Apple Enters Foldable Era With iPhone Duo, Unveils iPhone 18 Pro Lineup

Apple has officially entered the foldable smartphone market with the launch of the iPhone Duo at its hardware event held at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. The event, the first major iPhone launch fronted by CEO John Ternus, also saw the debut of the flagship iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max lineup, alongside new smartwatches and earbuds.

In a notable shift, Apple did not unveil a standard iPhone model alongside the Pro versions. The company also announced price increases for its premium handsets, with the iPhone 18 Pro starting at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299. Pre-orders for these models begin on September 12, with retail availability starting September 18.

The iPhone 18 Pro introduces new colour options, glacier and burgundy, and a larger Max variant. Powered by the new A20 Pro chip, the devices are engineered for on-device artificial intelligence, featuring 32 cores across two neural engines. Battery life has seen a significant boost, with the Pro targeting up to 24 hours and the Pro Max up to 30 hours per charge. Wireless charging speeds have also improved, reaching a 50 per cent charge in 15 minutes.

The Foldable iPhone Duo

The headline announcement was the iPhone Duo, which Apple positions as a departure from existing foldable designs. The device features a 7.6-inch inner display and an outer screen that covers 90 per cent of the iPhone 18 Pro's display area. It is built with a titanium body and utilises a side-button fingerprint sensor for biometric unlocking, omitting Face ID to save internal space and reduce weight.

The Duo is an eSIM-only device globally, with no physical SIM tray. It houses a dual-battery system that functions as a single cell, delivering up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display and up to 44 hours on the outer screen. The software has been redesigned for the foldable form factor, featuring native side-by-side multitasking and support for the Apple Pencil stylus.

The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 for the 256 GB variant, available in Star White and Night Sky finishes. Pre-orders open on October 16, with sales beginning October 23. In India, the Duo is priced at Rs 2,99,900.

Wearables and Audio

Apple also introduced the Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4, powered by the new S11 chip. These models feature a redesigned Health Sensing System for more precise biometric tracking and introduce a native Readiness Score that synthesises user metrics into a daily score for activity guidance.

The AirPods 5 were also unveiled, featuring upgraded Active Noise Cancellation with up to 50 per cent greater noise reduction. They include automatic mode switching that adapts between noise cancellation and transparency modes based on the user's environment.

Authenticity in the AI Era

To address concerns over AI-generated imagery, Apple debuted 'Apple Reference Image'. This system signs photo data at the pixel level at the moment of capture, creating a tamper-proof baseline stored in the Photos app to verify the authenticity of original shots.