Apple's 'Surprise and Shine' Event: John Ternus Begins New Era

A New Era Opens the Show 

Apple's "Surprise and Shine" keynote streamed live from Apple Park on September 9 at 10 a.m. PT, marking John Ternus's first show as CEO. Ternus, who joined Apple's product design team in 2001 and most recently led hardware engineering, took over on September 1, ending Tim Cook's 15-year run at the company. 

He opened by positioning the iPhone as the strongest platform for artificial intelligence (AI). Rivals including Meta, Google, and Samsung, meanwhile, are betting on smart glasses as AI's next hardware frontier. Ternus pointed to the iPhone's existing privacy protections and its depth of understanding of its owner as the case for staying the course. He framed this as "an intelligent personal hub. It's the intersection of broad new capability and a deep understanding of your personal context that makes this idea so powerful." 

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: Intelligence Meets Performance 

"This is the best Pro lineup we've ever made, with advancements across camera, performance, and battery," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. 

iPhone 18 Pro now starts at $1,199 and Pro Max at $1,299, both up $100. The headline upgrade is a 48MP Fusion Main camera with Apple's first variable aperture, paired with a telephoto lens offering 4x optical and 8x optical-quality zoom.  

The new A20 Pro chip, built on a 2-nanometer process, delivers Apple's biggest sustained-performance gain yet, thanks in part to a redesigned vapor chamber. Battery life also sees its largest leap ever: up to 36 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro and 45 hours on Pro Max (eSIM-only models). Memory bandwidth is up 50% over the A19 Pro.   

Both ship with iOS 27, bringing Siri AI, a smaller and more capable Dynamic Island, and new child safety and privacy tools. Colors narrow to four: Black, Silver, Glacier, and a new Burgundy. 

Apple's First Foldable Finally Has a Name: iPhone Duo 

Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone arrived as the iPhone Duo, not the "iPhone Ultra" or "iPhone Fold" names that had circulated for months. It starts at $1,999 for 256GB and climbs to $3,199 at the top 2TB tier, well above the Pro Max but in line with rival foldables from Samsung. 

The Duo uses a book-style hinge with a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner display, which Apple calls its thinnest iPhone screen yet. The bigger canvas lets users run two apps side by side, and Apple is positioning it for both split-screen productivity and more immersive media.  

Notably, the Duo drops Face ID for Touch ID, built into the side button. It runs on the same A20 Pro chip and Apple's C2 modem, with dual rear cameras and a front camera, and will support Apple Pencil, a first for an iPhone, though that support arrives later this year rather than at launch. 

It comes in star white and night sky. Unlike the rest of the lineup, pre-orders open October 16, with availability from October 23. 

iPhone Duo
iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max
Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4
AirPods 5

… and Joz pic.twitter.com/TWj3GjDSmk

— John Ternus (@johnternus) September 9, 2026

Inside the A20 Pro Chip 

The A20 Pro is Apple's first chip built on TSMC's 2-nanometer process, and the first smartphone chip in the industry to use it. 

The bigger change is on the AI side. Apple doubled the Neural Engine to a dual 16-core design, 32 cores total, for twice the AI compute of the A19 Pro, after three straight generations (A17 Pro, A18 Pro, A19 Pro) stuck at 16 cores. The CPU's Neural Accelerators, which Apple says deliver twice the FP8 performance of the previous generation, help the chip run large language models directly on the device. 

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4: Health Takes Center Stage  

"Apple Watch Series 12 is the most advanced health and fitness companion we've ever created," said Kaiann Drance, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Apple Watch Product Marketing. 

Chip and Health Sensing 

Series 12 ($399) and Ultra 4 ($799) share a new S11 chip, Apple's most powerful wearable processor. It drives a redesigned Health Sensing System that reads heart rate every five seconds, 60 times more often than before, and heart rate variability every five minutes, 24 times more often. watchOS 27 turns these readings into Readiness, a single daily score recommending rest, pacing, or a harder push, echoing Whoop and Oura. 

Audio Intelligence 

The same chip also powers Audio Intelligence, a set of microphone-based features: 

• Sound Recognition, alerts wearers to sirens, alarms, doorbells, or a crying baby, even without an iPhone nearby. 

• Live Rewind, double-press the Digital Crown to transcribe the last 15 seconds of conversation. 

• Siri Recap, high-level summaries of conversations, like meeting takeaways, saved to the Siri app. 

• Shazam, continuously identifies nearby music. 

None of these record or stores audio, a hardware-isolated Secure Exclave processes and immediately deletes it. Siri Recap and Live Rewind launch in beta later this year.  

Workout Buddy adds Spanish-language support and now works on-wrist without an iPhone. Siri AI is also available directly from the watch. 

Series 12: Design and Battery 

Series 12 revives ceramic cases for the first time since 2020, offered in Pearl White and Night Blue. Aluminum options include Space Gray, Black, Light Gold, and a new Dark Bronze. Titanium comes in Radiant Gold and Natural.  

Aluminum models also get Ceramic Shield 2, 60% tougher than the previous glass, and both cases use 100% recycled metal. New bands include fresh Nike colorways and a Radiant Gold Titanium option for Apple Watch Hermès. Everyday battery life holds steady at 24 hours. 

Ultra 4: Built for Endurance 

Ultra 4 pushes endurance further. Everyday battery life now exceeds two days, and full-GPS workout tracking reaches 18 hours. A new Max Extended Workout mode stretches to 45 hours, enough for a 100-mile race. It's available in Black or Natural Titanium, with new bands and a titanium Hermès option. 

Apple Watch Series 12 packs a punch! Engineered with our all-new Health Sensing System and most powerful wearable chip, it delivers the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable… in a beautiful, thin, and light design you can wear all day and night. pic.twitter.com/DdnbPKjYSH

— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) September 9, 2026

AirPods 5: Noise Cancellation and Live Translation Come to Apple's Entry-Level Earbuds 

"We're thrilled that with AirPods 5, we're able to bring Active Noise Cancellation, one of our most beloved features, to our most affordable AirPods," said Dave Pakula, Apple's vice president of Hardware Engineering. 

Apple says the redesigned open-ear ANC removes up to 50% more noise than AirPods 4 with ANC, aided by a new multi-port acoustic architecture and next-generation Adaptive EQ that also delivers richer, more detailed sound across a wider range of ear shapes. Apple calls it the “best open-ear ANC” in the industry. 

Both models add Personalized Spatial Audio, Adaptive Audio (which blends Transparency mode and ANC automatically based on background noise), Conversation Awareness, Live Translation for real-time conversation translation, and hands-free access to Siri AI. Both are rated IP57 for dust, sweat, and water resistance. 

A $149 version adds a Wireless Charging Case (compatible with Apple Watch and Qi chargers) and on-stem swipe volume control, along with an extra hour of battery life: up to 5 hours of listening with ANC on and 22 hours total with the case, versus 4 hours and 20 hours on the standard $129 model. 

Pre-Orders Open September 12 

Pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5 open September 12, with availability in stores from September 18. iOS 27 ships September 14. The iPhone Duo follows separately, with pre-orders on October 16 and availability from October 23.