Breaking down everything Apple just revealed at their flagship event

🍎📱 Apple has finally folded the iPhone. At its “Surprise and shine” event on 9 September at the Steve Jobs Theater, the company unveiled its first foldable — the iPhone Duo — alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5. The keynote was the first major Apple event under CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on 1 September. The event was livestreamed on Apple’s website, the Apple TV app, and the tech giant’s YouTube channel.

Notably absent from the keynote were a standard iPhone 18, new iPad or Mac hardware, and a Vision Pro update. Apple didn’t announce those products during the event, leaving their launch timing unconfirmed.

iPhone Duo: Apple folds, at last

The iPhone Duo is built around a passport-style design — and at 5.2 mm unfolded, it’s Apple’s thinnest iPhone yet. The frame is Grade 5 titanium, with Ceramic Shield on the back and Ceramic Shield 2 (3x more scratch-resistant than its predecessor) on the outer display. It comes in Star White and Night Sky, a dark blue, and has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.

Two screens, both flagship-grade: The Duo has a 5.4-inch outer Super Retina XDR display and a 7.6-inch inner Super Retina XDR display with a nano-texture finish to reduce glare and minimize crease visibility. Both screens feature ProMotion, Always On, and up to 3k nits of peak outdoor brightness. An under-display FaceTime camera keeps the inner screen uninterrupted, while Apple Pencil support is set to arrive later this year.

What’s under the hood: The model runs on the 2nm A20 Pro chip, with a six-core CPU, seven-core GPU, and Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple says the CPU is up to 20% faster, the GPU up to 40% faster, and unified memory bandwidth 50% higher than the previous generation. The chip also supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and is paired with a custom vapor chamber for improved sustained performance.

Touch ID replaces Face ID, while Camera Control and Siri Camera mode add new ways to interact with the camera, which drops to a 48MP Dual Fusion system — a 48MP Fusion Main camera, optical-quality 2x Telephoto, and 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide. The Duo also supports Split View, multiple windows, app pairs, an upgraded StandBy mode, and iOS 27 features designed specifically for the foldable form factor.

Can the battery keep up with two screens? The dual-battery design provides up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display, 44 hours on the outer display, or 24 hours with both screens used equally. It reaches 50% charge in around 20 minutes, or 50% wirelessly in around 30 minutes. The device is eSIM-only worldwide and includes Apple’s N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, alongside the C2 cellular modem.

PRICE AND RELEASE DATES- The iPhone Duo starts at USD 1,999 for 256GB, with storage options up to 2TB. Preorders open 16 October, with availability beginning 23 October.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

The specs: The iPhone 18 Pro has a 6.3-inch display, while the Pro Max has a 6.9-inch display. Both feature a smaller Dynamic Island that can display three Live Activities simultaneously, and come in black, silver, glacier blue, and the much-anticipated burgundy. This line runs on the same chip as the Duo, the A20 Pro. Battery life reaches up to 36 hours of video playback on the Pro and 45 hours on the Pro Max, and both support wired charging to 50% in 15 minutes.

The camera gets an upgrade: The 48MP Fusion Main camera comes with a physical variable aperture, giving users greater control over light and depth of field. Pro Controls add manual adjustments for aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and ISO, while smart focus tracking and updated Photographic Styles add further creative control. Apple Reference Image creates an unalterable reference image to help verify photo authenticity. Video upgrades include Cinematic Video at 60fps and 4K Dolby Vision HDR time-lapses.

PRICES AND RELEASE DATES- The Pro starts at USD 1,199 and the Pro Max at USD 1,299, with preorders opening 12 September and availability beginning 18 September.

Apple Watch Series 12

Apple Watch Series 12 introduces a redesigned Health Sensing System, with more frequent heart-rate and heart-rate variability measurements and a new Readiness score that assesses activity, training load, vitals, and sleep. A new Health Age feature shows how health metrics are tracking relative to a user’s age.

The S11 chip powers new Audio Intelligence features — Sound Recognition, Live Rewind, and Siri Recap — alongside more accurate step tracking, Ceramic Shield 2 on aluminum models, and faster charging. Series 12 is available in a ceramic case — a first — with Pearl White and Night Blue finishes, alongside aluminum and titanium options. Battery life remains up to 24 hours.

PRICE AND RELEASE DATES- Series 12 starts at USD 399, with preorders available and retail availability beginning 18 September.

Apple Watch Ultra 4

The Ultra 4 gets the same Health Sensing System and Readiness features, reading heart rate every five seconds and HRV up to 24x more frequently than before. Where it separates from the Series 12 is endurance: 50 hours of everyday use, rising to 84 hours in low power mode, and up to 45 hours of continuous workout tracking — enough to cover a multi-day hike without a charger.

PRICE AND RELEASE DATES- It comes in natural and black titanium, starts at USD 799, and is available to preorder ahead of its 18 September launch.

AirPods 5

Active noise cancellation is now standard, built into Apple’s open-ear design rather than reserved for the Pro line. Apple says the new acoustic architecture and Adaptive EQ cut up to 50% more external noise than AirPods 4 with ANC, while Transparency mode, Adaptive Audio, and Conversation Awareness handle the switch between what you’re listening to and what’s happening around you.

PRICES AND RELEASE DATES- The USD 129 model delivers four hours of listening with ANC and 20 hours with its case. The USD 149 version adds on-stem Volume Swipe, a wireless charging case, and up to five hours of ANC listening or 22 hours with the case. Both support Live Translation and hands-free Siri AI. Preorders are open, with availability beginning 18 September.

The bottom line

For now, Apple’s 2026 hardware strategy is clear enough: the foldable iPhone is no longer a rumor, the Pro lineup is doubling down on cameras and performance, and the Apple Watch and AirPods are becoming increasingly focused on health and AI.

The surprise, it seems, was that Apple had considerably more than one trick up its sleeve. You can rewatch the event through the channels mentioned above for a more detailed dive into the products, as well as the software and intelligence updates Apple announced.