Apple Unveils Foldable iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro Lineup, and New Wearables at September Event

At its September gathering, Apple Inc. introduced the iPhone Duo, a groundbreaking foldable smartphone that represents a fundamental departure from the company's traditional handset design. The event also featured several other major releases, including the iPhone 18 Pro and Max models, which leverage newly developed custom processors to deliver enhanced photographic performance and extended battery endurance. Additionally, Apple revealed the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, both equipped with sophisticated heart-monitoring capabilities, as well as the AirPods 5, featuring industry-leading noise suppression technology.

The iPhone Duo: A foldable built by Apple

Resembling a closed passport in its compact form, the iPhone Duo showcases Apple's distinctive design language through its asymmetrical construction and curved edges. The device operates seamlessly in both landscape and portrait orientations when unfolded, with users simply rotating it to switch between modes. The engineering philosophy behind the Duo maintains consistent aspect ratios whether the device is open or closed, delivering an experience that expands from pocket-sized convenience to an iPad-comparable interface.

Apple emphasized that the device houses "the largest display ever on an iPhone" while maintaining portability. The outer display measures 5.4 inches when closed—roughly equivalent to 90% of the screen real estate on the newly released iPhone 18 Pro—and accommodates both Apple Pencil input and touch interaction. When fully opened, the internal display extends to 7.6 inches. The device incorporates Grade 5 titanium construction, reinforced inserts, and a magnetic hinge mechanism for effortless operation. Authentication is possible through Apple Watch integration.

Chief Executive John Ternus characterized the device's significance, stating: "IPhone Duo is the most transformational change to iPhone since the original. With an entirely new design and intuitive experiences, it shows what's possible when hardware and software are engineered together and redefines what it means to use a foldable phone."

When positioned horizontally, the Duo's dual screens enable side-by-side app layouts, allowing simultaneous activities such as video playback alongside messaging or document composition. The device can also function in a partially folded tent configuration, propping itself up like a laptop for media consumption or serving as a bedside display for timekeeping and calendar functions. Apple is coordinating with developers to optimize numerous applications for the dual-screen experience, with expectations for gaming, productivity software, and multimedia content to fully leverage the hardware's capabilities.

The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max iterations emphasize advanced photographic systems alongside improvements in energy capacity and computational speed, equipping users with tools for sustained productivity, media consumption, and artificial intelligence integration throughout their day.

Apple prioritized the integration of cutting-edge AI functionality, particularly Siri AI and Apple Intelligence, which operate within iOS 27. The reimagined Siri extends its reach across a broader range of applications and device features, accessible through voice commands and text input. This iteration of Siri can navigate multiple applications, execute automated workflows, activate through camera input, process personal data, and respond contextually to user requirements. For instance, a user might describe their dinner preferences, photograph ingredients at a grocery store, and request meal suggestions; Siri would generate relevant recipe recommendations.

Battery performance represents a significant advancement in the new Pro models. Apple specified that eSIM-only variants of the iPhone 18 Pro support up to 36 hours of video playback, while the Pro Max extends this to 45 hours. Rapid charging capabilities enable 50% charge in approximately 15 minutes via wired connection or 30 minutes wirelessly. The Pro Max variant achieves 50% charge in five minutes and can reach approximately seven hours of usage from a full wired charge.

These performance gains stem from a redesigned thermal architecture paired with the A20 Pro silicon, which borrows packaging principles from Apple's M-series processors. The configuration positions the processor die adjacent to memory modules within a next-generation vapor chamber, enabling direct thermal transfer. This arrangement triples the heat dissipation surface area compared to the previous-generation iPhone 17, sustaining performance levels 40% higher than earlier models. Thermal management proves critical, as processor overheating forces performance reduction to prevent damage and battery degradation in compact mobile devices.

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

Both the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 incorporate precision heart-rate monitoring through advanced biometric sensors and expanded health and fitness tracking capabilities. Apple introduced the Health Sensing system and S11 processor, which will equip both watch models. These components enable more frequent heart-rate and heart-rate variability assessments throughout the day, powering improved health metrics and a reimagined Health application for iPhone.

The enhanced Health app leverages this expanded data to deliver sophisticated activity monitoring, informing users when rest is advisable, when to moderate intensity, when readiness returns, and when to increase exertion—helping prevent overtraining. The system bases these recommendations on baseline physiology, stress indicators, and additional markers. Apple noted that heart-rate variability serves as a significant stress and recovery indicator, with the new watches measuring it up to 24 times more frequently than previous generations. Users can monitor this metric through the Heart Rate application.

This biometric data can be combined with clinical measurements, including laboratory blood work, to generate more sophisticated health insights and diagnostic information.

For individuals with hearing loss or deafness, Apple expanded watch functionality through environmental sound recognition. Since watches remain in constant contact with the wearer's wrist, they can identify significant acoustic events—sirens, alarms, doorbells, or infant cries—and alert the user through vibration.

A capability called Live Rewind permits users to double-tap the crown and view a text summary of the preceding 15 seconds of conversation on the watch display. This feature enables rapid review of potentially missed dialogue, with the option to query Siri for context or archive the summary for future reference.

Siri Recap, an ambient listening feature, synthesizes high-level summaries of nearby conversations for later review. Recognizing privacy considerations, Apple allows users to specify when this function operates—exclusively during work hours, never during work, or only at designated times. Apple emphasized that no audio recording occurs; only text summaries remain private, with activation timing controlled entirely by the user.

An integrated Shazam function instantly identifies music in the user's vicinity, enabling rapid artist and song recognition with direct library addition.

AirPods 5 bring quiet to noisy places

Apple's continued focus on noise management culminates in the AirPods 5, which the company claims deliver "the industry's best active noise cancellation" in an open-ear configuration. The new model eliminates up to 50% more ambient sound compared to its predecessor.

The AirPods 5 support Siri interaction through head movements, such as nodding, and incorporate Live Translation functionality to facilitate cross-language communication. A simple stem touch activates connection to the paired iPhone, where Siri briefly processes speech in another language—such as Spanish—and delivers real-time translation, enabling mutual comprehension.

Beyond active noise cancellation, the AirPods 5 feature a transparency mode employing computational audio to amplify sounds within the human vocal frequency range, facilitating conversation tracking and awareness of environmental hazards like approaching vehicles or machinery. Adaptive audio intelligently balances active noise cancellation with ambient conditions, preserving foreground speech and nearby sounds while reducing media volume to permit conversation audibility.

Battery longevity has also improved, reaching five hours of listening time with active noise cancellation enabled—one additional hour compared to the previous generation. The accompanying charging case extends total listening duration to 22 hours with active noise cancellation engaged. The case supports Qi-compatible wireless charging and USB-C connectivity.