The iPhone Duo: Ternus’s First Masterpiece?

We may earn compensation from reviewed products. Learn about our editorial policies.

Yesterday’s Apple event felt different. As it should have been – this was the first public Apple event guided by the company’s new CEO, John Ternus.

Ternus isn’t new to Apple. He’s been there since 2001 and has worked on pretty much every major product release – most of which occupy the lives of millions of people across the globe – since then. But he is new to the role of CEO – the baton for which was passed to him by Tim Cook earlier this month.

The structure of the event was no different. For those in attendance at Apple Park, there was a brief intro from Ternus himself on the stage at the Steve Jobs Theatre, followed by a polished marketing film that the rest of us got to see.

There was just something about the pacing and energy behind that film that felt like Apple was under new leadership. Ternus himself spent the opening section walking constantly towards the camera, exuding confidence and an I-could-go-for-a-beer-with-this-guy demeanour.

Immediately, he appeared to dispel rumours about a potential HomePod-with-a-screen device. The ‘intelligent personal hub’, is the iPhone, as far as John is concerned. And he’s the boss now, so, well, we’re probably not getting a HomePod of that kind, after all.

What we are getting is new flagship iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches. Which sounds rather familiar, but this event was anything but.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

As expected, Apple has split its iPhone release schedule. September is, for now at least, all about the flagships. It is rumoured that the regular iPhone 18, the iPhone 18e, and a potential iPhone Air refresh will move to the Spring.

I’m a big fan of that. It makes my life a little easier, selfishly, but it also hopefully signals an end to annual updates for Apple’s standard iPhone. Or maybe not – we’ll see.

The initial stars of yesterday’s show were the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, returning in their familiar sizes, albeit with new colours, a new chip, bolstered camera gear, and a sizeable jump in battery performance. Oh, and a smaller Dynamic Island.

The A20 Pro is Apple’s latest mobile silicon, and it’s the first 2nm chip to be placed inside an iPhone. It’s considerably quicker across the board – particularly with AI stuff (no surprise there) thanks to the presence of two neural engines (another first).

That new chip and an improved vapour chamber have contributed to a significant increase in battery performance. The iPhone 18 Pro gets the same battery life as the outgoing 17 Pro Max, and the 18 Pro Max jumps from 39 to 45 hours of video playback. And still no mention of silicon kryptonite.

Camera-wise, the big news is a variable aperture on the main camera, served by proper, moving blades. It’s a first for the iPhone and quite a rarity these days in the smartphone world. As a camera guy, it’s a very welcome addition.

It’s a solid, iterative update. And if you’re coming from an iPhone 16 or earlier, you’re going to be mightily happy. iPhone 17 Pro users need not upgrade – mainly because there’s no Cosmic Orange any more (for that has been replaced by an admittedly handsome Burgundy).

Wondering how the iPhone 17 Pro Max stacked up before this new generation? Check out our iPhone 17 Pro Max review for more.

AirPods 5

I have weird ears. At least, I have one weird ear. It’s a nightmare, because it means I can’t truly enjoy the regular AirPods – the left one always falls out, you see.

Regardless, I never hesitate to recommend them, often above the more expensive AirPods Pro, because they offer so much for a relatively low investment.

Apple’s entry-level earbuds have just got even betterer, thanks to the introduction of the AirPods 5. I think they have the same design (boo for me), but Apple has seen fit to add active noise cancelling (ANC) to the cheapest pair, which weigh in at $129/£119. That’s the same price as the outgoing version, which didn’t have ANC. And it means all AirPods now have ANC.

There’s a slightly more expensive pair available ($149/£139) that adds a charging case and the ability to swipe the earbud stems to change volume.

Whichever pair you choose, the regular AirPods remain the best value on the market. By quite a distance.

I’m just waiting with bated breath for the AirPods Pro 4. They can’t be far away, can they, Apple? Surely!

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

For the first time in a long time, I’m tempted far more by the regular Apple Watch than I am by the Ultra. The latter, this year, is very much an iterative upgrade which focuses more on health features and sensor tech, which both watches share.

Also, the Apple Watch Series 12 sees the return of the ceramic white option. Which I immediately ordered, obviously.

Like every other tech brand, Apple is going all-in on proactive health monitoring. The new Apple Watches read your heart rate as often as every five seconds and, according to Apple’s own study, result in the most accurate heart rate monitoring in a wearable. Make of that what you will.

There’s also a new daily Readiness score, which means the Apple Watch finally catches up with the likes of Whoop, Samsung, and the ninety billion smart rings out there.

What was far more interesting to me was the inclusion of something called Audio Intelligence, which gives the Apple Watch the ability to listen in on meetings and conversations, and give you the option to review what was said. For instance, if you missed the waiter’s reel-off of the wine list, you can go back 15 seconds on your Apple Watch and see a transcript. Siri Recap does something similar, but can be used for entire meetings, sending the resulting ‘ambient notes’ into the Siri app.

And, yes, you have full control over when the Apple Watch records, and no, those recordings aren’t sent anywhere (they’re kept within a secure part of the W1 chip and eventually deleted entirely).

Apple’s rivals have been pushing health-focused wearables hard this year too. See how they compare in our Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 hands-on.

If you’ve read this far, I admire your patience.

Let’s get to the big one.

iPhone Duo

In what was easily the tech industry’s worst-kept secret, Apple has finally launched a foldable version of the iPhone. It’s not called the iPhone Fold. Nor is it called the iPhone Ultra (that really wouldn’t have made sense, in hindsight).

It’s called the iPhone Duo. And it looks bloody lovely.

I was a little nervous, I won’t lie. The likes of Samsung, Honor, and OPPO have been perfecting foldable phone designs for many years. Would Apple step in late with their own version that didn’t benefit from those many years of testing and customer feedback?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m yet to touch the iPhone Duo, and it’s yet to make its way out into the big wide world. But Apple does seem to have nailed what it could so easily have stumbled on.

It’s passport-sized. Because that’s the right form factor for a foldable, as Samsung demonstrated this year with the launch of the utterly brilliant Z Fold8.

The iPhone Duo also has what looks to be one of the best examples of an internal foldable display. The crease, if you’re bothered by such a thing, seems to be near non-existent, and the entire panel is covered with a nano texture coating which removes glare and leaves behind a lovely matte finish.

The camera system is predictably limited when it comes to optical focal lengths (there are none beyond 1x), but it does at least have a wide angle and Apple’s superb 48MP main sensor. They’ve even managed to hide the internal FaceTime camera beneath the screen (a first for the iPhone and, I’d guess, something we’ll see in future regular iPhones).

It’s also the thinnest iPhone Apple has ever made (yes, thinner than the iPhone Air) when open. And when you open and close it, there’s a mesmerising animation which is nigh-on impossible to explain in words. You need to see it.

But what gets me the most excited about the iPhone Duo is what they’ve done to iOS. It’s clearly iOS, and it isn’t iPadOS, but it’s also something else entirely. Most of the controls, the Dock, and other screen elements dynamically shift to make the best use of both screens. You can multitask (just two apps at once, I think, which is fine), use it in ‘tent’ mode, and turn it into a quasi-laptop by half-opening it.

It isn’t just a foldable iPhone running the same version of iOS as the rest of the lineup. Nor is it a foldable iPad mini. Which means it sits entirely in its own class and is unlikely to eat any of its older siblings for breakfast.

Certainly, starting at £2,000, it won’t. But even the price is a nice surprise; it could have been a lot more expensive in 2026.

I reserve full judgement until I get the iPhone Duo in my hands, but boy, is it an exciting time to be a tech reviewer.

Great start, John!