Apple used its September 9, 2026 "Surprise and Shine" event to introduce the foldable iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, AirPods 5 and an overhauled Siri, marking new CEO John Ternus's first product keynote and Apple's most decisive push yet into on-device AI hardware.
iPhone Duo Opens Apple's Foldable Era
The centerpiece was iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable phone. Closed, it uses a 5.4-inch outer Super Retina XDR display; opened, it becomes a 7.6-inch nano-texture panel that Apple says is 50% larger than iPhone 18 Pro Max. Both displays share the same aspect ratio and support ProMotion, Always On and 3,000-nit peak brightness. The device is built from grade 5 titanium around a precision hinge with more than 100 components and reverts to Touch ID in the side button. Pricing starts at $1,999 in the U.S., with pre-orders on October 16 and availability October 23.
iPhone 18 Pro, A20 Pro And AI-First Siri
Ternus opened his debut as CEO with a speech about how Apple sees artificial intelligence and the devices it thinks AI now demands. Alongside iPhone Duo, Apple announced iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max powered by the A20 Pro chip — Apple's fastest ever silicon in an iPhone, paired with vapor-chamber cooling and a variable-aperture 48-megapixel Fusion camera. A smaller Dynamic Island and revised thermal system round out the update. The Pro series starts at $1,199.
Software matters more than usual this year: iOS 27 ships with a new Siri that lives in its own dedicated app, can hold on-device conversations and taps Apple's private cloud compute for heavier reasoning. AirPods 5 pick up stronger Active Noise Cancellation, Siri AI hooks and live translation, extending Apple's on-device AI story into audio.
An AI Problem, A Hardware Answer
The keynote also carried a corporate subtext: Ternus took over from Tim Cook on September 1 and inherits both a fast-moving generative-AI competitive landscape and a hardware pipeline that now stretches from foldables to robotic displays and smart glasses. By anchoring his first show around AI-tuned silicon, a redesigned Siri and a category-defining foldable, Ternus signaled that Apple still intends to lead on devices even as rivals lead on models. See our earlier coverage of Apple's post-Cook roadmap.
Reporting based on coverage from Apple, The Apple Post, Deadline, CNBC and CNN.