Apple Finally Folds: Meet the iPhone Duo and Everything Else From Its Latest Launch

Apple has officially entered its foldable era, and naturally it has done so with a product that costs more than most people’s annual rent. At its September 9 event, Apple unveiled five new products spanning the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods line-up, but there was no question about the star of the evening – the iPhone Duo, the brand’s first-ever foldable iPhone.

The foldable has entered the chat

The iPhone Duo is Apple’s long-awaited answer to the foldable phone. Closed, it has a compact 5.4-inch display; open it up and you get a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR screen, the largest display ever on an iPhone. Apple calls it the thinnest iPhone ever when opened, while a nano-texture finish helps reduce glare and make the crease less noticeable. Both displays come with ProMotion, Always-On functionality and up to 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness.

Underneath all that folding action is Apple’s A20 Pro chip, paired with a custom vapor chamber and dual-battery architecture. The Duo also gets a grade 5 titanium frame, Ceramic Shield 2, IP68 water and dust resistance, and a precision hinge made up of more than 100 components. In other words, Apple is hoping this is a foldable that can handle more than a careful life on a bedside table.

The camera setup is equally serious. 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 foldable form factor also unlocks a few tricks: Duo Preview lets you see yourself on the outer display while taking a photo, while Smart Take uses on-device AI to capture the moment when everyone is actually looking at the camera. The 17-photo group shot saga may finally be over.

Then comes iOS 27, which has been designed around the fold. Split View allows two apps to run side by side, while the larger display can accommodate two windows of the same app. Apple Pencil support is also coming later this year, bringing the Duo dangerously close to an iPad Mini—just considerably more foldable.

The Pro gets an upgrade too

Alongside the Duo, Apple introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, both powered by the A20 Pro chip. The Pro models feature a new 48MP Fusion Main camera with variable aperture, a redesigned and smaller Dynamic Island, a next-generation vapor chamber for sustained performance and a significant battery-life boost.

Both are available in Black, Silver, Glacier and Burgundy; but the latter looks way more tempting.

Your wearables get smarter

The Apple Watch Series 12 brings a new Health Sensing System, higher-frequency heart-rate and HRV measurements, and a new Readiness score designed to tell you the mood of the day.

Powered by the S11 chip, it also introduces new Audio Intelligence features, while the redesigned Health app gets a forthcoming Longevity tab and Health Age feature.

The AirPods 5 bring 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.

Fashionably late to the foldable party

Apple may be arriving late to a foldable market where competitors have already had years to experiment, but it has certainly made an entrance. The iPhone Duo has generated a level of buzz rarely seen around a foldable, even as rival brands wasted no time having a little fun with Apple’s timing.

Samsung was not going to let Apple walk into the foldable arena without saying hello. As the Duo made its debut, Samsung Mobile US posted “So far, so same” on X, taking a not-so-subtle swipe at Apple for arriving late to a category Samsung has been developing for years. The post quickly became part of the launch-day conversation, with the two brands once again doing what they do best: selling phones while entertaining the internet for free.

India pricing

The iPhone Duo starts at ₹2,99,900 for 256GB, going up to ₹4,49,900 for the top-end 2TB variant. The 512GB and 1TB versions are 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.