Apple has launched the iPhone Duo, its first foldable smartphone, marking the most significant overhaul of its flagship product in nearly a decade. Unveiled at the company's annual product event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, the device carries a starting price of $1,999 for 256GB of storage, rising to approximately $3,000 for a 2TB model. It will go on sale in the United States on 23 October.

The iPhone Duo is shaped and sized like a passport when folded, with rounded edges and a 5.4-inch cover display. When opened, it reveals a 7.6-inch OLED main screen with a peak brightness of 3,000 nits — roughly 80 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro. At just 5.2 millimetres thin when unfolded, Apple says it is the thinnest iPhone ever made. The device runs on the A20 Pro chip, supports Apple Pencil input, offers up to 31 hours of battery life on the main display, and carries an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. It comes in two colours: Star White and Night Sky.

The launch was the first major product event under new Chief Executive John Ternus, who succeeded Tim Cook last week. Ternus, previously Apple's hardware chief, framed the Duo as a reinvention of the foldable category, saying competitors had made devices that looked like "two phones clumsily glued together." He also positioned the iPhone as a privacy-centred AI hub, emphasising that Apple Intelligence processes data on-device wherever possible. An updated Siri, capable of working with 300,000 apps at launch, was also announced, though expanded AI features will face restrictions in Europe due to regulatory constraints.

Apple also introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max — its conventional flagship handsets, priced from $1,199 and $1,299 respectively — along with new Apple Watch and AirPods lines. A notable addition to the Pro models is an "Apple Reference Image" standard designed to verify the authenticity of photos and flag AI-generated or manipulated images, though this feature will not be available in the EU or China.

While Samsung and Huawei have sold foldable phones since 2019, the segment has remained a niche dominated by enthusiasts rather than mainstream consumers. Analysts at International Data Corporation nonetheless expect Apple to capture around 40 percent of the foldable market by the end of next year, predicting the company will sell every unit it can produce. The iPhone accounts for just over half of Apple's annual revenue — $209.6 billion in its most recent fiscal year — making the success of the Duo a significant test for Ternus as he begins his tenure leading the world's most valuable technology company.