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Everything Apple Just Announced: iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, and a New Era Under John Ternus
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Author
Vishal Sable
Published
September 10, 2026
Reading Time
6 MIN READ
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Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event unveiled the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12, Ultra 4, and AirPods 5 — the first keynote led by new CEO John Ternus.
Apple Surprise and Shine event, iPhone Duo release date price, iPhone 18 Pro specs, Apple Watch Series 12 Ultra 4, AirPods 5 price, John Ternus first keynote
Apple Surprise and Shine event, iPhone Duo release date price, iPhone 18 Pro specs, Apple Watch Series 12 Ultra 4, AirPods 5 price, John Ternus first keynote
A new CEO, a reshaped lineup
Apple held its "Surprise and Shine" event on September 9 at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino — the first keynote led by **John Ternus**, who became Apple's CEO on September 1 after Tim Cook's planned transition to executive chairman. Rather than a routine annual refresh, Apple restructured its own launch calendar this year: the standard iPhone 18 was held back for a separate spring 2027 event, leaving this keynote to focus entirely on premium hardware — headlined by Apple's first-ever foldable iPhone. Engadget Live Blog
iPhone Duo: the foldable, finally
Apple's first foldable iPhone is officially named the iPhone Duo — not "iPhone Ultra," despite months of rumors using that name. It features a 7.6-inch inner Super Retina XDR display and a 5.4-inch outer display providing 90% of the iPhone 18 Pro's screen area when closed, both sharing the same aspect ratio so content scales consistently between screens. The body is grade-5 titanium with a mirror-polished finish, and the hinge — built from over 100 individual parts — is designed to spread bending stress across a wider area rather than concentrating it at the fold, part of Apple's approach to minimizing the crease that's plagued competing foldables. Apple NewsRoom
The Duo runs the new A20 Pro chip — 2-nanometer process, 6-core CPU, 7-core GPU, dual 16-core Neural Engine — paired with a dual-battery architecture (one battery on each side) delivering up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner screen or 44 hours on the outer display. Touch ID is integrated into the side button rather than using Face ID. It ships in Star White and Night Sky, with 256GB to 2TB storage options. Pricing starts at $1,999, rising to roughly $3,000 for the top storage tier — Apple's most expensive iPhone ever. Preorders open October 16, with availability from October 23. gHacks
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: the real camera upgrade
The bigger functional news for most buyers is on the standard Pro lineup: both the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max get a 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera with a genuine variable aperture — a first for any iPhone. Six laser-cut blades, each thinner than a human hair, physically adjust the lens opening between f/1.48 and f/4 depending on lighting and desired depth of field, functioning much like a traditional DSLR rather than relying purely on software-simulated blur. A new Pro camera interface gives photographers direct manual control over aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, with a live histogram. MacRumors
Both phones run the same A20 Pro chip as the Duo, paired with a redesigned vapor chamber with triple the surface area of last year's model for better sustained performance under load. The Dynamic Island shrank by roughly 20%, now supporting three simultaneous Live Activities. Screen sizes stay at 6.3 and 6.9 inches, with new colors including Burgundy and Glacier alongside Black and Silver. Battery life climbs to up to 34 hours of video playback on the Pro and 43 hours on the Pro Max. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199, the Pro Max at $1,299 — both up $100 over last year's models. Preorders open September 12, with availability September 18. Both ship with iOS 27, bringing refined Apple Intelligence features and Apple's new Siri AI experience, still in beta. Digital Trends
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4: a genuinely new health sensor
Both new watches introduce a redesigned health-sensing system that records background heart rate every five seconds throughout the day, including during movement — a claimed 60-fold increase in reading frequency over previous models — alongside heart rate variability readings as often as every five minutes, a 24-fold jump. A new Health App feature, Health Age, alongside sleep and VO2 monitoring, builds on that denser sensor data. The Series 12 comes in four colors including Light Gold and Dark Bronze, while the Ultra 4 focuses on expanded battery life and satellite connectivity for its outdoor-focused audience. iPhone In Canada
AirPods 5: a smaller update, but a real one
Apple also introduced AirPods 5 in two open-ear models, both now including active noise cancellation for the first time in this tier. Apple claims roughly 50% more active noise cancellation than the previous generation, a more natural-sounding Transparency Mode, and improved rain-resistant durability. The base model starts at $129, matching the previous generation's price despite adding ANC; a $149 version adds volume swipes, longer battery life, and wireless charging. Preorders opened the same day, with availability from September 18. iPhone In Canada
Why this event was a bigger bet than a typical fall refresh
Foldable phones remain a small slice of the smartphone market — roughly 2.2% of global unit shipments — a category Samsung has largely run alone for years with mixed commercial results. Apple choosing to enter that category now, at Ternus's first keynote as CEO, with its most expensive iPhone ever, while deliberately holding back the mass-market iPhone 18 for a separate event, is a genuinely different strategic posture than Apple's usual incremental September refresh. CNBC Live Coverage
Why it matters
For Apple, this event is the first real public signal of what an Apple under Ternus actually looks like — a company willing to lead its biggest keynote of the year with an unproven, ultra-premium hardware category rather than a safer, higher-volume update. For buyers, the more immediately useful news is arguably the iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture camera — a genuine hardware first that changes what the phone can do, rather than an incremental spec bump dressed up as one.
With the Duo starting at $1,999 and the standard iPhone 18 pushed to spring 2027, is Apple betting that foldables can become a real mainstream category — or simply testing how much of its base is willing to pay Apple's premium-est price for its newest form factor before committing the mass-market lineup to it?
Vishal Sable
B.Tech AD @ shri balaji institute of technology and management
Engineering and tech journalist. I love exploring the impact of emerging technologies on global defense, sovereignty, and everyday life. Always looking for the real story behind the headlines.
