Apple (AAPL.US) Enters the "Foldable Screen Era": $1999 iPhone Duo Unveiled, AI Fully Integrated into Hardware Ecosystem

According to Zhitong Finance APP, Apple (AAPL.US) held its annual fall product launch event on Wednesday, officially unveiling the company’s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, alongside other new products including the iPhone 18 Pro series, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5. This event also marks the first major product launch presided over by CEO Tennas since taking over at Apple. Along with comprehensive hardware upgrades, Apple further reinforced its Apple Intelligence strategy, positioning the next-generation iPhone and Apple Watch as personal AI gateways, and continues to use on-device AI and privacy protection as the core differentiators from competitors.

The most closely watched product by the market is the iPhone Duo. Apple describes it as the most transformative upgrade since the original iPhone, and the most significant change in flagship iPhone design since the removal of the physical Home button on the iPhone X in 2017.

The iPhone Duo features a passport-like foldable form factor with rounded corners. When folded, it has a small independent screen on the front; when opened, it reveals a horizontally oriented widescreen that also supports vertical use. According to Apple, the Duo is the thinnest iPhone ever when fully unfolded.

Apple hopes the Duo will address experience issues present in current foldable smartphones in daily use scenarios such as scrolling, browsing, and watching videos. The new device uses a custom hinge, dual proportionally-coordinated displays, and an all-new titanium body, aiming to provide an iPad-like experience in a pocket-size device.

However, this completely new form factor comes with an unprecedented high price for Apple. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, making it the most expensive iPhone ever. Pre-orders begin on October 17, and it officially goes on sale on October 23.

How to convince consumers to pay nearly $2,000 for a foldable smartphone will become the first major market test for the new CEO Tennas. The iPhone remains Apple’s core business, contributing approximately $209.6 billion in revenue in the most recent fiscal year, slightly over half of Apple’s total sales.

In addition to the foldable smartphone, Apple also released its traditional slate flagship iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Both models are equipped with the all-new A20 Pro chip, which further enhances on-device AI computing power. The A20 Pro uses a 2nm process, with a 6-core CPU and 7-core GPU. Two high-performance cores see speeds improved by up to 20%, and GPU performance up to 40% better.

The A20 Pro also incorporates a brand new Neural Engine that Apple claims is essentially equivalent to integrating two neural network engines in a single chip, further boosting local machine learning and AI model operation capabilities.

The camera system is also a key focus for the iPhone 18 Pro upgrade. The 48MP main camera now features a variable aperture for the first time, which can automatically adjust according to different lighting conditions. Users are also given more manual control, including independent adjustment of aperture and shutter speed.

At the same time, Apple further enhanced image authenticity features for the era of AI-generated content. The company launched a new standard called Apple Reference Image, used to verify the authenticity of photos shot on the iPhone 18 Pro, and supports the SynthID standard for identifying AI-generated or edited images. However, Apple Reference Image will not be available in the EU or Chinese markets for now.

AI was a thread throughout the entire launch event. Tennas positioned the iPhone as a “personal AI hub” emphasizing privacy protection, and stressed that Apple Intelligence would, where possible, run directly on the device rather than uploading large amounts of personal information to the cloud.

Apple also showcased an upgraded Siri. The new Siri is expected to work with around 300,000 apps at launch and can answer questions using personal information from users' texts, emails, calendars, and photos. Related Siri AI features are expected to launch in October.

Besides the iPhone, Apple is also seeking to further position the Apple Watch as an AI wearable device.

The new Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 feature “Smart Audio” functions. Siri Recap can summarize a user’s daily conversations by processing environmental audio, while Live Recap displays a text record of the most recent 15 seconds of conversation. The devices can also recognize important sounds such as a baby crying, doorbells, and alarms.

Faced with privacy concerns about continual audio monitoring, Apple emphasized that these features are all user-activated and that the system will not create or save recordings. The original audio cannot be accessed by Apple or other apps and will be deleted immediately after processing.

Health features are also a major upgrade for the new generation of Apple Watch. Both devices include a new “Health Sensing System” that Apple claims delivers “the most accurate heart rate tracking” among wearables, and adds daily readiness scores similar to Whoop and Fitbit, assessing users’ physical state based on recovery and rest.

The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399; Ultra 4 starts at $799, with the latter offering up to 50 hours of battery life and faster charging. Both will officially go on sale on September 18.

Apple also released AirPods 5. The new earbuds further improve active noise cancellation, with the $129 model boasting a 50% improvement over the previous generation, supporting hands-free Siri AI interactions and real-time translation. The higher-end $149 version adds volume controls on the earbuds, longer battery life, and wireless charging functionality.