Apple's September product launch event, held under the theme "Awe Dropping," was one of the company's most packed, momentum-filled events in recent memory.
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Rather than leaving the finer details buried in spec sheets or footnotes, Apple laid out a lot of them directly during the keynote, both for its headline reveal and for every device it announced on September 9, 2026.
The "awe" part of the theme came in the form of the new iPhone Duo, while the "dropping" seemed to reference the new colors added to the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. Alongside those, the company announced two new Apple Watches, and an update to the standard AirPods (not the Pro line).
Apple's Biggest Announcements at the September Event
Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, starting at $1,999, with a 7.6-inch inner display. Preorders open October 16, with availability starting October 23.
The company also announced the iPhone 18 Pro, starting at $1,199, featuring a main camera with a variable aperture.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299, and comes with the biggest battery life improvement in iPhone history, according to Apple. Preorders for both models open September 12, ahead of sales starting September 18.
The announcements also included the Apple Watch Series 12, starting at $399, with a new health-sensing system, and the Apple Watch Ultra 4, starting at $799, with battery life of up to 50 hours. Both watches are now available for preorder, with availability starting September 18.
The AirPods 5 start at $129, rising to $149 for the version with a wireless charging case, and now include active noise cancellation. They arrive in stores September 18.
iPhone Duo: Apple's First Foldable
Apple finally has a foldable iPhone in its lineup, and it's called the iPhone Duo. The phone has a design reminiscent of the Galaxy Z Fold 8, with a titanium frame, a Ceramic Shield back, and a second-generation Ceramic Shield front, plus an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
When unfolded, it measures 5.2mm thick, making it the thinnest iPhone Apple has ever made in that state, compared to 5.6mm for the iPhone Air.
When closed, the phone has a 5.4-inch outer display, roughly the size of a passport. When opened, it reveals a 7.6-inch inner display resembling an iPad screen, better suited for watching horizontal content. Both displays support the Apple Pencil with a USB-C port.
Both screens use Super Retina XDR technology with ProMotion at a 120Hz refresh rate and LTPO technology, along with support for an always-on display. The inner display also gets a nanotexture coating to reduce glare.
The iPhone Duo runs on the A20 Pro chip, built on a 2-nanometer process, alongside a dedicated vapor chamber cooling system. Apple says this combination delivers up to 40% better sustained performance compared to the A19 Pro chip (built on 3-nanometer), along with improved power efficiency.
Wireless video playback lasts up to 26 hours, and the phone supports MagSafe magnetic charging. It runs iOS 27, with support for true multitasking via split-screen.
On the camera front, the phone features a 48-megapixel Fusion main sensor with 2x optical-quality zoom, alongside a 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera matching the one found on the iPhone 18 Pro.
The phone also includes a front-facing camera hidden beneath the inner display. Thanks to its foldable design, Apple added a set of new photography features, including a live preview on the outer display, animations to grab children's attention while shooting, and a split-screen FaceTime mode.
The iPhone Duo is available exclusively in an eSIM-only version, with the 256GB model starting at $1,999 in the U.S. Preorders open October 16, with sales starting October 23. It comes in "Midnight Sky" and "Starlight White" colors.
iPhone 18 Pro: A Faster Chip and Bigger Batteries
The iPhone 18 Pro keeps the overall design of the iPhone 17 Pro, including the large camera plateau on the back housing three cameras, a chassis combining glass and aluminum, and symmetrical bezels around the display.
One new addition is a maroon color option, alongside ice, silver, and black.
The Dynamic Island has become smaller, but can now display three live activities instead of two, allowing more information to be shown at once. Screen resolution, peak brightness, and maximum refresh rate remain unchanged.
The iPhone 18 Pro also runs on the A20 Pro chip, built on a 2-nanometer process, alongside a redesigned vapor chamber cooling system three times larger than the one used in last year's model, helping the phone maintain high performance levels during intensive use like gaming and video editing.
The phone runs iOS 27, which brings improvements to Apple Intelligence features and the new AI-powered Siri experience, still in beta, alongside continued development of the "Liquid Glass" visual design language. The system also introduces a feature allowing one phone number to be used across two paired iPhones.
A Variable Aperture for the First Time
One of the biggest changes is the main camera's variable aperture, a first for iPhone.
The 48-megapixel Fusion main camera uses six laser-cut blades to physically adjust the aperture, shifting between f/1.48 in low light and f/4 for sharper focus.
Pro controls also let users manually adjust aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, and view a live light histogram directly within the Camera app.
Apple also introduced a feature called Reference Photo, a security system designed to help combat AI-manipulated images. The main camera sensor can cryptographically sign the metadata it captures, helping verify whether an image is authentic, AI-generated, or AI-edited.
Longer Battery Life and Faster Charging
The iPhone 18 Pro can play video for up to 34 hours, up from 31 previously, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max reaches up to 43 hours, up from 37 in the previous generation.
Apple described this as the biggest battery life jump between two iPhone generations. The iPhone 18 Pro can charge up to 50% in about 15 minutes using a cable and a 60W charger, or in 30 minutes wirelessly using a 35W adapter.
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for 256GB, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299 for the same capacity, a $100 increase over last year's models. Preorders open September 12, with sales starting September 18.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4: A Bigger Focus on Health
Both new watch lines share a redesigned health-sensing system. Paired with the new S11 chip, Apple says the system delivers the most accurate heart rate tracking among wearables.
Larger optical sensors now measure heart rate every five seconds, while heart rate variability measurements now happen up to 24 times more frequently than before.
This measurement is split into two readings, one tracking daily stress and recovery, and another providing long-term indicators tied to cardiovascular health.
The watches use this data to power a new feature called Vitality, giving users a daily score from zero to 10, a concept already used by devices like Whoop and Oura.
The Health app on iPhone also gets new updates, including a section called Longevity arriving later this year, which includes an estimate of "health age."
The service also includes the ability to book blood tests covering around 50 biomarkers for $119, through roughly 2,000 Quest Diagnostics locations.
Audio Intelligence on Apple Watch
The S11 chip also introduces a feature Apple calls Audio Intelligence, which includes "Instant Replay," letting users replay the last 15 seconds of a conversation, alongside Siri-generated automatic conversation summaries, and customized audio alerts for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399, with battery life of up to 24 hours in typical daily use.
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799, with battery life reaching up to 50 hours in normal use, or 45 hours of continuous GPS tracking in extended workout mode. Both watches are now available for preorder.
AirPods 5: Better Noise Cancellation
The new open-design AirPods 5 deliver 50% better noise cancellation compared to the AirPods 4, thanks to a new multi-port acoustic architecture and a new generation of adaptive audio tuning technology.
Transparency mode has also become more natural, with the addition of an Adaptive Audio mode that automatically switches between noise cancellation and transparency based on the user's surrounding environment, a feature already found in the AirPods Pro 3.
The earbuds also offer Personalized Spatial Audio that adapts to different ear shapes, alongside hands-free AI-powered Siri integration.
Live Translation, initially exclusive to the AirPods Pro, is now available across the entire lineup.
Battery life reaches up to five hours of audio playback with active noise cancellation on per charge, an hour more than the AirPods 4 with the same feature enabled, while total battery life with the charging case reaches 22 hours.
The standard AirPods 5 are priced at $129, while the version with a wireless charging case costs $149. The pricier version adds a pressure sensor allowing users to swipe on the stem to control volume.
Both versions are now available for preorder, arriving in stores on September 18, 2026.
Resource: Al-Ghad.
