a refreshed iPhone 18 Pro lineup today, September 9, alongside a new A20 Pro chip, as AAPL stock closed 1.17% lower at $316.22 heading into the keynote.

The event marks the first major hardware reveal under new Chief Executive Officer John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on September 1. It also represents Apple’s biggest design shift since the iPhone X arrived in 2017.

What Apple Is Expected to Show

Apple has skipped a standard iPhone 18 this year. The company delayed that model to spring 2027. Its autumn lineup instead centers on the foldable iPhone at Ternus’s keynote debut, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

All three devices are expected to run the new A20 Pro chip, and Apple has tied that chip to on-device Siri artificial intelligence (AI) improvements.

The foldable device, widely rumored to open like a book, arrives after iPhone 18 Pro costs climbed on rising memory prices. Analysts expect that pressure to push its retail price above earlier generations.

AAPL Stock Slips Ahead of the Keynote

Apple shares fell to $316.22 on Tuesday, though the stock remains near the top of its 52-week range. HSBC held a Buy rating with a $366 price target heading into the event, while Citi projected 7.3 million foldable iPhone unit sales despite a price near $2,000.

Meanwhile, the launch follows fresh competition from China. Huawei introduced its tri-fold Mate XT2 on September 7, powered by an in-house Kirin 9050 Pro chip and priced between $2,980 and $3,725. Xiaomi debuted its passport-sized 18 Fold the same day, starting near $1,540.

Huawei Executive Director Richard Yu said pricing has become difficult as memory costs climb.

“Pricing right now is a real challenge, because memory costs have risen sharply. We adopted a lot of new technology, and the cost pressure has been enormous.”

Huawei led China’s smartphone market last quarter with a 22.6% share. Apple held 18.1% and Xiaomi held 12.4%, and Huawei also captured most of the country’s foldable shipments.

Whether Apple’s entry shifts that balance may depend less on today’s specifications than on how Ternus prices and positions the device against entrenched rivals.