Apple Launches First Foldable iPhone Duo, Starting at $1,999

TradingKey - On Wednesday, September 9, Eastern Time, Apple (AAPL) held its annual fall new product launch event at Apple Park, themed "Surprise and Shine." At the event, hosted for the first time by new CEO John Ternus, Apple officially unveiled its first foldable iPhone—the iPhone Duo—while also launching the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and Apple Watch Series 12.

The core change at this launch event is not merely a hardware form factor upgrade; Apple is also seeking to build the iPhone into an "intelligent hub" connecting personal information, apps, services, and the hardware ecosystem through Apple Intelligence and Siri AI.

iPhone Duo Starts at $1,999, Goes on Sale Oct. 23

The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, offers storage capacities ranging from 256GB to 2TB, with pre-orders opening on October 16 and official availability on October 23. The device comes in two color options: Starlight and Midnight.

When unfolded, the iPhone Duo features a 7.6-inch inner display, making it Apple's largest iPhone display to date; when folded, it features a 5.4-inch outer display, with a screen area reaching 90% of the iPhone 18 Pro. Both screens share the same aspect ratio, allowing content to maintain continuous display between unfolded and folded states.

The iPhone Duo features a titanium body, precision hinge, and dual-battery architecture, along with a custom vapor chamber cooling system. The inner display incorporates a nano-texture finish to reduce glare and reflections, while also helping to lower the visibility of the crease. The entire device supports IP68-rated water, dust, and splash resistance, with Touch ID integrated into the side button.

In terms of photography, the iPhone Duo is equipped with a 48MP Fusion main camera that supports up to 48MP shooting and 2x optical-quality zoom, alongside a 48MP Fusion ultra-wide camera. The foldable form factor also introduces new ways to shoot, such as using various device postures for hands-free video calls or capture.

In terms of performance, the iPhone Duo is powered by the A20 Pro chip, runs iOS 27, and supports Apple Intelligence and Siri AI. Apple stated that it will also support Apple Pencil connected via USB-C in a future update.

iPhone 18 Pro Series to Start at $1,199

Apple announced starting prices of $1,199 for the iPhone 18 Pro and $1,299 for the iPhone 18 Pro Max. For comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max started at $1,099 and $1,199, respectively.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro series will open on September 12, with availability starting September 18. The lineup will be available in Black, Silver, Glacier, and an all-new Burgundy.

The camera system is a key highlight of this upgrade. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max introduce a variable aperture for the first time, allowing the 48-megapixel Fusion main camera to automatically adjust the aperture based on lighting and depth-of-field requirements, or be manually adjusted by users in the Camera app. New Pro control features also support adjustments to shutter speed, white balance, and exposure histogram.

In terms of performance, the iPhone 18 Pro series is powered by the A20 Pro chip built on a 2-nanometer process. Memory bandwidth increases by 50% compared with the A19 Pro, GPU performance gains up to 40%, and the Neural Engine features a total of 32 cores to boost on-device AI models and computational photography capabilities.

Apple Embeds AI Further Into Everyday Use

At the event, Apple executive Lilian Rincon introduced Apple Intelligence and the new version of Siri. A live demonstration showed that users can snap a photo of ingredients at a fruit stand, ask Siri to recommend recipes, and add the required ingredients to a shopping list; Siri can also interact with third-party apps such as WhatsApp and Outlook.

The new Siri can understand the user's current task and provide assistance by combining personal context, such as on-screen content, messages, emails, and photos. Siri can also use the camera to understand what is in front of the user to answer questions or perform actions.

Apple specifically emphasized on-device processing. Ternus stated that Apple Intelligence will run directly on the device whenever conditions permit to protect user privacy. The new Siri is currently available in an English Beta, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish versions launching in October. Apple has not yet disclosed when the new Siri will enter the EU and Chinese markets.

From the iPhone Duo to the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple's event highlighted two clear main threads: first, expanding the iPhone's hardware form factor via foldable screens; second, leveraging the A20 Pro, Apple Intelligence, and Siri AI to further transition the iPhone from a smartphone into an intelligent device that understands users' personal scenarios.