Apple Set to Launch $2,000 Foldable iPhone
Apple Set to Launch $2,000 Foldable iPhone
The News
This is a preview. Apple's event is Wednesday and nothing below has been announced yet.
Apple is widely expected to unveil its first folding iPhone on Wednesday at its Cupertino, California, headquarters — the first launch event run by new chief executive John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1, according to the Associated Press.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports the device will be called the iPhone Duo and start at $2,000 for a 256GB model, rising toward $3,000 for a fully loaded 2TB version.
Reuters calls it the most noticeable overhaul of Apple's flagship product since the company dropped the physical home button from the iPhone X in 2017.
Engadget says the "Surprise and Shine" keynote begins at 10 a.m. Pacific, with the iPhone 18 Pro and an Apple Watch Series 12 also expected.
Timeline
Apple removes the physical home button with the iPhone X, its last comparable redesign of the iPhone, per Reuters.
Samsung and Huawei begin selling folding phones. Reuters reports the devices have stayed a niche among tech enthusiasts ever since; Google and Motorola have since shipped foldables too, the AP notes.
Apple adds $570 billion in market value in a surge Bloomberg says now saddles Ternus with high expectations going into the event.
Ternus, previously Apple's hardware chief, replaces Tim Cook as CEO (AP).
The keynote in Cupertino, Ternus's first extended public commentary as CEO, per Reuters.
Reactions
Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee told the AP the timing is classic Apple: "The foldable launch is straight out of Apple's playbook: Wait for the product to work out its kinks and for the market to offer glimpses of viability, then enter and shape the category." He added that foldables remain "a minuscule share of the smartphone market," and the real test is "whether it can expand that niche into a meaningful new segment."
Chatterjee also framed the stakes for the new boss: "John Ternus inherits perhaps the most successful consumer technology juggernaut in modern times. That is both a boon and a burden for him."
Analysts at IDC expect Apple to sell every foldable iPhone it can produce and to take 40% of the category by the end of next year, Reuters reports.
What's Next
The keynote itself, and Apple's own pricing — the $2,000 figure is a report, not an announcement. Engadget, citing Gurman, says the Duo would go on sale sometime in October, after the iPhone 18 reaches shelves.
Reuters reports analysts also expect a change to Apple's release calendar: updates to the cheaper iPhone models held back until next spring, leaving Wednesday to the foldable and the Pro lineup, a move aimed at smoothing out a sales cycle that spikes in the holiday quarter.
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The Numbers
The iPhone brought in $209.6 billion in Apple's most recent fiscal year — just over half of all company sales, according to Reuters.
The current iPhone 17 line runs from $799 to $1,999 depending on the model, and the AP reports the iPhone 18 will likely cost more, partly because of a global memory chip shortage. Gurman reports the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will run $100 above the previous models.
The Hardware
Reported specs for the foldable, per Engadget's summary of Gurman's reporting: Apple's new A20 Pro chip, a C2 modem, two 48-megapixel rear cameras, a 12MP front camera, Apple Pencil support, a magnetic hinge, and dark blue and white finishes.
Reuters notes one open engineering question — how well the device resists dust and water. Google's Pixel 10 Pro Fold carries an IP68 rating, meaning dust-tight and submersible in a meter of water.
Poll
Would you pay $2,000 for a folding iPhone?
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