15 things we learned from Apple's big i Phone Duo and i Phone 18 Pro launch — from its first-ever foldable to new Air Pods | Tech Radar
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15 things we learned from Apple's big i Phone Duo and i Phone 18 Pro launch — from its first-ever foldable to new Air Pods
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We've got new watches, phones, and earbuds (Image credit: Apple)
Brand new Apple CEO John Ternus has hosted his first ever Apple launch event — we'll miss you, Tim Cook — and he had a lot to introduce. We got Apple's first foldable phone, the i Phone 18 Pro and i Phone 18 Pro Max, two new smartwatches, and plenty more.
To help you make sense of the 78-minute event, here's your essential rundown of everything important that Apple talked about. As well as the main headlines, there are some smaller reveals that you might have missed.
The big one: after many years of rumor and counter-rumor, Apple has released its first foldable phone, ready to compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold. Like the Galaxy Z Fold 8, it uses a wider, 'passport' style form factor that gives you a more tablet-like experience (measuring 7.6 inches corner to corner) when it's opened out.
You can get the i Phone Duo in star white and night sky, with pre-orders opening on Friday, October 16, and full availability on Friday, October 23. Hopefully, you've been saving up: it starts at
Read more: The i Phone Duo lacks Face ID, a telephoto camera, and the Action Button, but I still want it more than every Android foldable I've ever tested — here's why
2. i OS 27 has learned some unique tricks for the i Phone Duo
Apple has clearly put a lot of thought into the i Phone Duo experience, and that extends to i OS 27 and the native apps that run on top of it. When the phone is folded closed for example, the key navigation buttons shift to the right of the screen so they're easy to tap with your thumb.
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You can put apps side-by-side on the big screen, and pin pairs of apps together to make it easier to get back to them. Apple has included some clever camera tricks as well including a selfie preview that uses the outer screen in combination with the rear cameras.
3. The Duo brings Apple Pencil to the i Phone for the first time
Squint a little, and the i Phone Duo looks like an i Pad mini when it's opened out. Adding to that impression is Apple Pencil support for the handset — it's the first time you've been able to use a stylus with an i Phone (apologies to Steve Jobs).
You don't get the Apple Pencil bundled with the i Phone Duo, and there's no storage slot as there is on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, but you'll be able to use the accessory on either screen to make selections or get creative.
Read more: 'Who wants a stylus?' — Steve Jobs famously mocked them, but Apple Pencil support could be the i Phone Duo’s secret weapon
4. The Duo's two screens are the same aspect ratio
Another nice touch we've noticed with the i Phone Duo: both the 5.4-inch outer screen and the 7.6-inch have the same aspect ratio, which Apple says ensures "visual continuity" as you open up the phone and close it again.
The aspect ratio in question is 1:1.4, and should mean that you don't have a jarring experience switching between the displays. The larger main display can also be used in portrait as well as landscape mode, with apps adjusting to fit.
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5. The i Phone 18 Pro and Pro Max have some serious camera boosts
During Apple's reveal of the i Phone 18 Pro and Pro Max, the cameras took center stage. We've got a 48MP main camera that adds a variable aperture for the first time on an i Phone (for better light control), as well as a new sensor behind it.
Apple is also talking up a new "computational imaging pipeline", improved Photographic Styles, and extra professional controls in the Camera app, enabling you to take more control over how your images are captured.
Read more: I'm a pro photographer — here’s why the i Phone 18 Pro’s variable aperture is its biggest camera upgrade
6. The i Phone 18 Pro Max is the ultimate i Phone for battery life
Another plus point on the i Phone 18 Pro Max: it's very much the i Phone to get if you value battery life above everything else. You can get up to 45 hours of video playback on the e SIM version of the i Phone 18 Pro Max between charges, a new i Phone record.
The i Phone 18 Pro is no battery slouch either, and can manage up to 36 hours of video playback on a single charge if you're using the e SIM version. Charging speeds have been upped over last year's models as well.
Read more: i Phone 18 Pro vs i Phone 17 Pro — 5 key differences between Apple's newest and previous best smartphones
At the center of the i Phone Duo, the i Phone 18 Pro, and the i Phone 18 Pro Max we've got the brand new A20 Pro chipset. It boasts a 6-core CPU, a 7-core GPU, and two 16-core Neural Engines for all your AI needs.
Add in an upgraded vapor chamber, and we can expect major performance upgrades over the 2025 models. Apple says there's as much as a 40% sustained performance gain on the i Phone 18 Pro compared to the i Phone 17 Pro.
On to the new open-ear Air Pods 5, which come in two different versions, both of which have Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) that Apple is calling "best-in-class". Thanks to changes in the design of the earbuds and the algorithms they're using, you can expect up to 50% more noise removal compared to the Air Pods 4 with ANC.
The improvements don't stop there, because the Transparency mode has been upgraded as well, so when you need to hear voices and nearby sounds through your Air Pods, they should be more accurately represented.
9. Siri Recap is creepy, always-on audio feature for the Apple Watch 12
Here's one feature we're a little less sure about: the Apple Watch 12 comes with a Siri Recap feature that essentially listens to the conversations you're having and lets you see a summary of them later, just in case there are details you need to remember.
It might come in handy in certain situations, but we can see users having a few concerns. Apple says Siri Recap processes audio in real-time and never recordings anything, and that no one — not even Apple — can access the audio feed.
Read more: Thanks to Siri Recaps, your Apple Watch is always listening as you go about your day — but Apple may be risking a Meta Glasses-style backlash
10. i OS 27 will launch on September 14 with Siri AI
It's been a long wait for i OS 27 since Apple first announced it back in June, but the operating system update is finally going to make its way to millions of i Phones worldwide from Monday, September 14.
The headline new feature is of course that big Siri AI upgrade — we've been waiting for that for even longer. Expect a digital assistant that's more on a par with Chat GPT and Gemini, able to interact with your apps and give comprehensive answers.
11. The new Apple Watches have a Health Sensing System
Apple didn't neglect its smartwatches during the event, and says that the Apple Watch 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 both offer "the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable", which is quite the claim.
That's achieved through higher-frequency heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements, via new optical and electrical heart sensors. It's part of a wider Health Sensing System that gives users a more detailed look into their fitness.
To match the new features on the latest Apple Watch wearables, as well as some other changes (including Apple Intelligence upgrades), the Health app on the i Phone is getting a redesign — including a new Insights tab with "timely health information".
There's also a new Longevity tab, which shows you deeper health insights over a longer period. There's a Health Age reading here, for example, which shows how certain fitness metrics are matching up with your actual age.
13. We’ll have to wait longer for a new Apple TV 4K
One of the no-shows at the 'Surprise and Shine' event was a new Apple TV 4K. As a reminder, the last model (the third generation) was launched all the way back in 2022, so we're overdue a new one.
Some of the pre-show rumors had suggested Apple would refresh its streaming box, but there's nothing yet. A new device has been showing up in Apple software code, so it shouldn't be too long before it appears.
Wondering where the i Phone 18 is? Well, we don't think it's been canceled. Rumors have been swirling all year that the standard model phone would be pushed back to March-ish, to launch with the i Phone Air 2 and the i Phone 18e.
There are multiple reasons, according to the leaks: Apple wants to spread out its revenue more evenly across the year, reduce the pressure to get hardware and software out every September, and better compete with manufacturers who launch their handsets earlier in the year (looking at you, Samsung).
It was a mixed bag in terms of pricing at the Apple event, though it's fair to say that the price hikes we did see weren't quite as severe as we might have expected given the ongoing memory shortage affecting the whole industry.
Both the i Phone 18 Pro and the Pro Max are starting at a $100 higher price than their immediate predecessors, but the new Apple Watch models are sticking to the same prices as last time, while the Air Pods 5 are actually cheaper than the Air Pods 4 were at launch.
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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on Tech Radar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, Pop Sci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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