The folding iPhone Duo is finally here | The Vergecast Livestream

What It Covers

Apple's first hardware event under new CEO John Turnus introduces the iPhone Duo — Apple's debut foldable phone — alongside the iPhone 18 Pro with variable aperture camera, Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 with always-on audio transcription, and AirPods 5. Existing iPhone models receive a $100 price increase applied quietly during the event.

Key Questions Answered

• •iPhone Duo positioning: Apple's foldable launches at a deliberate mid-tier level, not as a Pro replacement. It carries a dual-camera system rather than Pro-grade optics, mirroring Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 strategy of separating foldable and flagship camera lines. Buyers prioritizing camera quality, battery life, or Pro features should choose the iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max instead of the Duo.
• •Foldable software differentiation: The Duo's strongest advantage over Android foldables is iOS redesign, not hardware. Apple relocated the dock, Dynamic Island, and status bar into a persistent right-hand rail, maintaining consistent control placement whether folded or open. Apps like Netflix already detect hinge angle to adjust UI in real time — a level of OS-level integration Android manufacturers have not matched.
• •Foldable market context: Foldables represented only 1.6% of global smartphone sales in 2025, which explains why Android app developers largely ignored optimizing for the form factor. Apple's entry changes that calculus immediately — major apps including Netflix, Zoom, and Slack have already optimized for the Duo's screen, with more expected before the October 23 ship date.
• •Apple Watch always-on audio: Series 12 and Ultra 4 introduce an opt-in feature that continuously transcribes ambient audio, storing a 15-second rewind accessible via double crown press and generating daily summaries. The sensor array also upgrades heart rate sampling from every 5 minutes to every 5 seconds — a 60x increase — enabling a Whoop-style readiness score exclusive to these two new models.
• •Variable aperture camera trade-offs: The iPhone 18 Pro's main camera adjusts between apertures, closing to f/4 maximum. Samsung introduced this on the Galaxy S9 in 2018 and dropped it shortly after. On small smartphone sensors, closing the aperture reduces light intake, potentially degrading image quality. The feature is most likely to activate automatically in bright conditions, with manual pro controls allowing deliberate creative use.
• •Stealth price increases: During the event, Apple quietly raised prices on all previously available iPhone models by $100 each. The iPhone 17e moved from $599 to $699. Apple had been incrementally raising prices across its product line throughout summer 2025, driven by RAM cost increases linked to AI memory demand. A Wall Street Journal report had projected a potential $200 increase on Pro models; Apple absorbed part of that cost.