Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max and its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, at its September `Surprise and Shine` event under new CEO John Ternus.

Apple kicked off its annual September hardware event, dubbed “Surprise and Shine,” on Wednesday at its Cupertino headquarters, revealing the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max and making good on years of speculation with the launch of its first foldable iPhone, the Duo.

The event was the first keynote helmed by John Ternus, who became Apple’s chief executive on Sept. 1 after longtime leader Tim Cook stepped down. Cook was in attendance for the debut of a device Apple has been expected to bring to market for several years.

The foldable iPhone Duo

Apple confirmed its entry into the foldable market with the iPhone Duo, priced at $1,999 and scheduled to reach stores on Oct. 23. The price is in line with competing foldables from Samsung and others, and lower than some Wall Street forecasts.

The device features an outer display that Apple said is roughly 90% of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro, along with a 7.6-inch inner display. Apple built a fingerprint sensor into the side button for unlocking, and the phone’s case is made of titanium.

“For a device that plays such a central role in your life, a larger display would open up entirely new possibilities,” Ternus said, describing other foldables as feeling like “two phones awkwardly stuck together.”

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said iOS had been redesigned across its interface to take advantage of the two screens, moving buttons and other controls. Users can run two apps side by side for multitasking, and the phone supports Apple’s Pencil stylus.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

The flagship models are powered by Apple’s new A20 Pro chip, which the company says delivers two desktop-class super cores running 20% faster than those in the iPhone 17 Pro. A new-generation vapor chamber that keeps the chip cooler provides 40% improved sustained performance, and the graphics processor runs 40% faster for improved gaming and on-device AI image generation.

Apple said the chip is designed to support a higher level of on-device artificial intelligence across apps.

Battery life has also been extended, with 36 hours of video playback on the iPhone 18 Pro and 45 hours on the Pro Max. The Pro models carry a new 48-megapixel Fusion main camera with a physical aperture made of six laser-cut blades that are thinner than a human hair. The aperture adjusts automatically, opening wider in low light to admit around 50% more light.

Available in black, burgundy, glacier, and silver, the iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for a 256GB model and the Pro Max at $1,299 for the same storage, marking a $100 increase over the prior generation. Apple raised prices on its Macs and iPads over the summer amid a global shortage of computer components, and investors had been watching to see whether iPhones would follow.

Pre-orders begin Sept. 12, with the phones arriving in stores Sept. 18.

Siri AI, Apple Watch, and AirPods

The company also detailed an overhaul of its voice assistant. Siri AI is designed to search across apps such as mail and messages and take action within third-party applications, and it comes with a dedicated app where past conversations are stored and synced to iCloud. Siri AI is also built into the camera app. Apple said Siri handles about 2.5 billion requests a day, and users will be able to customize the assistant’s voice, including accent, gender, pace, and expressiveness.

On wearables, Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 12, holding the line on pricing at $399 and up, alongside the Ultra 4 starting at $799. The Series 12 includes a feature Apple calls Audio Intelligence, which uses the watch’s microphone to record and summarize conversations. Apple also announced a version of the Apple Watch with a ceramic case.

AirPods received a refresh, adding active noise cancellation to the $129 model and a wireless charging case to the $149 version, with Apple citing a new multi-port acoustic architecture and next-generation adaptive EQ for richer sound.