The new foldable iPhone Duo is displayed during an Apple event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on September 9, 2026. (AFP Photo)
Apple has unveiled its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, kicking off the era of new CEO John Ternus.
The foldable is a crucial test for Apple, which has not launched a breakout hit since the AirPods 10 years ago.
Ternus took over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1.
The Duo, roughly shaped like a passport when folded, essentially combines the portability of a smartphone with the larger display of a tablet, offering users a bigger screen without carrying a tablet-sized device.
It is priced starting at $1,999, slightly more than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8.
Apple also announced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, priced at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively, or $100 more than the iPhone 17 lineup at launch last year.
Chinese competitors released their latest foldable products ahead of the Duo's unveiling.
On Sept. 7, Huawei unveiled its three-panel Mate XT 2, starting at 19,999 yuan ($2,800), and Xiaomi unveiled its 18 Fold, starting at 10,999 yuan ($1,540).
Samsung launched the industry's first mainstream foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, in 2019.
Foldable smartphones make up a tiny fraction of the market, at less than 2 percent of global shipments, but Apple is expected to capture about a third of demand with its entry, according to research firm IDC.
"Apple's foldable iPhone is very likely to shift the competitive dynamics both in China and global markets," IDC research associate Kiranjeet Kaur told AFP.
The foldable iPhone's release comes as demand for powerful chips amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has created a supply chain crunch, pushing prices higher across industries.
As a result, smartphone shipments will decline by more than 16 percent this year while the average cost jumps more than 27 percent, according to IDC.
