Techvision24 Desk: Apple on Wednesday introduced its long-awaited foldable smartphone, dubbed the iPhone Duo, alongside its flagship iPhone 18 Pro series and updated wearables, signaling a major hardware refresh built around generative artificial intelligence.
The product lineup, presented by Chief Executive Officer John Ternus at Appleās “Surprise and Shine” event, marks the technology giant’s official entry into the foldable device market long dominated by rivals Samsung and Huawei.
FLAGSHIP FOLDABLE AND PRO LINEUP
The book-style iPhone Duo features a 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.4-inch exterior screen, utilizing a titanium frame and carbon-fiber support plates. Priced starting at $1,999 for a 256GB configuration, the dual-display handset runs on Appleās A20 Pro processor and replaces Face ID with a side-button Touch ID sensor. Pre-orders begin Oct. 16, with retail shipments starting Oct. 23.
Apple also debuted the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, priced at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively. Both figures reflect a $100 price increase over previous-generation modelsāa markup Apple extended to older inventory due to rising memory and storage supply chain expenses. The Pro series features a 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip, enhanced vapor-chamber cooling, and upgraded camera sensors capable of verifying image authenticity.
WEARABLES AND SOFTWARE INTEGRATION
In wearables, Apple unveiled the Series 12 smartwatch ($399) and the Watch Ultra 4 ($799), both powered by a new S11 processor. The devices introduce “Audio Intelligence,” an accessibility feature that transcribes short conversations, alerts users to key ambient sounds, and enables continuous background audio recognition. The company additionally revealed the AirPods 5, starting at $129 with open-ear active noise cancellation.
Central to the hardware line is “Siri AI,” an overhauled voice assistant powered by Googleās Gemini technology embedded within iOS 27. The software update is scheduled for public rollout on Sept. 14 in English, with additional languages following in October. Apple noted that Siri AI faces an indefinite delay in the European Union due to regulatory constraints and will be unavailable in China.
