Apple Unveils First Foldable Smartphone as New Chief Executive Takes the Stage

Apple has revealed its first-ever folding smartphone, christened the Duo, during a major hardware presentation that marks John Ternus's first high-profile appearance since taking over as the company's chief executive.

The announcement comes just two weeks into the tenure of Ternus, who ascended to Apple's helm following the departure of longtime leader Tim Cook. Presenting at the tech giant's annual product launch, Ternus showcased the handset as the most substantial visual and functional redesign for the iPhone line since its original debut nearly twenty years ago.

The newly unveiled Duo features a book-style hinge mechanism that allows the device to operate across two distinct form factors. When opened flat, the handset offers a screen expanse comparable to a compact iPad, while folding shut converts it into a slightly wider version of a standard smartphone.

Positioned at the apex of Apple’s product hierarchy, the Duo represents both the largest and most expensive handset the company has ever brought to market. In the United States, base models will retail at $1,999 with premium configurations climbing to $3,200, while pricing in the United Kingdom opens at £1,999. Historically, flagship launches began around $900.

Addressing the audience, Ternus explained that the hardware took substantial design cues from the iPad while aiming to deliver a natural, intuitive user experience. He noted that the folding device spent several years under development within Apple’s engineering labs.

Ternus also drew comparisons with existing folding devices on the market, arguing that many competitors make products that resemble two separate handsets attached together, which can diminish the sense of screen real estate. He claimed Apple's innovative engineering approach resolves these shortcomings to fundamentally reshape how customers interact with foldable hardware.

The project holds personal significance for Ternus, who directly guided the multi-year initiative during his previous role leading Apple's hardware engineering division prior to being appointed as Cook’s successor earlier this year.

Industry observers noted the deliberate coordination behind the leadership change and the hardware reveal. Ben Wood, chief analyst at technology research group FDM CCS Insight, highlighted that Ternus's elevation to chief executive was almost certainly aligned with one of the most critical product announcements in modern company history, remarking that strategic timing is rarely accidental at Apple.

Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies, observed that the high-stakes presentation placed Ternus himself under as much scrutiny as the hardware. She pointed out that while consumers find foldable hardware fascinating, migrating from standard flat smartphones to folding designs presents genuine software adjustments and an ongoing user learning curve.

The launch is seen as a direct response to longstanding critiques from market watchers who contend that Apple has avoided radical innovations or major product breakthroughs since releasing the original iPhone in 2007.

Financial analysts, however, remain divided on the commercial viability of such an expensive format. Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester, cautioned that the high entry price might turn the Duo into a niche luxury symbol rather than a driver of substantial unit volume growth.

Chatterjee suggested the new folding handset could either mirror the trajectory of the $3,699 Vision Pro headset, which struggled to gain broad traction with mainstream buyers, or follow the path of the Apple Watch, which became a steady business purchased by millions each year despite not reaching iPhone-level scale.

Alongside the Duo, Apple introduced its next-generation traditional flagship devices, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which carry starting US prices of $1,199 and $1,299 respectively. The broader iPhone ecosystem remains essential to the company's financial health, generating more than half of its total annual revenue amid recent periods of record customer demand.

Despite the anticipation surrounding Apple's entry, folding hardware represents a small fraction of the broader consumer electronics landscape. Devices from competing manufacturers currently account for just 2% of worldwide smartphone sales, and data from FDM CCS Insight suggests the category may only expand to 4% of total market volume over the coming decade.

In addition to physical hardware changes, Apple announced a major overhaul of its digital assistant, rebranding the service as Siri AI. Starting on the iPhone 18 generation, the assistant will possess cross-application capabilities, enabling it to scan a user’s private communications and emails to retrieve details, answer queries, and execute tasks autonomously.

Similar intelligent capabilities are also expanding to the Apple Watch, which will gain the functionality to record and transcribe spoken conversations if users choose to enable the setting.

Describing the upgraded AI ecosystem as an intelligent personal hub, Ternus acknowledged that the service relies on sensitive personal information from everyday routines. He emphasized that user privacy remains safeguarded through local on-device computation and secure cloud infrastructure that avoids third-party data collection.