September 2026: Apple's first foldable, the $1,999 iPhone Duo
Apple entered foldables years after its rivals with a passport-shaped phone that opens to a 7.6-inch screen. Supply has been the story since.
Kivorent News desk, published , 2 min read
This is a look back at an event from . We wrote it on November 11, 2026, from the sources listed at the end.
What to know
- Apple announced the iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, on September 9, 2026, at $1,999.
- It opens to a 7.6-inch screen and went on sale October 23.
- The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max were announced the same day, starting at $1,199 and $1,299.
Samsung sold its first folding phone in 2019. Apple waited seven years. On September 9, 2026, at an event in Cupertino, it announced the iPhone Duo.
The phone
| iPhone Duo | |
|---|---|
| Price | $1,999 |
| Shape when closed | About the size of a passport, with a smaller screen on the front |
| Screen when open | 7.6 inches |
| Body | Titanium, with a hinge Apple designed |
| On sale | October 23, 2026 |
Apple said the Duo is its thinnest phone when open. It pitched the device at getting work done, with several app windows on screen at once in the way some iPads allow.
John Ternus presented it, eight days into his tenure as chief executive.
The rest of the lineup
The iPhone 18 Pro started at $1,199 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1,299, with improvements to battery, camera and performance. Those went on sale September 18.
The reaction
An analyst at Forrester told reporters that Apple was following its usual approach of entering a category once it has matured. Foldables were still a small slice of the phone market, so the test was whether Apple could turn a niche into something larger.
What has happened since
Demand outran supply. MacRumors reported in early November that Ternus said Apple could not predict when it would catch up, and that Apple had sent service providers guidance on diagnosing cracks in the inner display, with affected units to be repaired or replaced under standard procedures.
Apple has since extended some of the Duo's software features to other iPhones in the iOS 27.3 beta.
Why it mattered
At $1,999 the Duo has the highest starting price of any iPhone, and it is the first one that folds. It arrived in the same season as Apple's first touchscreen Macs. Under a new chief executive, the company shipped two kinds of product it had spent years declining to make.
Sources
- Apple unveils $1,999 iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, Al Jazeera, with AP and Reuters, September 9, 2026
- Top stories: Apple product launches, iOS 27.3 beta, and more, MacRumors, November 7, 2026
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