Apple Ditches Foldable Hesitancy with $1,999 Duo Debut
Apple's September 9 'Surprise and Shine' event marked a significant shift in the company's strategy, as it unveiled its first foldable iPhone, dubbed the Duo. The device boasts a 5.4-inch outer display that opens into a 7.6-inch folding screen, making it Apple's largest display yet on an iPhone.
The $1,999 Duo is powered by Apple's new A20 Pro chip and features a dual-battery design, with the company claiming up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner screen or 44 hours using the outer display. Users can also run two apps side by side, open two windows from the same app, and save app pairings for later.
The event also saw the introduction of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, starting at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively. Both devices feature a smaller Dynamic Island, improved thermal management, and major camera upgrades, including a 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera with variable aperture.
Artificial intelligence was another major theme of the event, with Apple's new Siri AI designed to understand personal context and recognize what is happening on a user's screen. The software rollout begins September 14, although some features and languages will arrive later.