Apple event live updates: First foldable, the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, watches, and more

Apple (AAPL) is hosting its annual fall event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters today. Newly minted CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1, will host the keynote, which kicks off at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The biggest news of the day is expected to be the company’s first foldable iPhone. It will be an important test for Apple, which is looking to revamp its most important product line.

The company is known for entering existing categories and disrupting them, but companies, including Samsung and Huawei, already dominate the space here in the US and in China.

In addition to its foldable, Apple will likely unveil its latest Pro models, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The standard iPhone 18 is rumored to launch in early 2027.

Apple is also under pressure to showcase its latest AI features, including a generative AI-powered version of Siri.

Then there are the Apple Watches. Apple is expected to reveal the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4.

Yahoo Finance will be on the ground in Cupertino, bringing you the news as it happens. Check back for updates.

LIVE 15 updates

Apple debuts its first foldable, the iPhone Duo

Apple (AAPL) debuted its first foldable iPhone on Wednesday, marking the largest overhaul of its smartphone design ever and creating a new revenue opportunity for the tech giant. Called the iPhone Duo, the device features a passport-like design that opens and closes like a book. Up front, the Duo sports a 5.4-inch display. Open the phone to reveal a massive 7.6-inch display that’s ideal for watching movies, playing games, doing work, and multitasking. Changing the phone’s orientation automatically adjusts how apps appear, so if you fold it in half while watching a video, the top half will show the content, and the lower half will show the controls. In Zoom, the top portion of the screen will show a shared view of your call, while the bottom will show the call’s participants.

Apple’s iPhone Duo Improved Apple Intelligence software

Each of Apple’s latest iPhones gets the company’s improved Apple Intelligence software and an upgraded version of Siri called Siri AI. During a video demo, Apple showed how you can ask Siri AI questions about topics from your texts and emails, use the iPhone’s camera to view the world around you, and access broad world knowledge. You can also ask Siri to do things like draft emails via voice and text. It includes what Apple calls expressive voices.

Apple Intelligence in the new iPhone lineup Apple debuts new Apple Watch series

Apple (AAPL) on Wednesday debuted its Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. Both watches get improved heart rate-tracking sensors that take heart rate readings every 5 seconds and track heart rate variability. The company said it tested the new tracking sensor against competing trackers and a chest strap, and found it to be the most accurate. Apple is also announcing a new readiness feature in the Vitals app, similar to those seen in products from Oura and Fitbit. The feature, the company says, analyses your recent activity, vitals, and sleep to provide you with a daily score that indicates whether you should rest, pace yourself, or work out as usual. A new longevity tab can tell you how well you’re performing across a variety of categories, including sleep, movement, heart health, and more, compared to clinical guidance.

Apple’s debuts new Apple watch model

The watches also get new sound recognition features that can identify things like sirens, a baby crying, alarms, doorbells, and more, and alert you if it hears them and you don’t. A new Live Rewind feature can transcribe anything someone said around you in the last 15 seconds, allowing you to save the transcript to your notes, as well. There’s also a new feature called Siri Recaps that can provide high-level notes of what people said over the course of the day. The company, however, says that there are no actual audio recordings and that the raw audio used for processing is inaccessible to anyone, including Apple. The company also says that it doesn’t attribute anything to speakers.

Apple revealed its latest AirPods

Apple revealed its latest AirPods. The AirPods 5 get a new acoustic architecture that the company says improves overall sound and advanced noise cancellation, which Apple says is now 50% better than the AirPods 4. The AirPods 5 also get Siri AI via a connected iPhone. You can ask the assistant questions you’d normally ask your iPhone and get answers right away. There’s also real-time translation that can quickly translate what someone is saying to you. Battery life is rated for 4 hours with active noise cancellation (ANC) turned on. The earbuds cost $129. A higher-end version of the AirPods 5 gets on tip volume controls, an additional hour of battery life with ANC, and a wireless charging case will cost $149.

Apple’s new AirPods 5 You can get your iPhone 18 Pro on Sept. 18

The 18 Pro will start at $1,199, while the 18 Pro Max will cost $1,299. That’s a $100 increase from the $1,099 for the 17 Pro and $1,199 for the 17 Pro Max with 256GB of storage.

The new iPhone will be available on Sept. 18 Apple announces iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

Apple announced its iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. The phones have a similar look and feel as last year’s 17 Pro and Pro Max, but get faster A20 Pro processors with improved CPUs, GPUs, and neural engine upgrades for running everything from games to AI models. The batteries are also updated with the 18 Pro getting 24 hours of charge, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max getting 30 hours.

Apple announces iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

Both of Apple’s latest iPhones also get the company’s improved Apple Intelligence software and an upgraded version of Siri called Siri AI. During a video demo, Apple showed how you can ask Siri AI questions about topics from your texts and emails, use the iPhone’s camera to view the world around you, and access broad world knowledge. You can also ask Siri to do things like draft emails via voice and text, and adjust its voice via what Apple calls expressive voices. Apple Intelligence also lives across the iPhone’s apps, including Safari, in which it can monitor web pages for changes and update you when they come through. Apple Intelligence will be in 16 languages, and Siri AI will launch in English this month with support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish coming in October.

They also come with a variable, mechanical aperture for better light and depth control.

Heading down the stairs to the Steve Jobs Theater

It’s a stampede down the stairs to the Steve Jobs Theater.

The most-anticipated day in Apple’s recent history

Apple’s annual iPhone launch event today will come with several firsts, Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban and Ethan Wolff-Mann pointed out in today’s Morning Brief newsletter. They write:

The stakes are higher and more urgent than the anticipated hardware debuts.

Wall Street and the public alike are still waiting for Apple to unveil more of its AI strategy and get a more concrete understanding of how an upgraded Siri will turbocharge the iPhone experience.

And on the question of AI development, how will Ternus expand Apple’s famous “walled garden” to include AI agents and an ecosystem of AI tools that has largely grown outside of Cupertino’s purview?

There are device unveilings, the AI and innovation questions, and then curiosity and anticipation around the man himself.

If Tim Cook was a skilled diplomat and supply chain wizard, how might Ternus differentiate himself and answer the years-long criticism of a rudderless, aura-deficient Apple?

The keynote won’t reveal everything. But first impressions, especially for a company so heavily reliant on its brand, will set the tone. Ternus can show off a nifty, foldable phone and a smarter Siri. But most of all, he’ll have to tell an eager audience what happens next.

Foldables are a small portion of the smartphone market, but they’re worth it for companies

The foldable smartphone segment makes up a small slice of the broader market. According to International Data Corporation (IDC) analyst Francisco Jeronimo, foldables will account for 2.2% of global units in 2026, rising to just 3.1% by 2030.

But the category’s higher average selling price (ASP) means they make up a larger revenue share of 6.9% in 2026 and 10% in 2030.

In other words, Apple (AAPL) won’t have to sell as many foldables as its standard phones if it launches with its anticipated $2,000 price tag.

Still, the company has some serious competition in the form of Samsung and Google here in the US, and Huawei in China. Jeronimo notes that the Huawei in particular will prove troublesome for Apple, as it accounted for 79.4% of foldable units in China and 82.2% of foldable revenue in Q2 this year.

But he says Apple could steal the value lead from Huawei as long as the foldable is a success.

Pre-show gathering

Members of the media, influencers, and Apple executives are filling into the Steve Jobs Theater here at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., for the company’s annual event, at which it’s expected to launch its first foldable phone.

The Steve Jobs theater in Apple Park. Members of the media fill the Steve Jobs Theater. Apple iPhone changes represent a huge opportunity for the company. They also come with risks.

Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone is the company’s biggest money maker by a long shot.

In 2025, the segment accounted for $209.5 billion of Apple’s $416.1 billion in total revenue. It’s second largest business, its Services segment, generated $109.1 billion.

That makes any changes to the phone, like the expected foldable iPhone, a major challenge for Apple.

Apple’s iPhone 17. Photo by: STRF/STAR MAX/IPx · STRF/STAR MAX/IPx

If it’s a success out of the gate, the foldable will be a massive win for the company after years of commentary that it hasn’t done enough to evolve its flagship smartphone.

But a slip-up could prove to be a serious headwind for Apple. After all, first impressions are everything in the consumer tech space. And any disruption to the company’s most important product would be especially troublesome for both Apple and investors.

Why Apple investors may not need to worry about a $2,000 iPhone price tag

With gas prices back on the rise, there is some chatter on the Street about whether people will be willing to spend a rumored $2,000 on a new Apple (AAPL) iPhone that folds like a passport.

The data shows, however, that consumers continue to shop for ever more expensive iPhones, no matter if filling up the tank is costlier or economic uncertainty is the theme of the day.

JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote in a new note that there is a limited relationship between price and volume on the iPhone over a multiyear period. iPhone units increased about 10% between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2026 despite a roughly 50% increase in average selling prices and a smartphone market that peaked around 2016-17.

The mix — what consumers are buying from Apple’s iPhone lineup — has also shifted toward premium devices, with the Pro and Pro Max increasing from about 37% of shipments in 2020 to roughly 65% in 2025

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