lukman-hakim
In his second week leading Apple following the departure of longtime chief executive Tim Cook, John Ternus took the stage on Wednesday to introduce the company's most significant smartphone redesign in nearly twenty years: a book-style folding device named the iPhone Duo. The unveiling marks Apple's long-awaited entrance into the flexible display market and represents a dramatic departure from the conventional form factor that has defined the product line since 2007.
The iPhone Duo is engineered to function as a versatile hybrid, operating as a wider standard smartphone when closed and unfolding into a compact display resembling a small iPad. Ternus, who noted that the concept drew direct inspiration from the iPad, described the folding functionality as intuitive and fluid. The new design comes after several years of internal research and engineering development at Apple's hardware laboratories.
The newly revealed handset stands as both the largest and most expensive iPhone ever brought to market. In the United States, pricing starts at $1,999 (£1,475) and reaches up to $3,200 for higher-tier models, while the base price in the United Kingdom is set at £1,999. Historically, base models of the latest flagship iPhones began at $900 (£664), underscoring the steep premium attached to the new folding technology.
Ternus brings extensive technical familiarity to the product rollout, having served for years as a top leader in Apple's hardware engineering division before being appointed as Cook's successor earlier this year. His deep personal involvement in developing the foldable handset highlights the strategic alignment behind his transition to the chief executive role.
Technology analysts viewed the timing of Ternus’s leadership transition as a deliberate corporate move coordinated with this major product milestone. Ben Wood, chief analyst at research firm FDM CCS Insight, remarked that Ternus's promotion was carefully scheduled to coincide with one of the most consequential iPhone launches in years, emphasizing that strategic moves at Apple do not happen by accident.
The keynote also provided an early look at how Ternus will represent the company publicly. Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies who attended the Wednesday event, noted that the heavy presentation focus placed on the new chief executive made it appear as though Ternus himself was being presented as a marquee product alongside the hardware.
Addressing the audience, Ternus sought to differentiate the Duo from existing folding smartphones produced by rivals such as Samsung and Huawei. He criticized competing devices on the market for feeling like two separate phones attached together, which he argued makes the expanded screen experience feel constrained. In contrast, Ternus framed the Duo as the culmination of breakthrough innovations aimed at redefining foldable mobile computing.
The debut of a completely overhauled form factor directly confronts ongoing industry criticism that Apple has struggled to produce revolutionary innovations or major product milestones in the years following the first iPhone release in 2007. While Apple has generated enormous profits, critics have often argued that recent hardware cycles have focused primarily on incremental refinements.
However, industry experts question whether the general public will embrace such an expensive device. Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester, cautioned that the folding device could risk turning into an over-priced novelty within the broader product lineup—providing prestige and status to owners without generating meaningful financial growth for the company.
Chatterjee suggested that the Duo could follow the trajectory of Apple's Vision Pro headset, a $3,699 (£2,729) spatial computing device that struggled to find mainstream consumer traction. Alternatively, he pointed out that the phone might replicate the sustainable success of the Apple Watch, which, although not as ubiquitous as the standard iPhone, consistently attracts millions of buyers each year.
Alongside the folding model, Apple introduced its next generation of standard form-factor flagships to maintain its broader retail reach. The company unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which carry US starting price tags of $1,199 (£855) and $1,299 (£959), respectively.
Widespread adoption of the foldable model faces structural market hurdles, as flexible smartphones currently account for only 2% of the overall global smartphone market. According to projections from FDM CCS Insight, foldables are expected to capture only 4% of total market sales over the next decade, even with Apple entering the segment. Additionally, Milanesi observed that consumers face a noticeable software adjustment and learning curve when shifting away from traditional smartphone interfaces.
The commercial reception of the Duo remains critical for Apple’s broader business health, as the iPhone ecosystem continues to generate more than half of the tech giant's annual revenue. In recent quarters, Apple has highlighted sustained consumer demand, noting that the preceding generation of the device achieved one of the most successful product launches in company history.
Beyond hardware, the presentation served as the official debut for a revamped intelligence platform called Siri AI. Launching across the iPhone 18 lineup, the enhanced voice and chat assistant can navigate across on-device applications, scanning emails and messages to retrieve relevant information, answer queries, and execute complex actions on behalf of the user.
Apple is also expanding these artificial intelligence tools to its wearable product line. The upcoming Apple Watch will include features powered by Siri AI, such as the option for users to record and automatically transcribe spoken conversations directly on the device.
Addressing potential privacy and data security concerns, Ternus described the AI-enabled iPhone as an "intelligent personal hub" that necessarily interacts with intimate details of daily life. He stated that user information would be protected through on-device computation and private cloud architecture, drawing a sharp contrast with competing tech firms that collect and store user data on remote databases.
Comments (0)