Apple opened its highly anticipated Surprise and Shine event on Wednesday with a significant leadership shift, as new CEO John Ternus made his official debut on stage. In a presentation attended by former CEO Tim Cook, Ternus wasted no time unveiling the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, which arrive in two striking new colors called glacier and burgundy. However, the aesthetic upgrades come with a financial sting for consumers, as Apple confirmed a 100 dollar price increase for the Pro models, citing ongoing global shortages of computer components.
Beyond the standard flagship updates, the highlight of the evening was the official entry of Apple into the folding phone market with the introduction of the iPhone Duo. Described as being roughly the size of a passport with both internal and external screens, Ternus positioned the device as a sophisticated alternative to existing foldables, which he claimed often felt like two phones awkwardly stuck together. This hardware leap is supported by the brand new A20 Pro chip, Apple’s first 2 nanometer processor designed specifically to handle heavy AI workloads directly on the device rather than relying on the cloud.
The innovation extended heavily into wearables with the announcement of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. While these watches avoided a price hike, they gained significant intelligence through a new feature called Audio Intelligence. Using ambient listening and a tool called live rewind, users can now go back fifteen seconds in a conversation or receive AI generated summaries of meetings via Siri Recap. Complementing these additions is an overhauled Health app featuring AI powered coaching that provides users with a daily readiness score based on their vitals and sleep patterns.
Rounding out the event were several ecosystem enhancements including AirPods 5, which bring active noise cancellation to Apple’s entry level earbuds for 129 dollars. The company also introduced iPhone Handoff within iOS 27, a quality of life update allowing a single phone number to remain active across multiple devices seamlessly. As Ternus navigates his first major launch, investors are keeping a close eye on how his strategy balances aggressive technological expansion in AI and foldables against the rising costs of manufacturing materials.
