Apple launches its first folding iPhone, the Duo, at $1,999

"Others have created foldables that just feel like two phones awkwardly stuck together", Ternus told an audience at the company's California headquarters, claiming Apple's design redefines the experience. He described it as "entirely new and at the same time remarkably familiar", adding: "A similar size to your passport, it feels familiar to hold and comfortable to use with one hand."

No standard iPhone this year

The bigger strategic shift is what Apple did not announce. There is no base iPhone 18. The company launched only the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, breaking a pattern of two standard models and two Pro models each year.

Both Pro handsets run the new A20 Pro chip, add a variable-aperture camera and claim up to 45 hours of battery life. They come in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, in Burgundy, Glacier, Silver and Black. Apple also detailed the relaunch of its assistant as Siri AI, which starts with the iPhone 18.

The wearables were refreshed alongside: Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5, which gain active noise cancellation and live translation.

Late, and expensive

Apple is arriving in the foldable market well behind its rivals, and analysts were divided on whether that matters.

"The real fight is China, where Huawei owns nearly 80% of foldables", said Francisco Jeronimo, vice-president for data and analytics at IDC EMEA. Folding handsets remain a niche: Ben Wood of CCS Insight noted they account for about 2% of smartphone sales, a share expected to reach only 4% over the next decade even with Apple in the field.

Dipanjan Chatterjee of Forrester was blunter, warning that "the foldable risks becoming a premium-priced ornament in the portfolio, imparting badge value but not meaningful growth". He compared it to the $3,699 Vision Pro headset, which has not sold well, though it might instead follow the Apple Watch, which sells in millions.

Carolina Milanesi of Creative Strategies, who attended, said the focus on the new chief executive made it seem "almost like he was a product himself", and warned that switching from a conventional handset carries a real learning curve. Wood read the timing of Ternus's promotion as deliberate, to coincide with one of the biggest iPhone launches in years. "Nothing happens by accident at Apple", he said.

For scale: until Wednesday the highest starting price for a new iPhone was $900. Older models also went up by $100 across the range.

Why India pays most

Indian buyers face the steepest bill of the three markets. At about ₹95 to the dollar, $1,999 converts to roughly ₹1,90,000 — but the Duo starts at ₹2,99,900, a gap of more than ₹1,00,000, or close to 50% above the converted price.

The reasons are structural rather than arbitrary. The costliest components — OLED panels, the hinge, camera modules and the A-series chip — are imported and taxed before reaching an assembly line, and an 18% GST is applied on top. Apple has expanded assembly in India through partners, but those savings appear to be absorbed by margins and the duty structure rather than passed to buyers. India has had the highest iPhone prices of any launch market as far back as the iPhone 6s.

What everything costs

Prices below are starting prices for the entry storage tier. Indian availability is 18 September for everything except the Duo, which arrives on 23 October.

In Australia the Duo runs from A$3,499 to A$5,899 for the 2TB model.