Apple iPhone Event 2026 – Everything Announced, Included the iPhone Duo
Apple's 'Surprise and Shine' event just ended, and just like was rumored the company finally revealed its first foldable, the iPhone Duo. Rather than taking queues from many of the existing foldables, Apple opted for a wider outer display, so that when the phone is unfolded, it has a more usable aspect ratio. That should help it become one of, if not the, best foldable for mobile gaming. The Duo will be out on October 23, so we'll have to wait a little longer for it, but it is more affordable than I thought it'd be, coming in at $1,999 for the 256GB model.
Of course, that wasn't the only iPhone Apple announced today. The iPhone 18 Pro was also there, and it's pretty much a straight spec bump from the iPhone 17 Pro, just with a larger vapor chamber, a slightly better camera and the A20 Pro powering it. That'll be availble much earlier than the Duo, too, launching on September 18, starting at $1,199 and $1,299 for the Pro and Pro Max, respectively.
Both phones are focused a lot more on Apple Intelligence than previous phones, too, which is sure to be the most divisive part for most people. Still, it does seem like the company is focused on making Siri actually usable again, so hopefully the new model actually works the way it's intended. Siri stopped being useful for me basically as soon as the company shoved ChatGPT into it, after all.
The new AI models are being worked into the Apple Watch Series 12 and Airpods 5, too, and it looks like Siri will be a much bigger part of both of those devices. Although, Apple did add 'Siri Recap' to the new Apple Watch, which is reminiscient of Copilot's Recall feature. Hopefully, Apple can avoid the security blusters that forced Microsoft to delay that feature when it first tried to roll it out in Windows 11.
I was live blogging the event, and the entire thing is included below, so you can see how this year's iPhone event played out in real time, without the trailers and cutaways that typically bloat Apple's events.
Apple Surprise and Shine Live Blog
Times are in Eastern Daylight Time
2:15pm: I thought the iPhone Duo would have been more expensive, but it starts at $1,999 for 256GB of storage. That's $100 less than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. You can preorder it on October 16, and get it October 23. That's the whole show wrapped up, what a way to end it. The iPhone Duo looks incredible, and it isn't even as expensive as I feared it'd be. Can't wait to get my hands on it.
2:11pm: There are only two lenses on the iPhone Duo, rather than the three on the 18 Pro, but it has the same 48MP main shooter. But this isn't the type of phone you get if you want the best camera anyways, so I just look at this as a bonus.
2:08pm: The Duo is of course powered by the A20 Pro, but what's wild is that the chip is going to power both displays simultaneously, which should make for virtually no delay when you're swapping between the display modes. The difference between that and something like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will probably be pretty hard to notice, but it's still cool. The Duo is also eSIM only, which lets the phone have a larger battery. Battery life is a massive pain point for foldables, but Apple claims that the phone can last up to 24 hours when using both display modes equally. That'd be huge if its true, and we'll just have to wait to see until it's out in the wild.
2:07pm: The iPhone Duo will have a nano-texture finish, that Apple claims minimizes the crease. That's something that every phone manufacturer has been trying to do for years, and while I can't see a crease in the footage so far, I'll only feel comfortable declaring Apple's success when I see it in person.
2:05pm: With that outer display's aspect ratio, the iPhone Duo really does remind me of the Surface Duo, just without the weird dual-screen design that Micrsoft's weird office-centric phone had. This will also come with the latest processor, which is something Microsoft was afraid to do with both iterations of its Duo.
2:00pm: Thank goodness, you'll be able to use the Apple Pencil on the Duo, so now I have an excuse to dig mine out of whatever drawer it's hiding in right now. The outer display apparently has 90% of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro. The frame is reinforced with ceramic fibers, which, according to Apple, makes the Duo extremely durable, and it helps that it has an IP67 waterproof rating. Which is something that took other foldables years to achieve. That's the benefit of being seven years late to the foldable party, I guess.
1:59pm: Apple has a new UI for the Duo, and the dock is now vertical on the side of the screen, rather than the bottom, which should make it easier to open everything with a single hand, rather than needing to grip it with both hands. When the Duo is unfolded, it looks a lot like an iPad. It looks like the OS will react naturally to whatever state the phone is in, so you should be able to prop it open in a sort of L-shape and bring up a keyboard, like a mini laptop.
1:56pm: Apple is going with a bit of a wider aspect ratio for the outer display, which is apparently "the same size as your passport". That should make the aspect ratio of the inner display a bit more usable, which seems to be Apple's goal. And, unlike the 18 Pro, the camera is underneath the display with no dynamic island. When it's unfolded, Apple claims that the iPhone Duo is the thinnest iPhone yet.
1:54pm: One more thing. Here we go. John Ternus is introducing the first Apple Foldable. It is starting off with a trailer flying over a desert, and ended on the unfolded phone with what looks like a default Mac wallpaper. And here it is, the iPhone Duo.
1:51pm: Both the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 are available for preorder today, and launch on September 18. They'll cost the same as the Series 11 and Ultra 3, respectively at $399 and $799.
1:45pm: Now we're diving more into the AI capabilities of Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. The first feature is 'audio intelligence', which will help you make sense of what you hear, which seems silly, but it can be helpful for anyone who's hard of hearing. The watch will notify you if something like a doorbell or a siren is detected. There's also a live rewind feature, where you can double tap the crown and get a transcription of what someone just said to you. That does likely mean that the Apple Watch is always listening to you, but I will admit that sometimes I zone out when someone is talking to me, so I can see the appeal here. And if you don't want the watch to listen to everything, you can turn Siri Recap off. And even if you leave it on, Apple promises that the recordings are only temporary and that Apple cannot access them.
1:42pm: The Health Sensing System will now give you a readiness report, just like the latest Pixel Watch, which will let you know when your body is ready for a rigorous workout. That way, you should be able to avoid unnecessary strain on your body. You can also order bloodwork from the Apple Watch, and the data from those tests will be uploaded to the Health app. I hope that's covered by insurance!
1:40pm: Now for the new Apple Watch 12 and Ultra 4, and of course Ternus is leading with how the Apple Watch will extend the reach of Apple Intelligence. The new watch has upgraded sensors, which make up a new "Health Sensing System." Background heart rate readings are now taken every 5 seconds, which is 60 times more frequently than the Apple Watch 11.
1:35pm: AirPods 5 is here, and it will of course have access to Siri AI, which will help you do things like live translation. And unlike the iPhone, it isn't going up in price, and will still start at $129 without noise cancelation. The new AirPods Pro is here too, with up to 5 hours of battery life with ANC enabled, and those will start at $149, which is $30 less than the last generation. Both will also be available on September 18.
1:31pm: The iPhone 18 Pro will be available for preorder on Saturday, and will be available to buy on September 18. It is more expensive than the 17 Pro, starting at $1,199, but it did say you could get it for $34.99 a month using the upgrade program. That's more expensive, but it's not as bad as I thought it'd be.
1:30pm: Apple is shrinking the dynamic island, but it doesn't seem like it's disappearing this year. I don't mind it, but I know a lot of people don't like having part of their screen cut out.
1:28pm: Apple is introducing 'Apple reference image,' which will have the camera digitally sign photos at the time of capture, so you know that it's not AI-generated. It'll also create a digital negative that can't be altered, so there's always a reference shot that you know hasn't been touched by AI.
1:23pm: The iPhone 18 Pro has a new 48mp main shooter, and it actually has a physical shutter, so you can adjust aperture beyond just software effects. This should be huge for shooting in low light, and could make the iPhone 18 Pro one of the best camera phones, but again, that's something I'll have to test when I actually get my hands on the phone. Apple is also introducting new pro controls, including white balance and lens aperture in the native camera app. Some of these photos look incredible, but professional photographers can take incredible pictures on pretty much any device, so that doesn't say much.
1:20pm: I'm excited to see how much battery life has improved. Apple claims that 5 minutes of charging will get you 6 hours of video playback. We'll see! Now we're looking at gaming on the 18 Pro, and Apple showed the phone running Monster Hunter Now, and it looked incredible. I'm going to have to check that one out.
1:18pm: Apple debuted its new vapor chamber on the 17 Pro, and it looks like there's a next-generation version of it on the 18 Pro. It has three times the surface area, which will hopefully make it a bit more effective. In my testing on the iPhone 17 Pro, the vapor chamber didn't actually impact sustained performance by much. Maybe it'll be different this year.
1:15pm: Apple Intelligence will be availble in 16 languages when the new iOS update launches later this month, and I have to admit I'm curious to see if it's actually good again. It's been a while. Now we're going to start looking at the A20 Pro, the new chipset. It has a 6-core CPU, with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. Apple claims that the 'Super cores' are desktop class, which I'll have to wait and see when I test it. The A20 Pro also has a new 7-core GPU, each with a neural accelerator, which is how Siri AI will be running natively on the phone. There's also two seperate Neural engines built into the chip, which should make the iPhone 18 Pro incredibly strong for on-device AI work.
1:12pm: It looks like Siri AI will have much more customization for the voice. I can't stop thinking of that one scene from Companion where she's trying to steal the car.
1:10pm: Apple 18 Pro seems to be built around AI, which isn't super surprising, but the company is also launching 'Siri AI'. I hope this means Apple has its own model, instead of offloading the work onto ChatGPT like previous versions of the assistant. Unrelated, it doesn't look like the dynamic island is going anywhere this year.
1:08pm: Apple is kicking off the iPhone event with another trailer, featuring the moon and then zooming in on the A20 Pro, the chip that'll be powering the iPhone 18. "This is what happens when you go to the moon, come back and ask what's next".
1:05pm: Ternus is kicking off the event talking about a new smart hub for your phone, and I'm pretty sure he's going to use this AI talk to introduce the foldable. That "big screen" he mentioned is the big clue. Either way, he's positioning the iPhone as the "ultimate personal hub". Expect a lot of Apple Intelligence here.
1:02pm: The trailer then cut to Tim Cook, introducing John Ternus as the main character. And, well, yeah I guess he is at this point.
1:00pm: Here we go! Apple spent the last 15 minutes playing music over a vague blue and pink image, which turned out to be a super-zoomed in Apple logo. Surprising! Apple kicked things off with a man burning down what looks like a circus cart. There was also an old woman who peeled off her face to reveal a younger woman! This is quite the Apple event so far.
12:45pm: The show starts in 15 minutes, and we even have music playing! It's going to be the first Apple event with John Ternus headlining, and I half-expect a Tim Cook highlight reel to kick things off. I've been watching this iPhone event every year for more than a decade now, and I wonder if the structure is just going to feel exactly the same as it has for the last few years. At least I don't have to wait long to find out.
12:30pm: We're 30 minutes out, and I still don't know how I feel about the name "Surprise and Shine." I swear Apple finds the silliest way to name its big showcases. It's even funnier, because if the big surprise is the foldable iPhone, its one we all saw coming from a mile away at this point.
12:00pm: The event starts in about an hour, and I'm still not entirely sure what is going to be there. The rumors heavily suggest the foldable is going to be there, and Mark Gurman is even calling it the 'iPhone Duo' at Bloomberg. That just makes me think of the Microsoft Surface Duo (RIP).