Apple Event 2026: Apple Unveils $1,999 iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, Siri AI, And More

Apple has unveiled its first foldable smartphone, the $1,999 iPhone Duo, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, while expanding its hardware lineup with new Siri AI capabilities, AirPods 5 and Apple Watch models.

The launches were revealed during Apple’s September 9 event, which CNBC covered through a live blog, marking one of the company’s biggest hardware refreshes of the year.

TL;DR

 

• Apple launched its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, starting at $1,999.
• The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max bring A20 Pro, variable-aperture cameras and expanded AI features.
• Siri AI arrives in beta with iOS 27, while Apple also launched AirPods 5, Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4.
• iPhone Duo goes on sale October 23.

Apple Launches Its First Foldable iPhone

The highlight of Apple’s event was the iPhone Duo, the company’s first foldable iPhone and what Apple CEO John Ternus called “the most transformational change to iPhone since the original.”

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According to Apple, the phone carries a 5.4-inch outer display and unfolds into a 7.6-inch inner Super Retina XDR screen, the largest display yet on an iPhone. Both displays support ProMotion, Always On functionality and up to 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness.

When opened, Apple says the iPhone Duo is its thinnest iPhone to date. The larger display also enables Split View, allowing two applications to run side by side, along with two windows from the same app and saved pairs of frequently used applications.

“iPhone Duo is the most transformational change to iPhone since the original,” said Ternus. “With the largest display ever on iPhone that still fits easily in your pocket, combined with the power of A20 Pro, iPhone Duo helps you stay more immersed and productive wherever you go.”

The device is powered by Apple’s new A20 Pro processor, built using a 2-nanometer process and equipped with a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple claims it delivers twice the AI processing power of the A19 Pro, alongside up to 35% better sustained performance than the iPhone 17 Pro when used in the Duo.

Reuters reported that the $1,999 device represents Apple’s entry into a foldable market currently led by established competitors such as Samsung and Huawei. IDC expects global foldable smartphone shipments to grow nearly 30% in 2026, according to Reuters.

The iPhone Duo will be available in star white and night sky. Pre-orders begin October 16, with general availability starting October 23.

iPhone 18 Pro Gets A20 Pro And A Variable-Aperture Camera

Apple also introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, featuring the same A20 Pro chip alongside major camera, battery and AI upgrades.

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Their new 48MP Fusion Main camera features variable aperture, giving users additional control over depth of field and exposure. Apple has also redesigned the Dynamic Island to display as many as three Live Activities simultaneously.

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“With iPhone 18 Pro, we’ve made advancements to the areas our users care about most: camera, performance, battery, and intelligence,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199, while the Pro Max starts at $1,299, according to Reuters. Both models become available on September 18.

Interestingly, Apple did not unveil a standard iPhone 18 during the event, leaving its September smartphone lineup focused on its higher-end devices. The Verge also reported that Apple raised prices on several previous-generation iPhones following the launch.

Siri AI Pushes Apple Intelligence Deeper Into iPhone

AI formed another major part of Apple’s announcements, with Siri AI rolling out as a beta through iOS 27.

Apple says the redesigned assistant can use personal context from messages, emails, photos and other information, understand what is displayed on a user’s screen and respond to broader queries. Apple Intelligence continues to combine on-device processing with the company’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure.

 

The iPhone Duo also uses on-device AI for features such as Smart Take, which analyzes a scene and automatically captures an image when subjects appear ready for a photograph.

For AI-generated and AI-edited imagery, Apple is adding support for identifying synthetic images, while the iPhone 18 Pro introduces Apple Reference Image, another measure intended to help establish image authenticity.

Apple Refreshes AirPods And Apple Watch

Apple’s event stretched beyond smartphones.

AirPods 5 start at $129 and bring Active Noise Cancellation to Apple’s entry-level open-ear AirPods. Apple says the new system can remove up to 50% more external noise than AirPods 4 with ANC, while Siri AI enables additional hands-free interactions.

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Apple Watch Series 12, meanwhile, introduces a new Health Sensing System and S11 processor. It adds higher-frequency heart-rate and heart-rate-variability measurements, a readiness score and new Apple Intelligence-powered Audio Intelligence features.

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Apple Watch Ultra 4 uses the same S11 chip and Health Sensing System while offering up to 45 hours of outdoor workout tracking, according to Apple.

Together, the announcements make Apple’s September 2026 event far more than an annual iPhone refresh. The iPhone Duo gives the company a new premium hardware category, while A20 Pro and Siri AI show Apple increasingly designing its devices around on-device AI workloads.