Apple’s record stock performance leads into a discussion of Vision Pro and John Ternus’ explanation of its long-term potential. The MacVoices Live! panel considers spatial computing’s growing role in medicine, productivity, and professional workflows, along with whether the technology is ready for broader adoption. They also examine iPhone battery shipping limits, SoftRAID 9's support of RAID 6, and local versus cloud storage.
Apple has barely finished unveiling the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro lineup, AirPods 5, and new Apple Watches, but the company already has a much larger pipeline queued up for late 2026 and the first half of 2027, according to Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman.
The coming products are part of what new CEO John Ternus has internally described as Apple’s most ambitious product road map yet. Many of the devices are designed to spread Siri AI more widely across the lineup and close some of the gap with rivals in artificial intelligence. As always, dates can slip and products can be delayed or canceled.
Later this yearGurman reports that Apple is preparing several updates before year-end:
• HomePod mini with Siri AI — Same familiar design as the 2020 model, but with a new chip to power the overhauled assistant.
• Apple TV with Siri AI — Another look-alike refresh, this time with a faster chip for navigation and the new Siri experience.
• Smart-home hub — A square display that can sit on a speaker base or mount on a wall. It will run a new operating system, support video calls, and use facial recognition to personalize what it shows. Apple had considered showing it at last week’s event and is now aiming as early as October, though the timeline remains fluid after repeated delays.
• Touch-screen MacBooks — The biggest MacBook Pro change since 2021, adding OLED panels and touch screens for the first time, with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.
• Entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro — Current design, updated with the M6 chip.
• iMac — New colors and an M6 processor.
• iPad mini — One of the line’s biggest upgrades, adding an OLED display.
The HomePod mini and Apple TV are already being tested with iOS 27. The new Macs are running macOS 27.1 internally, and the iPad mini is on iPadOS 27.1. Both of those software updates are expected late next month.
First half of 2027
The spring and early summer slate is heavier on refresh cycles than radical redesigns:
• MacBook Air — Same 13-inch and 15-inch designs, moving to the M6 chip.
• MacBook Neo — Follow-up model with an A19 Pro chip and more memory.
• Entry-level iPad — Faster chip so the cheaper tablet can run Apple Intelligence and Siri AI.
• iPad Pro — Chip upgrade plus vapor-chamber cooling similar to the iPhone 18 Pro.
• iPad Air — First OLED screens in that line, plus a new chip.
• iPhone 18 — Largely an A20 chip upgrade, with the notable change that the standard model is shifting from fall to spring.
• iPhone 18e — Another chip-focused update; Apple will need to make clear how it differs from the regular iPhone 18.
• iPhone Air 2 — More substantial: a 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip, better battery life, and a second rear camera for ultrawide shots.
• Apple Pencils — New Pencil Pro and USB-C models timed with the iPads; the iPhone Duo will support the stylus as well.
Looking further ahead
The second half of 2027 is expected to get more ambitious still, Gurman writes, with M7 updates to MacBooks, smart glasses, camera-equipped AirPods, a home security system, a redesigned Apple Watch, Twentieth Anniversary iPhones, and a second-generation foldable iPhone Duo.
MacDailyNews Take: Taken together, the road map suggests Apple is trying to do two things at once: push Siri AI onto more affordable and living-room devices, and finally refresh categories that have languished for years. Whether October brings a full event or quieter waves of launches, the next 12 months look unusually crowded with product launces!
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Our discussion of Apple’s “Surprise and Shine” event sparks discussion of the Apple Watch audio intelligence, privacy, health monitoring, battery life, and the Ultra’s outdoor appeal. The MacVoices Live! panel also examines AirPods upgrades, the iPhone Duo’s unusual form factor, Apple’s evolving AI strategy C2 modem differences, and the significance of John Ternus taking a lead role in Apple’s keynote presentation. (Part 2)
Apple’s first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, did not arrive because the company suddenly discovered folding screens. It arrived, executives say, because they finally had a product that felt like Apple.
In a sit-down at Apple Park with Tom’s Guide and TechRadar after the September event, CEO John Ternus and marketing chief Greg “Joz” Joswiak described a long, stubborn process: watch the category, reject most of what they saw, then redesign the hardware and iOS until the thing in their hands made them say yes.
“Our history had never been to rush into something with something half-baked,” Joswiak said. The concept itself was simple—a big display that folds into a pocket—but “what we saw others doing wasn’t particularly inspiring.” Two phones awkwardly stuck together produced a bulky square that “wasn’t really designed for the way you want to use a phone.”
Ternus framed the wait as a quality bar, not a calendar. “It’s always about when do we feel like we have a product idea that meets our bar… for quality and durability, but also for design.” The Duo, he said, became “such a good example of hardware and software coming together.” Internally it was a “green field” — a chance to rethink aspect ratio, hinge, display stack, and the OS itself.
The crease was the industry’s loudest complaint. Apple’s answer was a polymer-glass OLED stack with glass on both sides of the panel, plus a new way of applying the nano-texture finish already familiar from iPad and MacBook Pro. The inner surface is polymer, not glass — “cheap-feeling plastic surfaces… wavy, wrinkly,” Ternus said of rivals. Nano-texture “just wipes that all out. It’s beautifully flat. It feels amazing to touch.”
The first time he saw a working prototype: “It was like, yes, that’s it. This is what I want.” Then the hard part: “How do we go make it happen and make it real?”
They also locked the project down harder than usual. Leaks had already confirmed a foldable and even guessed at the unusual aspect ratio. “We put the extra security on it,” Joswiak said. “We had a very funny code name, which I won’t even repeat… We said we’re going to keep this one extra secret… and it worked.”
Software was treated as equally unfinished. Unfolded, the Duo is meant to feel like a small iPad, not a stretched phone. Controls moved to the right so the same thumb that works the closed “passport” shape still finds them when the device opens. “You open it up, it’s there under your right thumb again,” Ternus said. Consistent aspect ratios between inner and outer screens let interfaces scale instead of breaking.
Apple Pencil support — the first on an iPhone — was presented as opportunity, not heresy. “I’ve never really thought of it as a rule,” Ternus said of Steve Jobs’s old “no stylus” line. The Duo works without a Pencil. Some people will want one on the large inner canvas. “It’s called iPhone Duo for a reason. It is like two products.”
The price, which crosses the $2,000 mark, got a familiar defense: complexity and value, plus a line of other phones for everyone else. “This is an incredibly complex and well-engineered device,” Ternus said. iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max remain “the exact right device for a lot of our customers.” Joswiak piled on: the Pros are “iPhone 17 Pro on steroids,” with “massive year-on-year improvements.”
That includes a six-blade mechanical variable aperture. Open it for more light in the dark; stop it down so a group shot keeps both the front row and the back row sharp. Everyday users get automatic choices. Photographers get manual aperture, shutter, and focus. “Best of both worlds,” Ternus said. Asked whether tiny moving blades would survive drops, he noted iPhones already have moving focus and stabilization hardware. “This is what we do… material selection… reliability testing to make sure that things are going to be just as good many years down the road as they are on day one.”
Joswiak was less measured. “The product quality that we have… there’s nobody in the industry close to what we have.” How often does an iPhone fail? “It just [doesn’t].”
The A20 Pro, Apple’s first 2nm phone chip, is sold the same way: not as a spec sheet, but as experiences. Computational photography and on-device AI get more headroom. Graphics performance is up about 40 percent year over year — “that doesn’t come around very often” — paired with a new vapor chamber. Sustained performance jumped similarly. “This thing is on steroids,” Joswiak said. Reliability and software updates, he added, are why used iPhones hold value: “You want it to be fast three years down the road, four years down the road. Something like the A20 Pro is a monster.”
Asked who actually assembles those aperture blades — hands or robots — Ternus smiled: “That’s for us to know.”
Launch day itself, he said, is “why we do what we do.” Yesterday was “a particularly fun one.” After a decade of watching foldables, Apple’s executives sounded less like they had joined a category than like they had finally finished one.
MacDailyNews Take: For so many years, it’s been such an easy choice: We’re getting iPhone Pro units. This year, with the Duo, we have a much more difficult choice!
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In a joint interview with Tom's Guide and TechRadar, new Apple CEO John Ternus and marketing chief Greg Joswiak explained why the company waited until now to release a foldable, its design philosophy, and how it kept the iPhone Duo under wraps.
Ternus said the timing always comes down to when a product idea meets Apple's bar "for quality and durability, but also for design." He said the device "was like a greenfield of opportunity for us because it was an opportunity to rethink so many different things."
Apple took a hard look at what other foldable makers were offering and felt it "wasn't particularly inspiring," said Joswiak, adding that Apple's approach was "twofold – no pun intended."
First, Apple believes the device's wider 1:1.4 aspect ratio is the answer to designs that resemble two phones "awkwardly stuck together," said Joz. Second, Apple worked on the software to make the Duo "unlike any foldable that's out there."
As for the foldable display, Ternus said the inner screen's top layer is polymer, not glass, which meant devising an entirely new way of making Apple's nano-texture finish. Rival displays, he said, are "kind of cheap-feeling plastic surfaces. They don't feel good to touch, they're kind of wavy, wrinkly."
"The nano-texture just wipes that all out," he added. "It's beautifully flat. It feels amazing to touch and it's incredibly durable."
Joswiak said he is "super proud" that Apple kept the project relatively secret: "We put the extra security on it. We didn't talk about it to anybody. We had a very funny code name, which I won't even repeat, that had nothing to do with it. But we said we're going to keep this one extra secret because, look, people knew through leaks that we were working on a foldable."
Leakers did get the aspect ratio right, Joz conceded. "There were a lot of coincidental instances of people finding that an interesting aspect ratio. And this is when we said, okay, we're going to really keep this one locked down – and it worked."
As for the $1,999 starting price, Ternus mused: "Yes, it's more expensive than the other phones, but we think it's great value." Joz added: "It's called iPhone Duo for a reason. It's like two products."
You can watch the full interview via the embedded video above or on the YouTube website. Pre-orders for the iPhone Duo begin Friday, October 16, ahead of an October 23 launch.
Bank of America says John Ternus’ first major product launch as Apple CEO reinforced the company’s bet on hardware innovation, privacy, and more personalized, privacy-focused artificial intelligence.
Wamsi Mohan, Bank of America’s managing director and senior equity research analyst covering Apple, told Bloomberg Tech host Ed Ludlow that the new foldable iPhone Duo expands Apple’s addressable market. The book-style device, unveiled at Ternus’s debut event, opens to a 7.6-inch inner display from a 5.4-inch cover screen and starts at $1,999. Mohan framed it as more than a form-factor change: a way to pull new users and use cases into Apple’s ecosystem while keeping the iPhone at the center of the company’s strategy.
On AI, Mohan pointed to Apple’s split architecture. On-device processing handles as much as possible on Apple Silicon. When more compute is needed, Private Cloud Compute is designed to run larger models without sacrificing user privacy. That combination, he said, could make Siri more capable (able to work across apps and personal context) without the data-collection trade-offs seen in rivals’s offerings. Ternus used the launch to pitch the iPhone as an “intelligent personal hub,” with Siri positioned as a core interface rather than a bolt-on chatbot.
The message from BofA is continuity plus acceleration. Tim Cook’s era was iterative, built a vast installed base, services revenue, and supply-chain scale. Ternus, the longtime hardware chief who took over September 1st, is expected to keep that machine running while pushing devices that embed AI more tightly — foldables now, and later categories such as smarter wearables and home products. Mohan has maintained a Buy rating, arguing Apple can cement device dominance if silicon, privacy, operating systems, and personal context stay tightly integrated.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re not the only ones who are already loving John Ternus’ Apple!
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Apple CEO John Ternus and a team of Apple executives are expected to host the company’s “Surprise and Shine” special event today, Wednesday, September 9th, at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT.
Apple’s event will be webcast from the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.
During Apple’s event, MacDailyNews will offer live notes on this page below.
You can watch the event live right here:
Live notes from Apple’s “Surprise and Shine” special event in reverse chronological order:
• End of event.
• Ternus: “Thank you for joining us. Have a great day.”
• Ternus recaps today’s announcements
• AAPL: 310.63, -5.60, (-1.77%) @ 2:16:21 PM EDT
• iPhone Duo commercial being shown
• Available: October 23rd
• Pre-order: October 16th
• Starts at 1999 256GB; up to 2TB available
• Apple has made two cases: iPhone Duo Folio and iPhone Duo Case
• iPhone Duo is the perfect selfie camera – use the best cameras and still see the outer display
• Dual capture in FaceTime – share both simultaneously
• Center Stage front camera
• Supports Texture and Grain control
• 4K 120 FPS video
• iPhone Duo Camera system: 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide Main Camera and 2X optical quality Telephoto
• All-day battery life, up to 31 hours of video playback (inner display); 44 hours (outer display)
• iPhone Duo is eSIM-only worldwide
• Apple’s advanced C2 Modem: 5G mmWave support in US
• Peak performance for on-device AI immediately; up to 35% higher sustained performance than iPhone 17 Pro
• Powered by A20 Pro
• Titanium pate at the bottom of display for increased durability
• Multilayer lamination display
• iPhone Duo – custom nano-texture finish for display – minimized crease visibility
• Myriad apps are being updated for iPhone Duo
• Can be your perfect bedside clock
• Standby mode available even when not charging
• Can use iPhone Duo partially folded
• Works in Portrait and Landscape (like iPad)
• Split view multitasking
• Ceramic Shield on back, Ceramic Shield 2 on front display
• Grade 5 Titanium frame
• Two colors: Star White and Night Sky
• Can unlock iPhone Duo effortlessly with Apple Watch
• Touch ID integrated into the side button
• Apple Pencil capable on either display
• 5.4-inch outer display
• iPhone mini spotted off in a corner weeping silently to itself
• iPhone Duo makes new experiences possible
• iPhone Duo and iOS 27 redefine what an iPhone can do
• System reacts when you fold our turn to side or flip it over
• As you most betwen displays, the software seamlessly transitions
• iOS 27 adjusts to fit iPhone Duo
• Very pocketable when closed
• Aerospace-grade titanium fram
• Impressive battery system
• Thinnest iPhone ever when opened
• Hinge mechanism – custom variable torque control
• Fluid transitions between opened and closed – faceTime camera behind the display
• Largest iPhone display ever designed
• Similar size to your passport
• Apple redefines the experience of using a foldable smartphone
• Introducing iPhone Duo
• Ternus: “There is one more thing”
• AAPL: 312.57, -3.65, (-1.16%) @ 1:52:03 PM EDT
• Series 12 commercial shown
• Pre-order today, available September 18th
• Ultra 4 starts at $799
• Series 12 starts at $399
• Apple Watch Ultra 4 Black and natural titanium
• Apple Watch Series 12 Titanium in gold and silver
• Apple Watch Series 12 ceramic available in white and blue
• Apple Watch Series 12 Aluminum: Space Gray, Black, Light Gold, Dark Bronze
• Apple Watch offers thousands of face and bad customizations
• New S11 chip – Always-on processor, faster CPU, faster GPU, and faster Neural Engine
• Live Rewind and Siri Recap coming later this year in beta
• New Siri Modular Face for Apple Watch
• Audio is not recorded or stored, Apple cannot listen
• Siri recap: Uses ambient listening to take notes of meetings, lectures, etc.
• Live Rewind lets you see a transcription of the last 15 seconds
• Sound recognition to Apple Watch – can listen to notify you of what’s hapening
• Audio Intelligence makes sense of what your hear using Apple Watch microphone
• iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple Intelligence all work together in new Health app (coming later this year)
• VO2 Max test via iPhone camera – follow instructor on iPhone screen, measured by Apple Watch
• New longevity tab give you deeper insights into your health
• Health Age: a simple way to measure your data vs. your calendar age and how to improve it
• Personalize guidance powered by Apple Intelligence
• Health app is a central and secure repository – all-new design in iOS 27
• Readiness: tells you when to push and when to hold back in workouts (recovery score)
• Updated Heart Rate app
• Apple Watch’s health sensing vs. rivals: Apple Watch has the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable
• Higher freq. continuous heart rate data – every 5 seconds all day long – a 60X increase
• Increase electrode area, redesigned photo diodes; larger, green LEDs
• Advanced sensor array – Health Sensing System
• Both get all-new Apple Silicon
• Apple Watch Ultra 4
• Apple Watch Series 12
• Ternus: ANC is now standard across the entire AirPods lineup
• Pre-order today, available September 18th
• AirPods 5 with all of these extras in $149
• Comes with wireless charing case
• Up to 5 hours with ANC
• Second model has on-stem volume control
• AirPods 5: $129
• More duarale than ever; up to 4 hours with ANC and up to 20 hours with charging case
• Live Translation in AirPods 5
• AirPods 5 are a seamless extension between Siri AI and your iPhone
• AirPods 5 auto adjust between ANC and Transparency
• Transparency is even more natural
• The best ANC in any open ear earbud
• Active Noise Cancelation: 50% more than previous generation
• Personalize Spatial Audio improved
• AirPods 5: Open ear fit, redesigned from the inside for improved audio, adaptive EQ
• New AirPods: AirPods 5
• Ternus returns to talk AirPods
• Pre-order this Friday, available September 18th
• iPhone 18 Pro Mac starts at $1299
• iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1199
• Updated clear case, Silicone case, new wrist strap, new TechWoven cases
• iPhone Handoff – uses same number on multiple iPhones (carrier dependent)
• iOS 27 review
• iPhone 18 Pro/Max offer a Smaller Dynamic Island
• iPhone 18 Pro Max used to shoot today’s special event video
• Photographers will want iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max
• Apple Reference Image: prove the authenticity of a photo taken on iPhone 18 Pro (not available in EU or China)
• Image authenticity: Apple will support AI tagging
• Photographic styles: Texture and grain control
• Smart focus tracking uses on-device AI models to track
• Change white balance, use histogram, manually adjust aperture, adjust shutter speed
• Pro controls: Lets you customize your camera experience
• 4K time lapse
• Cinematic video after you capture video
• Camera system is paired with AI
• iPhone 18 Pro’s 48 MP fusion camera with variable aperture, custom-designed mechanical aperture
• Aperture controls how much light enters the system
• Camera: Biggest camera improvement in years
• Game demos
• Game developers can push further than ever on iPhone
• iPhone 18 Pro provides up to 24-hours usage per charge; 30 hours for iPhone 18 Pro Max
• Battery life: iPhone 18 Pro is smaller, but delivers the same battery life as iPhone 17 Pro Max
• Highest sustained performance on an iPhone – ever
• iPhone 18 Pro has a next-gen Vapor Chamber – significantly improved cooling vs. iPhone 17 Pro
• Brand new thermal design
• Silicon connected directly to Vapor Chamber
• Custom packaging, inspired by M-class chips
• 50% memory bandwidth increase
• 32-cores dual Neural Engine is an AI acellerator
• New Neural Acelerators
• 7-core GPU, 40% faster than A19 Pro
• Super cores are desktop class – fastest in any smartphoen
• 6-core CPU, 2 new super cores / 4 efficiency cores
• A20 Pro is an exceptional chip – brand new 2nm architecture
• Increased access available with “most” iCloud+ plans
• iPhone 18 Pro delivers deeply personal AI
• Siri AI and Apple Intelligence is woven throughout – in Safari, Phone app, Calendar, Camera, etc.
• Siri AI has expressive voices – powered by on-device model
• You can write with Siri AI
• Siri app lets you maintain history and sync across your Apple device ecosystem
• Siri AI has Visual Intelligence and can work with over 300K apps
• 2.5 billion Siri requests made everyday, currently (with the sucky Siri)
• Built for Apple Intelligence, Apple Foundation Models, Siri AI
• Color-matched aluminum and back glass: Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy
• iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max
• Most advanced camera system ever
• Longest battery life in iPhone history
• Apple A20 Pro
• Ternus intros next-gen iPhone
• Private Cloud Compute extends privacy to the cloud when needed
• iPhone understands your context; Apple values privacy; personal data stays on-device whenever possible
• Ternus: There’s no product in the world better for personal AI hub than iPhone
• Apple’s goal: To make the best products available
• Ternus talks about inspiration and relentless pursuit of excellence at Apple
• Apple CEO John Ternus takes the stage (on video; missed opportunity; better would’ve been live on-stage)
• Narrated at the end by Tim Cook
• Opens with short film Shot on iPhone (shows the quality and versatility of iPhone camera systems)
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Apple is expected to use Wednesday’s “Surprise and Shine” event in Cupertino as the public debut of new CEO John Ternus and one of the company’s most ambitious hardware slates in years, according to reporting from Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman.
The centerpiece is a foldable smartphone Apple has named the iPhone Duo. Gurman reported that Apple settled on a starting price of about $2,000 after absorbing extra memory costs, with storage configurations reaching 2 terabytes and a top price near $3,000. The device is slated to ship in October, support Apple Pencil, and launch in dark blue and white. Apple is positioning the expensive foldable as both a status product and a bid to reassert itself as a hardware innovator.
The event, scheduled for 10 a.m. local time, is also expected to include the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, new Apple Watches, and updated AirPods. Gurman said the five biggest storylines are Ternus’s first major product showcase, the $2,000-and-up Duo, camera upgrades on the iPhone 18 Pro models, Watch and AirPods refreshes, and higher iPhone prices. He separately listed expected Pro colors as black, light blue, silver, and burgundy.
The Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 are expected to add a privacy-focused AI “recaps” feature that uses the microphone, GPS, and other sensors to summarize a user’s day, including conversations. Gurman reported that the system is not designed to store audio recordings or produce transcripts. Users would be able to run it all day or only in selected locations, with summaries living in a new Siri app. The feature is aimed at competing with always-listening AI wearables while emphasizing on-device processing and tighter privacy controls. New Watch chips are expected to handle that processing.
AirPods 5 are also expected, in versions with and without a wireless charging case and with stronger noise cancellation. Camera-equipped AirPods that Apple had considered for this cycle were delayed, Gurman has reported.
The Duo’s long development path has been a decade-plus effort.
Pre-orders for the new iPhones are widely expected to start Friday, September 12th. Supplies of iPhone Duo are expected to be extremely tight for many months. As with any pre-event report, Apple can still change names, prices, colors, or feature details on stage.
MacDailyNews Take: iPad mini hardest hit.
As for Apple Pencil support, we can see it for specific use cases, but mostly not:
Oh, a stylus, right? We’re going to use a stylus. No. Who wants a stylus? You have to get them and put them away and you lose them. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus. So, let’s not use a stylus. We’re going to use the best pointing device in the world. We’re going to use a pointing device that we’re all born with — we’re born with ten of them. We’re going to use our fingers. We’re going to touch this with our fingers. And we have invented a new technology called multi-touch, which is phenomenal. It works like magic. You don’t need a stylus. – Steve Jobs
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The MacVoices Live! examines Apple’s transition from Tim Cook to John Ternus, weighing Cook’s legacy, Apple’s dramatic financial growth, Vision Pro, and criticism of his tenure. They consider what Ternus’ engineering background could mean for hardware and software, while discussing Phil Schiller, Eddie Cue, other executive changes, succession planning, and the importance of preserving institutional […]
Apple will be holding an event today starting at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with the company expected to unveil new iPhones and much more.
Ahead of the event, Apple's new CEO John Ternus just shared a mysterious teaser video. The short clip appears to show a beam of light that is shining onto the edge of an iPhone. The light is coming from a hexagonal shape that changes size, which could hint at the iPhone 18 Pro's rumored mechanical aperture upgrade.
The main 48-megapixel Fusion camera on the iPhone 18 Pro and/or iPhone 18 Pro Max is rumored to have a variable aperture, which would allow users to control the amount of light that passes through the camera's lens and reaches the sensor. This would provide greater control over depth of field. However, given that iPhones have smaller image sensors due to smartphone size constraints, it is unclear exactly how meaningful this improvement would be.
In addition to the iPhone 18 Pro models, Apple is expected to unveil its first-ever foldable iPhone today. The device is reportedly named iPhone Duo.
Ternus became Apple's CEO on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook, who is now the company's executive chairman. Ternus joined Apple in 2001, became a VP of hardware engineering in 2013, and became SVP of hardware engineering in 2021.
MacRumors is in attendance at Steve Jobs Theater and will be providing live coverage of Apple's event today, so stay tuned. It will be a very busy day.
3D render claiming to depict Apple’s first foldable iPhone (image: Jon Prosser)
Apple is widely expected to introduce its first folding iPhone at a product event Wednesday at its California headquarters, the first major launch under new CEO John Ternus.
The event would represent the most visible change to Apple’s flagship smartphone since the iPhone X dropped the physical home button in 2017. The iPhone generated $209.6 billion, or just over half of Apple’s sales, in the company’s most recent fiscal year.
The keynote will also be Ternus’s first extended public appearance as CEO. The former hardware chief has kept a relatively low profile aside from occasional product introductions and sustainability efforts.
Samsung and Huawei have sold folding phones since 2019, but the category has remained a niche. Analyst firm IDC nevertheless expects Apple to sell every unit it can make and capture about 40% of the foldable market by the end of next year.
Analysts say Apple’s late entry could help it solve longstanding engineering problems, including a durable – potentially Liquidmetal – hinge that minimizes the crease where the display folds. Dust and water resistance remains a question; Google’s latest Pixel 10 Pro Fold carries an IP68 rating* that some rivals have not matched.
The event is also expected to alter Apple’s usual product calendar. Analysts anticipate new watches but say the company will likely postpone updates to cheaper iPhone models until next spring, focusing instead on the foldable and the iPhone Pro and Pro Max lineup. The shift is intended to even out Apple’s typically strong holiday-quarter sales in the U.S. and Europe.
*In IP68, (6 means the device is dust-tight (no dust gets in). 8 means it can survive being immersed in water deeper than 1 meter for a period specified by the manufacturer (often 30 minutes or more), under defined conditions. It does not guarantee protection against high-pressure jets, steam, or damage from drops. Actual depth and time vary by product.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re just hours away now!
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This may be the final design of Apple’s foldable iPhone. (Image: @MajinBuofficia via X)
Apple’s first foldable iPhone is expected to headline Wednesday’s “Surprise and Shine” event, but the product itself is not a last-minute bet. According to Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman, the company spent about a decade studying folding displays and related hardware before bringing a book-style phone to the stage.
Gurman reports that Apple’s hardware engineering teams were examining foldable phones, screens, and components well before Samsung’s first Galaxy Fold arrived in 2019. Early thinking inside the company included a device closer to an iPad mini that opened into a larger tablet. That path shifted after then-CEO Tim Cook returned from a 2020 trip to Asia “unusually energized” by how many people he saw using foldables from Samsung, Huawei, and others. He pushed Apple to move faster and to make a foldable iPhone, not a foldable tablet, the priority. One person familiar with the work told Gurman that Cook was “the earliest and biggest champion” of the project.
The work began under former hardware chief Dan Riccio and later continued under John Ternus, who now leads the company. Engineers focused on four difficult problems: making the crease less visible, making the hinge last, creating flexible cover glass for the inner screen, and exploring under-display cameras. Designers compared the closed device to a passport and the open device to a Magic Trackpad. The rumored layout is a wide book-style phone with about a 5.5-inch outer display and a 7.8-inch inner display.
Price was always going to be part of the story. Gurman writes that Apple first aimed for a $1,999 starting price — just under the $2,000 line, in the same way the iPhone X launched at $999. Rising component costs, including the memory shortage, later pushed internal discussions toward about $2,199. Higher-storage versions could approach $3,000. Apple expects sticker shock, Gurman reports, but concluded that customers already paying near $2,000 for loaded iPhones would accept an even more expensive foldable. Internally, the product is often called the iPhone Ultra.
The device is expected to appear Wednesday alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. If Gurman’s reporting holds, it will be the largest change to the iPhone’s physical form since the product launched in 2007.
MacDailyNews Take: Regardless of price, Apple will not be able to make enough. The foldable iPhone will be supply-constrained for months, so, if you want one of the first ones, get your pre-order(s) in as soon as Apple starts taking them!
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Apple holds its biggest product event of the year on Wednesday, September 9, at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT at Apple Park in Cupertino. The “Surprise and Shine” keynote will be livestreamed on Apple’s website, the Apple TV app, and YouTube. It is also the first major launch under new CEO John Ternus.
The company is expected to skip a standard iPhone 18 this fall and instead focus on premium hardware: the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and its first foldable iPhone, widely referred to as the iPhone Ultra. New Apple Watch models are also on the docket. The base iPhone 18 and a follow-up iPhone Air are rumored for spring 2027.
The foldable is the main actThe long-awaited foldable is expected to use a book-style design: a compact phone when closed and a larger tablet-like screen when opened. Reports describe an outer display around 5.5 inches and an inner display of about 7.8 inches. Pricing is expected to start above $2,000.
Rumored details include Apple’s A20 Pro chip, an in-house modem, Touch ID instead of Face ID on at least some reports, and a hinge designed to reduce the crease that has defined earlier foldables. Camera setup is expected to be more limited than the Pro models, with some reports saying there will be no dedicated telephoto lens. If Apple pulls it off, this would be the first major iPhone form-factor change in nearly two decades.
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max stay the volume play
The Pro and Pro Max are expected to look similar to last year’s models, with most of the work happening inside. Anticipated upgrades include the A20 Pro processor, better thermal design, improved battery life, and camera refinements. Some reports point to a smaller Dynamic Island and new color options. The Pro Max may get the larger battery and extra cooling.
Apple appears to be splitting its iPhone calendar: high-end and experimental devices in September, more affordable models later. That would keep this week’s stage focused on the products with the highest prices and the most novelty.
Watches and the rest of the lineup
Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 are widely expected. Typical September extras such as new AirPods could appear, though camera-equipped AirPods Pro rumors have been less consistent for this date. Macs and iPads are more likely later in the fall. Software release windows for iOS 27 and related updates usually get mentioned as well.
Why this event matters
Ternus takes the stage after years as Apple’s hardware chief. The company has spent much of the past decade refining existing lines. A foldable iPhone, a narrower fall phone lineup, and a new CEO on the same day add up to more than a routine refresh. Whether the foldable becomes a mainstream product or a high-priced niche will be one of the first real tests of the next chapter.
MacDailyNews Note: Watch the stream Wednesday at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT here and check our home page tomorrow for the link to our live coverage.
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The Schiller exit is a bit more notable. Unlike Maestri, he still had a real job: The veteran executive ran the App Store and Apple Events. The App Store portion alone is no joke. It generates an estimated $30 billion a year and can be very challenging to manage. Apple’s app marketplace is loved by many consumers, but often criticized by developers and subjected to increasingly onerous regulations. It was a busy, all-encompassing gig and nowhere near a semiretirement.
[…]
But there’s a bit more to the story, I’m told. Ternus and services chief Eddy Cue want to make even more money from the App Store and figure out ways to raise margins and squeeze additional recurring revenue from the platform. Schiller, on the other hand, seems to believe that such moves will only further irk developers and governments. While there was no internal blowup or anything like that, it’s something he wanted no part of.
“Product guy” dreams about margins, forgets that people buy Apple hardware because of the software.
Apple admitted during its July earnings call that regulatory changes have started to weigh on its Services growth. Apple reported services revenue of $30.7 billion for the June quarter, a record for the period but short of the $31.4 billion that analysts expected.
iPhone 18 launch, Apple Park, iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone Ultra, foldable iPhone, Apple event, September event, John Ternus, Steve Jobs Theater, iOS 27, iPhone camera, variable aperture, liquid metal hinge, foldable display, hands-on event, product launch, Cupertino, smartphone news
The iPhone 18 launch is turning Apple Park into more than a stage for Wednesday’s presentation. The September 9 Apple event already carries unusual expectations around a possible foldable iPhone, a new generation of Pro cameras, and John Ternus’ first major product introduction as CEO. Reports of additional event staff now suggest that the experience awaiting invited media could be larger and more demanding than a conventional iPhone demonstration.
The official event announcement confirms that “Surprise and shine” begins September 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with worldwide streaming through apple.com, Apple TV, and YouTube. The invited audience will attend from Apple Park, but the increased activity surrounding the event does not necessarily mean that the company will abandon its carefully produced video format for a completely live keynote.
A polished presentation can explain specifications, introduce software, and display new hardware from perfect angles. It cannot reproduce the first sensation of opening a foldable screen, examining a crease under direct light, testing a mechanical hinge, or watching a camera respond as the lighting changes. Those moments happen after the main presentation, inside the hands-on areas where early opinions begin to form.
Apple Park Scales Up for the iPhone 18 Launch
The first indication of a larger operation arrived through an internal program for US retail employees. According to reporting distributed by Bloomberg, store employees were invited to enter a lottery for positions supporting the in-person unveiling.
Selected employees were expected to organize lines, check in guests, provide directions, welcome attendees, and assist security teams. Employees who participated in WWDC 2026 or the iPhone 17 event were reportedly excluded, allowing another group of retail workers to experience the launch.
The existence of the lottery does not prove that the keynote itself will return to a traditional live-stage presentation. Apple has previously recruited retail employees to support events, and the company has not disclosed how many people were selected this year.
It does confirm that the Apple Park gathering requires a substantial customer-facing operation beyond the team producing the presentation. Retail employees already know how to direct visitors, explain products without overwhelming them, manage queues, and identify when someone needs technical help.
Those skills become particularly useful during an event attended by journalists, photographers, analysts, creators, and international guests, all trying to reach the same devices within a short period. Additional staff can prevent the hands-on area from becoming a crowded ring around a few demonstration tables.
The iPhone 18 launch may also require more movement between specialized spaces. A conventional phone can be displayed in rows according to color or size. A foldable model needs room for repeated opening and closing, interface demonstrations, durability questions, and comparisons between its exterior and interior screens. Camera testing requires a different environment again.
Apple Park does not need to undergo a permanent architectural transformation for that expansion. Modular tables, managed lighting, guided demonstrations, additional charging equipment, and more employees can significantly enlarge the experience around Steve Jobs Theater for a single afternoon.
Image Credit: AppleMagazine
A Foldable iPhone Needs a Different Kind of Demo
The rumored iPhone Ultra is likely to attract the longest lines if it appears on Wednesday. It would represent the first substantially new iPhone form factor since the current full-screen design became established, and its appeal cannot be communicated through processor charts alone.
Visitors will want to know how the hinge feels at different angles, whether the device stays open when partially folded, how much pressure is required to close it, and whether both sides align evenly. They will inspect the central folding area under bright light and move a finger across the display to determine whether the crease is visible, noticeable by touch, or effectively hidden during normal use.
Display stress remains one of the most difficult engineering problems in the foldable category. TrendForce’s analysis of foldable display technology explains that crease reduction depends on controlling stress across the panel’s multilayer structure. Ultra-thin glass, optically clear adhesive, support plates, and the position of the display’s neutral layer can all influence how the screen behaves after repeated folding.
Reports have associated the iPhone Ultra with a liquid-metal hinge and a virtually creaseless internal display, but neither detail has been announced. Even if the production device resembles those descriptions, “virtually creaseless” will remain a subjective claim until people can examine the screen from different angles and under different lighting conditions.
Apple will consequently need demonstration units that are fully accessible rather than fixed behind stands. A journalist should be able to fold the device repeatedly, rotate the internal display, type with the phone partially open, and watch iOS 27 transfer an activity between the exterior and interior screens.
Those interface transitions could be as revealing as the physical hardware. A larger display gains value when an app can reveal another column, create a more capable workspace, or reposition controls without simply enlarging the standard iPhone interface.
Demonstrators may need to direct visitors toward examples that reveal those differences within the limited time available. Mail, Maps, Photos, Safari, video calling, document editing, and drag-and-drop workflows could communicate the benefit of the larger display faster than a static home screen.
The hands-on area must also answer durability questions without pretending that a few minutes can replace months of ownership. Hinge resistance, protection around the folding axis, weight distribution, screen reflections, and off-center visibility can be judged immediately. Long-term wear, dust resistance, and thousands of folding cycles cannot.
Camera Testing Could Become Part of the Event
The Pro camera system is expected to receive one of the lineup’s most technical hardware changes. Previous iPhone 18 Pro camera reporting has centered on a mechanical or variable aperture, which could physically alter the amount of light passing through the main lens.
A conventional fixed-aperture smartphone camera manages exposure through shutter speed, sensor sensitivity, computational processing, and other electronic controls. A mechanical aperture can change the physical opening through which light reaches the sensor. Depending on its design, that could provide additional control over exposure, depth of field, highlights, and the appearance of subjects at different distances.
Current pre-event iPhone 18 expectations indicate that the feature may be exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro Max, although its final availability will remain uncertain until the presentation.
A normal demonstration table would reveal little about such a camera system. Effective testing requires contrast, motion, faces, reflections, foreground objects, and meaningful changes in brightness.
Apple has previously used prepared scenes to demonstrate cameras, making controlled lighting stations a reasonable possibility for the iPhone 18 launch. No dependable report has confirmed that a dedicated photography pavilion or a particular new installation has been constructed for Wednesday, however.
A useful setup would allow creators to move between bright and dim areas while watching the aperture respond. A foreground object positioned near a person could demonstrate changes in depth of field. Directional lights could reveal highlight handling, while a darker scene could test whether the physical aperture works smoothly with computational photography.
Video creates another challenge. Any aperture adjustment during recording must appear gradual rather than causing sudden jumps in exposure or background separation. If manual control is available, photographers will immediately look for the number of supported aperture positions and whether a chosen setting can be locked before recording.
These demonstrations would offer the in-person audience something that cannot be reproduced during the stream. The presentation can display carefully selected photographs and video clips, but activity around the camera stations will reveal how quickly professionals understand the controls and whether the results remain convincing outside a prepared promotional sequence.
John Ternus Faces His First Apple Park Test
Wednesday’s event will be John Ternus’ first major product launch as CEO. That creates an unusual balance between continuity and change. The campus, production team, executives, and controlled demonstrations remain familiar, while the person responsible for the final message has changed.
Ternus does not need to replace every established event practice during his first days in the role. A larger in-person component would let him place more attention on direct product experience without sacrificing the timing and visual precision of a prerecorded presentation.
A live welcome, appearances around the campus, and extended media access after the video could establish his presence without forcing the event into an entirely different format. His background in hardware engineering also makes this a suitable launch for more detailed demonstrations, particularly if the lineup includes a new hinge, display construction, or mechanical camera component.
The hardware surrounding the iPhone 18 launch will test how well the company explains unfamiliar decisions. A foldable iPhone must justify its size, construction, software behavior, and likely premium price within minutes. The Pro camera must demonstrate an advantage that remains visible after computational processing. Accessories must protect new shapes without making them unpleasant to hold.
Retail employees working at Apple Park can observe those reactions closely. They will hear which controls require an explanation, which accessories create hesitation, and which claims prompt the same questions repeatedly. That experience can return to stores before customers begin arriving for demonstrations of their own.
The Hands-On Area Becomes the Real Examination
Apple controls every frame of its presentation video, but it cannot control every observation made after the screens turn off. A foldable display will be photographed from difficult angles. Its hinge will be opened hundreds of times. Camera samples will be compared before visitors have left Apple Park. Any awkward transition, reflection, or confusing control will circulate within minutes.
This makes the in-person operation more demanding than a larger guest list might suggest. Every demonstration unit must remain charged, connected, clean, updated, and ready for the next visitor. Foldable devices may require closer inspection between sessions, while camera areas need staff who understand both the feature and the conditions created to demonstrate it.
The employees around those spaces should provide enough guidance to help visitors locate unfamiliar features without turning every interaction into another scripted presentation. Excessive control makes a demonstration feel artificial; too little creates confusion and crowded tables.
Apple Park therefore becomes a second launch platform after the worldwide stream. The video introduces the products, while the hands-on area exposes them to fingers, lenses, questions, and immediate judgment. By Wednesday afternoon, the questions repeated most frequently around those demonstration tables may offer the first indication of how easily the iPhone 18 lineup can explain itself.
John Ternus has entered one of the most visible positions in global business without trying to turn his first days into a personal media event. The new CEO arrived with a remarkably discreet public profile, a newly opened social presence and decades of work completed mostly behind Apple’s products.
His X account, @johnternus, appeared publicly on September 1, the day he officially succeeded Tim Cook. Its biography contained only the company logo and his new title. The first post was even shorter: “hello.”
The simplicity felt consistent with an executive who has spent most of his career explaining materials, engineering decisions and manufacturing improvements rather than building a public personality. It also created a sharp contrast with the scale of the position he now occupies.
Ternus can remain personally reserved, but the CEO role will repeatedly place him before customers, employees, investors, governments and developers. His first social post may have been quiet. The responsibilities arriving behind it are anything but.
John Ternus Arrives Without a Personal Media Machine
Ternus did not maintain a prominent public social account during his years leading hardware engineering. Most customers encountered him through carefully produced product presentations, occasional interviews or appearances focused on a particular device.
Even within those settings, his style remained technical and controlled. He usually spoke about engineering choices, durability, materials, performance and the work required to turn a design into a product that could be manufactured at enormous scale.
His new X account does not immediately change that character. Opening a channel is different from revealing a private life or becoming a daily commentator. The minimal introduction suggests a place for official communication rather than an invitation into every passing thought.
That would follow an established pattern for senior leadership. Tim Cook used his public account to acknowledge product launches, employees, social causes, environmental initiatives, community visits and major events. His posts rarely became extended personal debates.
Ternus may adopt a similar rhythm, although the account is too new to define its purpose. One word and a short biography cannot tell us how frequently he will post, which subjects he will address or whether he will write directly during moments of controversy.
The restrained opening still served one practical purpose. It established an authenticated public identity before unofficial profiles, impersonators and parody accounts could occupy the space around a newly appointed CEO.
John Ternus | Image Credit: Apple Inc.
A Career Built Behind the Hardware
The limited public profile should not be mistaken for limited influence inside the company.
Ternus joined the product design team in 2001 and became a vice president of hardware engineering in 2013. He entered the executive team as senior vice president in 2021, eventually overseeing engineering work across iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods and Apple Watch.
His official biography credits him with an instrumental role in the introduction of iPad and AirPods, along with work across multiple generations of the company’s largest product lines. It also connects his leadership to improvements in reliability, durability, materials, repairability and environmental performance.
This background gives Ternus a different starting point from a CEO recruited principally through finance, sales, software or public policy. He arrives from the part of the organization responsible for making difficult designs function consistently outside a laboratory.
Hardware engineering at this scale reaches far beyond choosing a processor or shaping an enclosure. It requires coordinating displays, batteries, cameras, radios, thermal systems, structural materials, manufacturing equipment, repair procedures and supplier capacity. A small change can affect production across millions of units.
That experience may explain part of his measured communication style. Engineering organizations reward details that survive testing. Public attention often rewards immediate confidence. Ternus has spent his career in an environment where confidence eventually meets a drop test, production line or repair bench.
His public appearances have often carried the same discipline. He tends to explain what a product team accomplished without placing himself at the center of the accomplishment.
The CEO Role Changes the Audience
Leading hardware engineering allowed Ternus to speak after a product decision had passed through years of development. As CEO, he will also need to speak while difficult questions remain unresolved.
Investors will expect him to explain spending, growth and long-term priorities. Governments will want answers about manufacturing, competition, privacy and platform control. Employees will look for direction as artificial intelligence, robotics, home technology, augmented reality and satellite communications create new opportunities across the company.
Customers will judge him through products, but they will also hear his response when a launch disappoints, a service fails or a policy creates frustration.
This is where a discreet profile can become either an advantage or a limitation.
A CEO who does not comment constantly preserves the weight of the moments when he chooses to speak. Fewer posts also reduce the chance that a hurried reaction becomes the story instead of the company’s work.
Silence becomes harder to maintain when people expect reassurance. Product defects, security incidents, employee concerns and political disputes can create situations in which a carefully prepared statement feels too distant. Ternus will have to decide when restraint protects the company and when it begins to look like avoidance.
Cook will remain involved as executive chairman and is expected to assist with areas including engagement with policymakers. That arrangement gives Ternus continuity during the transition without removing the need to develop his own public authority.
The distinction between their roles will become more visible with time. Cook can offer experience and institutional relationships, but employees and customers need to recognize which priorities belong to the new CEO.
A More Technical Public Voice Could Work
Ternus does not need to imitate Steve Jobs’ stage presence or Cook’s diplomatic style. A convincing public identity can grow from the expertise that brought him to the position.
The most natural version would be an engineering-minded CEO who explains trade-offs without turning every decision into a slogan. Product design is full of compromises involving battery life, weight, cost, durability, repairability and production capacity. Carefully explaining some of those decisions could make corporate communication more informative.
His 2024 commencement appearance at Penn Engineering offered a rare view outside a product presentation. Ternus returned to the university where he earned his mechanical engineering degree and addressed students as an experienced engineer rather than a celebrity executive.
That type of setting allows more personality to appear without requiring constant social posting. Longer interviews, engineering discussions, employee conversations and educational appearances may suit him better than trying to manufacture spontaneity several times a day.
A restrained profile could also reinforce collaboration. The products reaching customers are built by large teams, and Ternus has generally presented himself as a representative of that work. Maintaining that tone as CEO would keep attention on the organization rather than turning every announcement into a personal performance.
The difficulty will be preserving technical depth while discussing areas beyond hardware. Services, entertainment, artificial intelligence, software platforms and international policy cannot always be explained through materials and manufacturing. The CEO must connect them into one recognizable direction.
His First Major Appearances Will Define the Account
The opening “hello” gives Ternus room to decide how visible he wants to become.
Upcoming product events will offer an early test. A social account can distribute announcements and photographs, but the stage will reveal more: which subjects he chooses to introduce, how much technical detail he includes and whether he remains present throughout the presentation or delegates most of it to other executives.
Earnings calls will create a different test. Product videos are rehearsed around finished work; financial discussions require direct answers about demand, margins, investment and risks. His language in those conversations will begin shaping how investors understand the new administration.
Internal communication may prove equally influential even when the public sees only fragments. Employees will listen for signals about decision-making speed, tolerance for experimentation and the relationship between engineering ambition and commercial discipline.
The X account can support that work, but it cannot substitute for it. A polished stream of product announcements would tell customers what has shipped. Occasional direct messages during difficult moments would reveal more about how Ternus intends to lead.
For now, the empty space around his first post is part of the story. The next useful signal may not be how often John Ternus speaks, but which moment persuades this notably private engineer that the CEO should speak in his own voice.
Apple is preparing its first major showcase under new Chief Executive Officer John Ternus, and the September 9th “Surprise and Shine” event is expected to mark more than another annual iPhone refresh. According to Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman, the keynote will introduce the latest iPhones and Apple Watches — and kick off what he describes as the company’s biggest run of new devices in years.
For much of the past decade and a half, Apple has spent more energy refining existing lines and expanding services than inventing new categories. Gurman’s reporting frames next week as the start of a different stretch: new form factors and entirely new product areas arriving across 2026, 2027 and beyond, with Ternus taking the stage as the public face of that shift.
The centerpiece is expected to be Apple’s first foldable iPhone, widely rumored to carry an Ultra-style name. Reporting tied to Gurman and other briefings describes a book-style device rather than a clamshell: a cover display around 5.5 inches and an inner screen near 7.8 inches, closer to an iPad mini when opened. The hinge and pocketability have reportedly impressed people who have handled prototypes. Trade-offs are also part of the story — a two-lens rear camera without a dedicated telephoto, and Touch ID on the side button instead of a conventional Face ID system because of how thin the folded body is. Pricing is expected to start above $2,000.
Alongside the foldable, Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The standard iPhone 18, a cheaper 18e model and a follow-on iPhone Air are widely expected to wait until 2027. Memory and component costs have already pushed rivals higher; Gurman has indicated Apple is likely to raise Pro pricing as well, with the 18 Pro discussed in the neighborhood of $1,199 before taxes and configurations. Camera upgrades, including talk of a variable-aperture main lens, are among the features watchers will look for on the conventional Pros.
New watches are also on the agenda. The Apple Watch Series 12 is expected to be a relatively modest update, while the Apple Watch Ultra 4 is rumored to take a larger design step. AirPods 5 could appear as well, though camera-equipped AirPods and several home products sit further out on the roadmap Gurman has sketched in recent months.
That longer map is the other half of the Sept. 9 story. Gurman has written that Ternus inherits a pipeline far larger than the handful of new categories launched during Tim Cook’s tenure. A touch-screen MacBook is among the follow-on products flagged in the Bloomberg piece’s own framing. Smart-home displays, more ambitious wearables and other experiments have been discussed as 2027–2028 possibilities, even as some larger foldable tablet or Mac concepts have been reported as delayed or canceled.
MacDailyNews Take: The event is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 10 a.m. Pacific at Apple Park, livestreamed on Apple’s site, the Apple TV app, and YouTube. Pre-orders for the new iPhones could follow within a day or two if Apple sticks to its usual cadence, though early foldable supply may be tight. Whether “Surprise and Shine” delivers a true surprise or simply the first official look at products the rumor mill has already mapped in detail, Ternus’s debut as CEO will be judged on whether Apple can turn a foldable iPhone and a more active product calendar into the kind of growth it has not seen from hardware in years.
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takes the stage (on video; missed opportunity; better would’ve been live on-stage)
