Apple expected to announce the biggest iPhone update in its history, as new CEO John Ternus prepares launch of foldable device

Apple is heading into one of its most closely watched launches in years. At the Steve Jobs theater in Cupertino, the company is expected to show its first foldable phone, along with the iPhone 18 Pro models, Apple Watch Series 12, AirPods 5, and possible updates to its MacBook and home lineup.

The foldable is the obvious headliner. Apple has spent years polishing the same basic iPhone shape, so a new form factor would mark a real shift, not just another yearly refresh. The expected base price is around $2,000, which puts it in the same expensive neighborhood as Samsung’s top foldables. Apple is also said to be working on a different take on the category than the ones Samsung and Google sell now.

This is also John Ternus’s first major event as CEO, after taking over on Sept. 1. That alone gives the launch extra weight. Apple has been hearing more questions about its momentum, its AI plans, and the memory chip shortage hitting the industry, while investors are still waiting to see what Siri AI can actually do when it rolls out this fall.

That Siri update is supposed to go beyond the usual assistant tricks. Apple says it will better understand information across apps, answer questions based on what’s on a user’s screen, and act on its own inside apps. The company has also been leaning into the idea that a lot of AI should happen on the device itself, not up in the cloud.

Apple is not dropping the traditional iPhone bar design, and its base iPhone 18 is not expected until spring 2027, according to Bank of America analysts. That split could help Apple’s mix and average selling prices, but it also gives cheaper-upgrade shoppers a reason to wait. For a company where roughly half of revenue still comes from iPhone sales, that’s not a small detail.