Apple iPhone 18 Pro and Foldable iPhone Duo: Everything New

Apple used its September 9, 2026 “Surprise and Shine” event to launch the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, its first foldable phone (the iPhone Duo), the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, and the AirPods 5. The Pro phones start at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively, a $100 jump that Apple and analysts tie squarely to this year’s memory-price surge. The foldable Duo starts at $1,999. I sat through the full stream, and the short version is that the interesting product is the one Apple made you wait two hours to see.

The quick reference

Apple also confirmed iOS 27 arrives Monday, September 14, and that there is no standard iPhone 18 this year. The cheaper non-Pro models have slipped to spring 2027, which makes the Pro line the only new “normal” iPhone you can buy this fall.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: a camera year, not a design year

Both Pro phones run the new A20 Pro, built on a 2-nanometer process, with a 6-core CPU, a 7-core GPU, and a dual 16-core Neural Engine that Apple says doubles on-device AI throughput over last year’s chip. Paired with a redesigned vapor chamber, Apple claims the highest sustained performance in any iPhone. In practice that mostly matters for long 4K recording and heavier Apple Intelligence tasks that used to make the phone warm and throttle.

The real story is the camera. The 48-megapixel Fusion main sensor now has a physical variable aperture that ranges from f/1.48 to f/4 using six laser-cut blades. That means you can actually stop the lens down for deeper focus or open it up for shallow depth of field, rather than faking both in software. Apple added a set of pro controls in the Camera app too: manual aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and a live histogram. The Fusion telephoto covers 4x and 8x. It is the first genuinely new camera hardware idea on the iPhone in a couple of years.

Elsewhere the changes are smaller. The Dynamic Island shrank and can now show up to three Live Activities at once while keeping Face ID. The C2 modem, Apple’s second in-house cellular chip, promises faster uploads, about 15% lower power draw, and mmWave support in the United States. Battery life climbs to a claimed 36 hours of video on the 18 Pro and 45 hours on the Pro Max for the eSIM-only models, with a 50% top-up in roughly 15 minutes over a cable. The colors are black, silver, glacier, and a new burgundy that Apple is clearly pushing as the look of the year.

Pre-orders open Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. Pacific, a day later than Apple’s usual Friday slot because September 11, 2026 is the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The phones ship September 18 in the first wave of countries, with about 20 more following on September 25.

The iPhone Duo: Apple’s first foldable, finally

After years of watching Samsung, Google, and Huawei ship folding phones, Apple has one. It is called the iPhone Duo, not the “iPhone Ultra” name that leaked for months. It uses a book-style fold with a 7.6-inch inner display that Apple calls its largest and most immersive iPhone screen ever, and a 5.4-inch outer display with a hole-punch camera. Apple says it is the thinnest iPhone it has ever built.

There are trade-offs, and Apple did not hide all of them. The inner screen uses an under-display FaceTime camera, a first for the iPhone, which keeps the front of the unfolded phone clean but tends to shoot softer selfies than a normal cutout. The rear camera system is a 48-megapixel main plus a 48-megapixel ultrawide with 2x optical zoom, so there is no dedicated long telephoto like the Pro phones carry. It runs the same A20 Pro. Face ID is gone on this model; unlocking is handled by a Touch ID button, the same approach Apple took years ago on the iPad Air.

Pricing starts at $1,999 for 256GB and climbs to $3,199 for a 2TB model. Colors are Night Sky and Star White. Unlike the Pro phones, the Duo is not available this month: pre-orders begin October 16 and it ships October 23 across roughly 70 countries. If you want it, plan on a separate launch day.

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

Both watches move to the S11 chip, the first serious silicon jump for the Apple Watch in about three generations, with a CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine derived from the A20 Pro. The headline health change is a new optical heart-rate sensor that samples roughly every five seconds, which Apple describes as a 60-fold increase in frequency, plus heart-rate-variability readings every five minutes and a new daily “readiness” score built from sleep, activity, and vitals. The Health app has been redesigned around a Longevity view.

The Series 12 aluminum models get Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple says is 60% tougher, and the ceramic case returns as an option in pearl white and night blue. The Ultra 4 focuses on endurance: up to 50 hours of normal use, up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode, and up to 45 hours of workout tracking with GPS. Both also gain Audio Intelligence features, including a 15-second Live Rewind for audio notes and Siri Recap meeting summaries, arriving in beta later. The Series 12 starts at $399, the Ultra 4 at $799, and both ship September 18. There is no new Apple Watch SE this year, so the 2025 SE 3 carries on as the budget pick.

AirPods 5

The AirPods 5 stay cheap, at $129 or $149 with a wireless charging case, and the pitch is noise control: Apple claims 50% better noise reduction than the previous model and automatic switching between active noise cancellation and transparency based on how loud your surroundings are. They are in stores September 18.

Why the prices went up

Apple rarely explains price increases, but this year it more or less did. DRAM and NAND flash memory prices have climbed sharply through 2026 as AI data-center buildouts soak up global supply, a trend we covered in our look at the 2026 RAM and SSD price surge. Phones need a lot of both, and the Pro models carry the most. The $100 bump on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, and the eye-watering ceiling on the Duo, are the consumer-facing edge of a shortage that has already reshaped the PC market.

The bigger picture: Ternus’s first keynote

This was the first September event since John Ternus took over as Apple CEO on September 1, replacing Tim Cook after 15 years. Ternus ran Apple’s hardware engineering org for years, and the event reflected that: the standout announcements were physical engineering wins, a variable-aperture lens and a folding chassis, rather than services or AI platform moves. Siri’s larger AI overhaul is still rolling out in beta. For a first outing, shipping Apple’s first foldable is about as strong a statement as a new CEO can make. Whether buyers agree at $1,999 is the question October will answer.

FAQ

When can I buy the iPhone 18 Pro?

Pre-orders open Saturday, September 12, 2026 at 5 a.m. Pacific / 8 a.m. Eastern. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max ship Friday, September 18 in the first group of countries.

How much is the foldable iPhone Duo?

It starts at $1,999 for 256GB and goes up to $3,199 for 2TB. Pre-orders begin October 16 and it ships October 23, so it is on a later schedule than the Pro phones.

Is there a regular iPhone 18 this year?

No. Apple did not release a standard non-Pro iPhone 18 in September. Reporting indicates the cheaper models have moved to a spring 2027 launch, so the Pro line and the Duo are the only new iPhones for now.

Did the Apple Watch get a design change?

No redesign. The Series 12 and Ultra 4 keep the existing shapes but add the new S11 chip, a much faster heart-rate sensor, a readiness score, tougher glass on the aluminum Series 12, and big battery gains on the Ultra 4.

Source: Apple Newsroom.