Apple unveiled its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, alongside the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max during its September 9 event in Cupertino, California.
The announcements mark Apple’s entry into the foldable-phone market and introduce major upgrades in mobile photography, artificial intelligence, performance, and battery life across its premium iPhone range.
The headline product is the iPhone Duo, an innovative device approximately the size of a passport when closed. It features a 5.4-inch outer screen and unfolds to reveal a 7.6-inch inner display—the largest ever offered on an iPhone. Apple says the phone is also its thinnest iPhone when open.
iPhone Duo: Apple’s First Foldable iPhone
The iPhone Duo uses two Super Retina XDR displays with the same aspect ratio, allowing content to scale as users move between the outer and inner screens. The larger display supports Split View, enabling two applications—or two windows from the same application—to run side by side.
Apple has adapted iOS 27 specifically for the foldable format, while applications including Netflix, Zoom, and Slack have been optimized to use the larger display. The device will also support the USB-C Apple Pencil later in 2026.
A precision hinge made with more than 100 components allows the phone to fold and remain flat when opened. The titanium device carries an IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating, while protective materials include Ceramic Shield and a scratch-resistant coating on the inner screen.
The iPhone Duo is powered by Apple’s new A20 Pro processor and uses a vapor chamber to manage heat during gaming, multitasking, and artificial intelligence operations. Its dual-battery architecture provides up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner screen or 44 hours when using the outer display, according to Apple.
Cameras Designed Around the Folding Display
Apple has equipped the iPhone Duo with 48-megapixel main and ultra-wide cameras. Its folding design allows users to take higher-resolution selfies with the rear cameras while previewing the photograph on the outer display.
Other features include Duo Preview, which lets the subject see the camera frame, and Smart Take, which uses on-device artificial intelligence to recognize when people are posing and automatically capture a photograph. The phone can also stand partially folded for hands-free video calls or recording without a tripod.
The Duo runs iOS 27 and includes Apple Intelligence and the beta version of Siri AI. The updated assistant can use information from messages, emails, photographs, and on-screen content to answer questions or perform tasks, while promising control over your data according to the company.
Preorders for the iPhone Duo begin on October 16, with sales starting on October 23 in more than 70 countries and regions. It will be available in star white and night sky, with storage options ranging from 256GB to 2TB. US prices begin at $1,999.
iPhone 18 Pro Brings Variable-Aperture Camera
Apple also introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which retain a conventional smartphone design but focus heavily on photography, performance, and battery improvements.
Their new 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera introduces a variable aperture to the iPhone for the first time. Six internal blades allow the camera to adjust the amount of light entering the lens and control depth of field. Users can also manually change aperture, shutter speed, and white balance through new professional controls.
The Pro models introduce Apple Reference Image, a system intended to help users verify whether a photograph has been edited. In Reference mode, the camera records signed sensor data that can be compared with the finished photograph—an authentication feature Apple says could be useful to photojournalists and professional photographers.
Both phones use the A20 Pro processor and a redesigned vapor chamber, which Apple says provides up to 40 percent better sustained performance than the previous generation. Battery life reaches up to 36 hours of video playback on the iPhone 18 Pro and 45 hours on the Pro Max.
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max begins at $1,299. Both will be available in black, silver, glacier, and burgundy. Preorders open on September 12, and the phones go on sale on September 18.
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