Apple Unveils Its First Foldable iPhone. Its Stock Remained Largely Flat.

Apple Inc. unveiled its first foldable iPhone, the $1,999 iPhone Duo, at its September 9 'Surprise and Shine' event, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12, and AirPods 5, with AI features like Siri AI and Apple Intelligence expanding across its ecosystem. The event, led by CEO John Ternus, marked a shift as Apple's stock remained largely flat despite the announcements.

Apple Unveils Its First Foldable iPhone. Its Stock Remained Largely Flat. The event also put artificial intelligence at the center of Apple's next generation of devices, with the new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence expanding across the company's ecosystem. Apple https://www.ibtimes.com/topic/apple 's September 9 "Surprise and Shine" event https://www.apple.com/apple-events/ was headlined by the iPhone Duo, the first foldable iPhone https://www.ibtimes.com/topic/iphone , something the company had resisted for years, alongside other new products like the iPhone 18. The event also put artificial intelligence https://www.ibtimes.com/topic/ai at the center of Apple's next generation of devices, with the new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence expanding across the company's ecosystem. It was also a changing-of-the-guard moment for Apple. The presentation was the first major iPhone event led by CEO John Ternus, who succeeded Tim Cook earlier this month. The biggest surprise was the $1,999 iPhone Duo https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/09/apple-unveils-iphone-duo/ , Apple's long-awaited answer to foldable phones from rivals including Samsung and Google. The device has a 5.4-inch outer display that opens into a 7.6-inch folding screen, the largest display Apple has ever put on an iPhone. Apple says the Duo is also its thinnest iPhone when unfolded. Rather than treating the larger screen simply as extra space, Apple redesigned parts of iOS 27 around it. Users can run two apps side by side, open two windows from the same app, and save app pairings for later. The Duo is powered by Apple's new A20 Pro chip and uses a dual-battery design, with Apple claiming up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner screen or 44 hours using the outer display. Preorders begin October 16 before its October 23 release. Apple also introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, starting at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively. Both use the new 2-nanometer A20 Pro processor and feature a smaller Dynamic Island, improved thermal management, and major camera upgrades. The headline camera change is a 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera with variable aperture, giving photographers greater control over depth of field and light. Apple is also bringing more manual controls directly into its Camera app. The Pro models arrive September 18 in black, silver, glacier, and burgundy. Notably, Apple did not unveil a standard iPhone 18 during the event, but AI was another major theme. Siri AI, arriving in beta with iOS 27, is designed to understand personal context, recognize what is happening on a user's screen, and perform actions using information across messages, emails, photos, and other apps. The software rollout begins September 14, although some features and languages will arrive later. The Apple Watch Series 12 introduces a new Health Sensing System and S11 processor, with more frequent heart-rate and heart-rate variability measurements. A new Readiness feature analyzes activity, sleep, and vital signs to produce a daily score from zero to 10, essentially telling users whether their body is ready to push harder or needs recovery. The Series 12 starts at $399, while the Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799. The Ultra 4 pushes battery life to as much as 50 hours during everyday use and up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode. Finally, Apple unveiled AirPods 5, bringing active noise cancellation to its most affordable AirPods. Apple says the new open-ear ANC can eliminate up to 50 percent more outside noise than the previous generation. AirPods 5 start at $129, while a $149 version adds a wireless charging case, longer battery life, and volume controls directly on the stems. Both arrive September 18. © Copyright IBTimes 2026. All rights reserved.