Apple unveiled its next iPhone lineup, a foldable “Duo,” and its AI-powered Siri on Wednesday as John Ternus leds his first keynote as CEO
The iPhone Duo opens to a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR display Apple says is 50% larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max and 80% larger than the standard 18 Pro, plus a 5.4-inch outer display covering 90% of the 18 Pro’s screen area.
Later this year, both displays will support Apple Pencil with USB-C, marking the first time Apple has brought that iPad-style experience to an iPhone. For authentication, Apple opted for Touch ID built into the side button under the thumb – usable whether the phone is open or closed – with support for enrolling multiple fingers and unlocking via Apple Watch. Top and bottom speakers deliver spatial audio in both landscape and portrait, and it launches in Star White and Night Sky.
On durability, the Duo uses a Grade 5 titanium frame with structural support ribs, plus antenna splits reinforced with ceramic-fiber inserts Apple says are three times stronger than the titanium itself. It has Ceramic Shield on the back, Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, and carries an IP68 dust and water resistance rating.
Software-wise, Craig Federighi’s team said they rebuilt iOS around the Duo’s shape, moving essential controls to the sides to free up vertical space — including a minimalist lock screen that foregrounds wallpaper – with every built-in app optimized for the format.
The bigger screen enables split-view multitasking (two different apps side by side, or two windows of the same app for comparison), easy app-swapping and resizing, and the ability to pin a video to the top while multitasking below.
iOS also adapts intelligently to however the device is angled or posed – usable hands-free standing on a table, propped at an angle, or folded, with content sliding away from the crease so it’s not obstructed. A redesigned StandBy mode activates even off the charger, with customizable clock faces, widgets, and notifications, including a bedside-clock mode with a gentle wake-up glow synced to alarms.
Apple also highlighted developer support through new APIs, citing early adopters: Zoom turning the screen into a video-conference layout, Slack expanding workspace visibility, an app called Detail using Apple’s on-device Core AI framework for content creation, and Netflix restructuring browsing across both displays.
On the display engineering, Apple described a custom manufacturing process using laser etching to create a matte, glare-reducing texture that’s also meant to feel better to the touch and resist scratches, built on an all-metal structural system with multi-layer lamination to keep the display securely mounted to the frame.
Apple pitched its take on a foldable as solving what it sees as the core problem with rivals’ designs – devices that feel like two phones awkwardly joined together, producing a square screen ill-suited to normal use, with vertical scrolling feeling cramped and movies boxed in by heavy black bars that shrink the effective screen size.
Apple said its starting point was wanting a larger display that feels as natural as an iPad’s, then paired that goal with what it called breakthrough engineering.
The result, iPhone Duo, was described as unlike any previous iPhone while still feeling familiar – roughly passport-sized, comfortable to hold and use one-handed, with an asymmetric shape and two rounded corners inviting the user to open it.
The two halves form a continuous frame around what Apple called its largest iPhone display yet, with a narrow, uniform border meant to create an immersive inner screen, drawing explicit inspiration from the iPad’s versatility for both landscape and (implied) portrait use.
Apple introduced a new category of features called Audio Intelligence, running on Apple Silicon and processed privately on the wrist, positioned as the audio counterpart to Visual Intelligence. The first piece extends sound recognition to Apple Watch, aimed particularly at deaf and hard-of-hearing users – Siri can recognize up to four familiar sounds like sirens, alarms, doorbells, or a crying baby, using on-device AI to alert the wearer even without their phone nearby.
The second feature, Live Rewind, lets someone replay the last 15 seconds of speech by double-pressing the Digital Crown, generating a transcript that can be queried through Siri or saved in a new Siri app – useful for catching a missed detail like a recommendation or an idea mentioned in passing.
The third, Siri Recap, uses ambient listening to generate high-level notes from conversations – such as a meeting or a parent-teacher conference – producing an AI-written title, summary, and key points viewable later in the Siri app. Users control when it listens, choosing to run it always, on a set schedule (e.g., only during work hours), or never, with a quick toggle also available in Control Center.
On privacy, Apple said none of these features record or store raw audio, that audio used for processing stays inaccessible even to Apple itself, that speakers aren’t identified or attributed, and that Live Rewind transcripts and Siri Recap notes are end-to-end encrypted when synced via iCloud. All of this is accessed through a new Siri module interface built into the Smart Stack, letting users revisit past Siri conversations or jump into their Siri Recap notes.
The Health app itself was redesigned around Apple Intelligence, with a new Insights tab that generates an AI summary of timely findings (like sleep trends or a new VO2 max peak) and offers personalised, adapting suggestions – for example, recommending interval training based on someone’s running habits.
Apple also introduced “Health Age,” which compares a person’s health metrics against their actual age using established health science, and a new longevity tab that scores sleep, movement, and heart health against current clinical guidelines, with the option to add lab results manually, sync medical records, or in the US, order a biomarker panel test for $119 that combines with Watch data and includes explainer videos from medical experts.
The new Apple Watch models feature a redesigned health sensing system with three upgrades: a larger electrode surface for better ECG skin contact, photodiodes arranged in a ring for more efficient light capture, and bigger, more efficient green LEDs for steadier heart-rate readings during movement.
The practical result is far more frequent data – background heart rate now samples every five seconds (60 times more often than before), and heart rate variability samples every five minutes (24 times more often).
Apple said internal testing against an ECG chest-strap reference, across hundreds of participants doing running, cycling, and HIIT, showed its watch delivers the most accurate heart-rate sensing of any wearable tested.
That sensing data feeds a few new experiences. High-frequency heart rate now shows up in the Heart Rate app and new watch face complications, HRV gets folded into the Vitals app with both overnight and new daytime views, and a new “readiness” feature gives a daily score – recover, pace yourself, ready, or go for it – based on recent activity, vitals, and sleep, updating throughout the day and viewable on the watch or in the iPhone’s Fitness app.
Pricing is a highlight: the base AirPods 5 with ANC costs $129 (AED475) – the same as the previous non-ANC model.
A second version adds on-stem swipe volume control, longer battery life (up to five hours with ANC), and a wireless charging case compatible with Apple Watch and Qi chargers, priced at $149, $30 less than the outgoing model. Both are available for preorder now, shipping September 18.
Apple framed this as extending flagship features to a wider price point, noting that ANC is now standard across the entire AirPods lineup.
Apple introduced AirPods 5, redesigning its open-ear model from the inside out with a new multi-port acoustic setup and next-gen adaptive EQ for richer sound across different ear shapes, plus personalised spatial audio that adapts for a more immersive feel.
The bigger change is noise cancellation: thanks to the new acoustics and computational audio, AirPods 5 gets 50 per cent more noise reduction than the prior generation, which Apple is calling the best ANC in any open-ear design, alongside a more natural-sounding transparency mode and adaptive audio that switches between the two automatically based on background noise.
They also lean further into Apple Intelligence, working hands-free with the new Siri AI to pull from personal context and general knowledge – the demo showed Siri recalling a restaurant recommendation from a contact and then giving walking directions – plus the live translation feature carried over from last year. Apple also touted improved durability against rain, sweat, and dust, with up to four hours of ANC listening and up to 20 hours using the charging case.
As for pricing, iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 (now with a 2TB option), and the Pro Max starts at $1,299.
In the US, Apple’s introducing a new leasing option called Apple Upgrade with 12- or 24-month payment plans, trade-in credit up to $1,200 for an iPhone 14 or newer, and a new family-wide AppleCare One plan. Preorders open Saturday, September 12, with the phones on shelves September 18.
The Dynamic Island was redesigned smaller but more capable, now able to display three live activities at once – things like flight tracking, Maps navigation, and a running timer shown simultaneously.
iOS 27 adds more flexible parental controls over what kids can see, who they can contact, and when they can use the phone, alongside a customizable Liquid Glass look, better search in apps like Mail, and performance gains including notably faster AirDrop transfers.
Connectivity improvements include smoother switching between cellular and Wi-Fi, plus a new “iPhone handoff” feature letting one phone number move instantly between two iPhones – launching with T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom, with Verizon and EE following by year’s end.
On hardware, the lineup gets the A20 Pro chip paired with a next-gen vapor chamber for a big performance jump, the new variable-aperture camera system, and Apple’s longest iPhone battery life yet.
New accessories include an updated clear case, fresh colors for the woven and silicone options, and a new wrist strap compatible with both iPhone cases and AirPods Pro.
Apple expanded manual camera controls on the iPhone 18 Pro, adding white balance adjustment, a histogram for checking exposure, four aperture options, and shutter speed control for intentional motion blur – effects the company said weren’t previously possible on iPhone.
Demo shots included a starburst effect on an earring shaped by the new aperture blades, and a fast shutter speed used to freeze motion cleanly.
These Pro Controls extend to video too, including adjustable shutter speed for classic motion-blur filmmaking and a new smart focus-tracking feature that uses on-device AI to keep a moving subject sharp even if they change depth or leave and re-enter frame.
Photographic Styles also got an upgrade, with new texture and grain controls that let users fine-tune how light and shadow interact in a shot, adjustable independently or together with color, and reversible at any time.
On authenticity, Apple said it will support the existing C2PA-style standard for flagging AI-generated or edited images, but also introduced its own system called Apple Reference Image.
The new main camera sensor signs photo data at the pixel level at the moment of capture, and Private Cloud Compute turns that signed data into an unalterable reference version viewable in the Photos app alongside the regular editable photo – described as functioning like a digital negative to confirm what was actually captured.
The new iPhone Pro and Pro Max cameras features a 48MP fusion main camera with variable aperture, tuned for the best trade-off between light capture and depth of field, with the ability to narrow further for group shots that need sharper detail deeper into the scene.
The iPhone 18 Pro has a new, improved vapour chamber. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will also feature the 2nm A20 Pro chip
The Apple iPhone 18 Pro was presented as having a more unified design this time, with color-matched aluminum and back glass.
The lineup includes a deep black, a more refined silver, a new shade called glacier, and a new burgundy option described as sophisticated and distinctive. The presentation then pivoted to the phone’s AI features, framed as centered on the user’s needs.
The iPhone 18 Pro lineup brings a major improvement in battery performance, thanks to redesigned batteries and more efficient silicon. eSIM-only versions offer up to 36 hours of video playback on the iPhone 18 Pro and as much as 45 hours on the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
The iPhone 18 Pro can reach 50% charge in about 15 minutes with wired charging, or around 30 minutes when charging wirelessly.
On the iPhone 18 Pro Max, just five minutes of wired charging can provide roughly seven hours of video playback. Using a new battery-testing model based on real-world usage patterns, the Pro Max is also rated for up to 30 hours of use on a full charge.
John Ternus’ pitch was that a true personal hub needs serious on-device processing paired with cloud access, a large display for rich content, strong cameras and microphones to take in the world, all-day battery life, an easy learning curve, and tight integration across a person’s other devices and services – and that no product fits that description better than iPhone.
Because it understands so much personal context – calendars, relationships, routines, daily habits – the presentation drew a contrast with companies that treat that data as something to harvest and store on their own servers, asking users to simply trust them.
The framing was that trust erodes once someone else controls your data, which is why Apple Intelligence is designed to run on-device by default, with Private Cloud Compute extending the same privacy standard for tasks that need more power – supposedly keeping that data inaccessible to anyone, including Apple itself.
From there, the message expanded to Siri becoming more capable and personal as part of a broader ecosystem of intelligent features working across a person’s everyday devices.
Apple’s official iPhone buy page is currently showing a “Be right back” message as the company prepares its digital shelves for new products.
Expect the page to go live with the new lineup right as the keynote begins at 9PM.
Apple typically opens preorders on the Friday right after its September keynote, but this year that would land on September 11 – the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Multiple reports suggest Apple will shift the window back a day instead, opening preorders on Saturday, September 12, at the usual early-morning hour, with phones still reaching stores on the standard follow-up Friday, September 18.
It wouldn’t be the first time: Apple made the same one-day adjustment back in 2015, when its keynote also fell on September 9.
Apple hasn’t confirmed this shift itself, so it’s still a projection based on the pattern rather than an official date.
On Wednesday morning, Ternus published only his second-ever post on X – a brief, 14-second clip that gives almost nothing away, just a beam of light hitting an unidentified object.
It fits the pattern he set in his first week as CEO: last week’s staff memo already promised a “phenomenal” launch was coming, and this teaser seems designed to build anticipation without revealing what’s actually being unveiled.
Apple will take the wraps off its next generation of hardware tonight, as John Ternus steps into the spotlight for his first keynote as CEO.
Expect the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max to lead the announcements, with persistent rumors suggesting Apple could also reveal its first foldable iPhone and a debut pair of smart glasses.
An updated Apple Watch 12, new AirPods, and the official unveiling of Apple’s AI-powered Siri will round out the presentation. Live coverage begins below as the event gets underway.
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