Apple Park was busy: Meet the new foldable iPhone Duo & more

Apple Park had a lot going on last night. At its September 9 event, Apple launched five new products across the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods line-up, but the one that had everyone sitting at the edge of the seats is the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first-ever foldable iPhone. 

Let’s start with the main event. The iPhone Duo is Apple finally entering the foldable chat. Closed, it looks like a compact 5.4-inch iPhone; open, it transforms into a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR display – the largest ever on an iPhone. Apple says it is the thinnest iPhone ever when opened, with a nano-texture finish designed to reduce glare and make the crease less noticeable. Both screens feature ProMotion, Always-On display and up to 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness.

Under the hood, the Duo is powered by the A20 Pro chip, paired with a custom vapor chamber and dual-battery architecture. It gets a grade 5 titanium frame, Ceramic Shield 2, IP68 water and dust resistance and a precision hinge built from more than 100 components. Translation. Apple is hoping this isn’t just a pretty fold, but a fold that can actually survive your handbag, commute and inevitable face-down drop.

The camera setup is no afterthought either. There’s a 48MP Fusion Main camera with optical-quality 2x Telephoto, a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide and a new Center Stage front camera that can automatically widen and reorient the frame. The folding design also brings some new tricks, like the Duo Preview lets you see yourself on the outer display while taking a photo, while Smart Take uses on-device AI to automatically capture the moment when everyone is actually looking at the camera. The boyfriends who are tired of taking 17 photos before getting the one good one must be really happy today.

And then there’s iOS 27, which has been redesigned around the fold. Split View finally lets iPhone users run two apps side by side, while the larger screen can handle two windows of the same app. Say, two Safari tabs for the kind of comparison shopping Apple apparently knows we do. Apple Pencil support is also coming later this year, making the Duo feel suspiciously close to an iPad Mini that has gone on a serious diet.

Besides the fold, the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max also made their debut, both powered by A20 Pro and bringing a new 48MP Fusion Main camera with variable aperture. The Pro models also get a redesigned, smaller Dynamic Island, a new-generation vapor chamber for sustained performance and a significant battery-life boost. Both models are available in Black, Silver, Glacier and Burgundy (we’re kind of partial to the latter)!

Coming to the wearables, Apple Watch Series 12 gets the new Health Sensing System, higher-frequency heart-rate and HRV measurements and a new Readiness score designed to tell you whether today is a “Go For It” day or perhaps a “Please lie down” day. It also runs on the new S11 chip and introduces new Audio Intelligence features, while Apple has redesigned the Health app with a forthcoming Longevity tab and Health Age feature.

The AirPods 5 arrived with open-ear Active Noise Cancellation, a new multiport acoustic architecture, Adaptive EQ, hands-free Siri AI and Live Translation. Apple says the new ANC cuts external noise by up to 50 per cent more than AirPods 4 with ANC. There’s also a version with wireless charging and volume controls built into the stem, so even your earbuds are getting a tiny interface upgrade.

Now, Apple has entered a foldable market where other giants already have years of experience (many of them had a field day last night). And while it may have arrived fashionably late, it has certainly brought an appropriately Apple-sized entrance fee and a buzz that’s bigger than we’ve seen for any foldable yet, and hopefully, for all the right reasons. 

India pricing

The iPhone Duo starts at ₹2,99,900 for 256GB, going up to ₹4,49,900 for the top-end 2TB variant, with 512GB and 1TB options priced at ₹3,24,900 and ₹3,74,900, respectively. Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro starts at ₹1,64,900 for 256GB, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at ₹1,79,900. Both Pro models are available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB storage options.

The bigger takeaway from Apple Park? The company is trying to make the foldable mainstream, AI more personal and the Apple ecosystem even harder to leave (we all know how that goes).