The rumours were true; Apple has shaken up the Apple 2026 iPhone lineup, led by the long-awaited iPhone Duo and a seriously upgraded iPhone 18 Pro.
Apple pulled back the curtain on its 2026 iPhone lineup today, and the headliner is something the rumour mill has chased for years: iPhone Duo, the first foldable iPhone, revealed alongside the flagship iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The company is billing Duo as the biggest reinvention of iPhone since the original, and from the look of the announcement, Apple has listened to what fans of foldables have been saying and improved on the formula in some major ways.
iPhone Duo opens like a book to reveal a 7.6-inch inner display, the largest ever on an iPhone, while a 5.4-inch outer display keeps things pocketable when closed. Much like the recent Xiaomi 18 Fold and Galaxy Z Fold8, Apple has opted for the passport-style design over the tall, skinny concept found on older folding devices. Both panels share the same aspect ratio, so content scales seamlessly in either orientation. Built from Grade 5 titanium with a 100-plus-component precision hinge, Duo uses a nano-texture finish that Apple says minimizes glare and crease visibility, with Touch ID moved to the side button and Apple Pencil support coming later this year.
iPhone Duo pairs a new 48 MP Fusion Main camera, capable of zero-shutter-lag shots at full resolution and optical-quality 2x telephoto, with the same 48 MP Fusion Ultra Wide found on the Pro models, plus a FaceTime camera hidden beneath the inner display. Its folding design enables tricks that are impossible on any other iPhone, including tripod-free 4K Dolby Vision time-lapses and 4K recording at 120 fps. At least, that is what Apple is boasting.
Smart Take uses on-device AI to snap photos when subjects pose, Duo Preview shows subjects a live preview on the outer display and Kid Cue plays Peanuts animations to keep little ones looking at the lens. Rear-camera selfies can also be framed on the outer screen.
Powering it all is the new A20 Pro chip, built on a 2-nanometre process and paired with a custom vapour chamber for up to 35% better sustained performance than iPhone 17 Pro. A dual-battery design promises up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display and a 50% charge in about 20 minutes.
iOS 27 has been reimagined for the folding hardware, bringing side-by-side Split View multitasking to iPhone for the first time, a two-page Home Screen layout when open and an upgraded StandBy mode that works even when unplugged. Netflix, Zoom and Slack are among the third-party apps already optimized for the bigger canvas.
Moving over to the non-folding entries in the 2026 iPhone lineup, iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are powered by the new A20 Pro, a 2-nanometre chip with a 6-core CPU up to 20% faster than A19 Pro, a 7-core GPU up to 40% faster and a dual 16-core Neural Engine delivering twice the AI processing power. It is all kept cool by a redesigned vapour chamber with three times more surface area, helping deliver what Apple calls the highest sustained performance in iPhone history.
The iPhone 18 Pro lineup boasts some impressive camera specs also, bringing some pro features not seen on iPhone before. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max counter with what Apple calls its most advanced camera yet, bringing variable aperture to iPhone for the first time through six laser-cut blades and four manual settings, alongside new Pro controls with a live histogram and an Apple Reference Image feature that signs every photo at the sensor level to verify authenticity. Both lineups can apply Cinematic effects after capture and support upgraded Photographic Styles with new texture and grain controls.
Battery life climbs to 36 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro and 45 hours on iPhone 18 Pro Max, with the Pro reaching a 50% charge in around 15 minutes. Connectivity comes from Apple’s N1 wireless chip, enabling Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, alongside the new C2 cellular modem.
Both devices run iOS 27, headlined by the beta launch of Siri AI, a rebuilt, more conversational assistant powered by Apple Intelligence, arriving September 14. iPhone Duo comes in star white and night sky, while the Pro models add a new burgundy finish alongside black, silver and glacier.
iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,749 CAD ($1,199 USD) and iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1,899 CAD ($1,299 USD), with pre-orders Saturday, September 12 and availability Friday, September 18. iPhone Duo starts at a steep $2,999 CAD ($1,999 USD), with pre-orders Friday, October 16 and availability Friday, October 23.
