Apple Unveils the iPhone Duo, a Phone That Folds in Half

Apple has announced the iPhone Duo, a phone that folds in half. The device was the centerpiece of the company’s “Surprise And Shine” event on Wednesday, presented by new CEO John Ternus as the star attraction.

Ternus Takes the Stage

New Apple CEO John Ternus presented the iPhone Duo, taking over from Tim Cook, who stepped down on September 1. The event also introduced the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Ultra 4.

Ternus used the moment to restate Apple’s position on artificial intelligence. He said the iPhone remains “the best personal device for AI” because of the intimate knowledge it keeps about its owner.

That knowledge, he suggested, is what makes the phone so useful. The device knows a lot about you, which is exactly the point.

Folding the iPhone in Half

The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first foldable phone. The company frames it as its own exciting new product, not a response to the Motorola Razr Fold, the Google Pixel Fold, or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.

For people who demand new, innovative ways to putz around on their devices, the folding design is the main draw. You can bend the phone in half, and that is the headline feature Apple is leading with.

Apple did not position the device as a competitor to those existing foldables. The company presented it as a fresh category of its own making, a new thing rather than a me-too product.

The announcement comes at a moment when foldables are no longer a novelty. Several major manufacturers already have entries in the category, and Apple is now joining them with its own take on the form.

The Foldable Field

Apple is entering a crowded market. Samsung, Google, and Motorola all have foldable phones of their own, each with its own design and approach to the category.

The Galaxy Z Fold has been called Spider-Man’s preferred foldable phone. Apple’s Duo now enters that field, though the company insists it is not a reaction to any of those products.

The table above shows the current landscape. Each of these devices folds in half, but they come from different companies with different design philosophies.

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

The event also brought updates to the wearable line. The Apple Watch Series 12 and the Ultra 4 were both unveiled alongside the iPhone Duo.

The watches come with new listening features that the source article describes as super-shady. The term suggests a skeptical take on their capabilities, a pointed description of what the watches can do.

The watches are part of a broader push to keep Apple devices central to daily life. The company continues to expand its wearable lineup with each event cycle.

The wearable updates were secondary to the foldable phone, but they still represent a significant part of Apple’s product strategy.

AI and the Personal Device

Ternus’s pitch on AI was direct. He argued that the iPhone’s strength lies in how much it knows about its owner, and that this knowledge makes it the best device for artificial intelligence.

The reason, he said, is the data it holds. The phone knows its owner intimately, which makes AI features more personal and more effective.

That pitch is familiar territory for a tech giant pitching its own hardware. The argument is that more data means better AI, and Apple has the data because people carry their iPhones everywhere.

What Comes Next

The iPhone Duo is a big bet for Apple. It is the company’s first foldable, and it arrives in a market that already has several options from competitors.

Whether that matters to buyers is unclear. Apple is betting that its version of the foldable will stand out, even in a field that already includes well-established products.

The foldable phone is the headline, but the full event showed a company pushing on multiple fronts. New hardware, new leadership, and a continued emphasis on AI all point to a transitional moment for Apple.

Source: avclub.com

Apple · Apple Watch · bendable phone · iPhone Duo · John Ternus