Everything Apple announced at the foldable iPhone launch

Apple's annual September iPhone reveal is one of the biggest events on the tech calendar. All eyes were on Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on Wednesday to check out the latest iPhones and Apple Watches. 

We generally have a decent idea of what to expect as we head into these events, given myriad reports and rumors about what Apple is up to. It was long expected that the company would reveal its first foldable iPhone — dubbed the iPhone Duo — the iPhone 18 Pro models and the latest Apple Watches.

Heading into the event, we knew that these iPhones and Apple Watches would debut alongside Siri AI, the revamped, Gemini-powered voice assistant that's at the heart of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 and so on. Some earlier iPhones and Apple Watches — i.e. those compatible with Apple Intelligence — will support Siri AI as well, but Apple designed these latest devices in concert with the assistant.

(Note that Siri AI is delayed indefinitely in the EU. As with Apple Intelligence, it will not be available in China.)

Let's dive into everything Apple announced at its "Surprise and Shine" iPhone event.

This story is developing; refresh for updates.

The main attraction of this event was the long-rumored foldable iPhone. It was hardly a secret that Apple was working on such a device, especially after third-party companies started selling cases for the phone earlier in the week.

The foldable is called the iPhone Duo. It was previously expected that Apple would call it the iPhone Ultra. Duo isn't exactly the most exciting name, but it's at least a logical one.

The book-style foldable format Apple has opted for allows for a wide main display that's akin to a tablet. Essentially, it's a way for you to have iPad mini-style utility right in your pocket.

New Apple CEO John Ternus kicked off the presentation with a spiel about how the iPhone is "an intelligent personal hub," trying to position it at the center of your life (which it may well be already, let's be honest). He then transitioned into the first product announcements of the day, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. 

Apple says the 18 Pro Max has the longest battery life of any iPhone to date with 45 hours of video playback. The iPhone 18 Pro is said to have the same battery life as the 17 Pro Max, so it should be good for around 36 hours of video playback. Those figures are for eSIM-only variants, which have a larger battery than those with a physical SIM slot (those will have two hours less video playback time).

The company says it'll take just 15 minutes to recharge to 50 percent of battery capacity over a wired connection, and just five minutes of charging time will seemingly get you seven hours of video watching time on the 18 Pro Max. We'll have to test those claims ourselves, of course. 

The iPhone 18 Pro models run on an A20 Pro chipset. The A20 Pro is a 2nm chip that has a six-core CPU with four efficiency cores and two "desktop class" super cores that are said to be 20 percent faster than the previous gen. It also has a seven-core GPU and a neural engine with 32 cores. Apple claims the A20 Pro delivers up to 40 percent improved graphics performance, which could come in handy for the iOS-exclusive Monster Hunter game the company showed off. The company added that the chipset offers 50 percent more memory bandwidth than A19 Pro.

The new phones have Apple's N1 chip to support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread. They have a new model, the C2. Apple says this "delivers meaningfully faster uploads when compared to C1X while consuming 15 percent less energy." it supports mmWave in the US as well.

To help keep things cool while it's processing all of your Siri AI prompts and whatnot, the iPhone 18 Pro has a next-gen vapor chamber with three times the surface area of the one in the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple says it has 80 percent recycled stainless steel and graphite and offers a 40 percent performance improvement over the previous cooling system.

The iPhone 18 Pro has a new 48MP fusion main camera with a variable aperture. The camera system supports 4K and Dolby Vision HDR for time-lapse recordings and you'll be able to apply cinematic effects after you capture footage. Pro controls will let you customize the camera experience too. 

To help verify the authenticity of photos, Apple is introducing a feature called Apple Reference Image (which won't be available in the EU or China, unfortunately). This is built into a sensor in the iPhone 18 Pro's main camera. The company is also supporting the SynthID watermarking standard for images that are modified or generated using AI.

In addition, the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 18 Pro models is smaller than on previous devices. It can display three live activities simultaneously. 

As expected, the iPhone 18 Pro devices are more expensive than their predecessors, due in large part to increases in memory and storage costs. Each costs $100 more than the respective iPhone 17 Pro device. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 and the 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299. Pre-orders open this Saturday (September 12) and the phones will be available on September 18. There's a hot new burgundy color option to go with the black, silver and glacier variants. 

Along with the US, eSIM-only versions of iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available in Bahrain, Canada, Guam, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US Virgin Islands.