Apple unveils first foldable £1,999 iPhone Duo that opens like a BOOK & iPhone 18 Pro with 45-HOUR battery life

APPLE has unveiled its first foldable phone ever – the iPhone Duo – allowing you to open and close the mobile like a book.

It means your iPhone can now double up as a tablet, while still fitting neatly in your pocket. The device launched alongside a new iPhone 18 Pro (with 45 HOURS of battery life), two new Apple Watch models and a souped-up pair of Apple AirPods 5.

FOLDABLE IPHONE DUO REVEALED

The £1,999 / $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo features a squat passport-style design – much like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 – and can be spec’d as high as £3,199 if you want the highest-storage option.

That means it’s wider than it is tall, and opens and closes like a book.

On the outside, you get a regular outer display, and when you open the phone, it reveals a tablet-style 7.6-inch inner screen.

That’s the big sell for foldables: a tablet-sized display, but on a device that still fits neatly in a pocket or purse.

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Apple says the gadget will work with Apple Pencil USB-C later this year – a first for the iPhone.

Notably, it also features a Touch ID fingerprint scanner, which has largely been absent from Apple phones for close to a decade.

Apple began switching it out for Face ID scanners back with 2017’s iPhone X.

But Apple has reintroduced the fingerprint scanner for the new foldable, likely due to size constraints – as each screen would technically need its own Face ID module.

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You can enrol multiple fingers, or you can unlock the iPhone using your Apple Watch (if you have one).

It comes in two colours – Star White and Night Sky – and is built from Grade 5 titanium.

And there’s Ceramic Shield coating, as well as dust- and water-resistant certification, so you will (hopefully) struggle to break it.

The foldable design means that you get some extra capabilities too.

For instance, it’s now possible to use apps side-by-side, a bit like multitasking on the iPad.

Key controls are shifted to the side, including widgets on the Lock Screen and the app tray on the Home Screen.

If you set the foldable phone on the table, it’ll adjust to the position, so you can set it up to watch a movie.

Apple’s StandBy mode has been reconfigured to fit the new display when it’s on charge at night.

And Apple says that many apps are taking advantage of the new space, including Netflix, Zoom and Slack.

The foldable mobile is powered by Apple’s new A20 Pro chipset, as well as the C2 cellular modem – a high-speed chip for connecting to the internet.

It’s eSIM only worldwide, so that means no physical SIM tray.

And Apple says you get up to 31 hours of video playback when using the inner display, and 44 hours with the outer display.

Apple says you’ll get about 24 hours of charge when using both screens equally, and there’s fast charging for 50% in 20 minutes.

On the back are two cameras: a 48-megapixel wide camera, and an ultra-wide lens to boot.

What’s missing is the usual third camera, which would normally be a telephoto lens – although the main lens uses some trickery to deliver a similar effect.

Under the inner display is a new FaceTime camera, and there’s a selfie cam on the outside too.

There’s also a special mode called Kid View that shows fun animations on the outer display to get your youngster to look at the snapper.

So if you’re all about the camera, a more typical iPhone might be a better buy.

Of course, foldable phones don’t typically come cheap – and Apple’s offering doesn’t break that rule.

You’ll have to pay a hefty starting price of $1,999 / £1,999 if you want one – but it’ll be pricer if you go for 2TB storage instead of the base 256GB.

Here’s how much that’ll set you back:

256GB – £1,999
512GB – £2,199
1TB – £2,599
2TB – £3,199

Mobile networks will likely be battling it out to serve up the most tempting pay-monthly offers, but any deal will still cost a pretty penny.

It’s out on October 23, and is available in both the UK and US.

IPHONE 18 PRO REVEALED

Apple’s chief successor to last year’s batch of mobiles is the new iPhone 18 Pro.

Like before, it comes in two versions: a regular Pro model, and a slightly larger Pro Max version.

The back of the phone has also changed to feature a more smooth finish.

On last year’s model, the rear pane of the phone had a large cut-out area with a slightly different colour. The headline colour this year is Burgundy.

Another notable design change is a tweak to the Dynamic Island, which is that floating blob at the top of the screen.

It was added to replace the old “notch” at the top, serving as a home for the selfie camera and Face ID.

Apple has managed to make it smaller this time around, but it’ll still function like before, showing widget-style interfaces for, for instance, timers, Uber rides, or sports scores.

Powering the iPhone 18 Pro is Apple’s new and speedy A20 Pro chip.

It’s a brand new processor that should deliver more performance and better battery efficiency versus older chips.

And, importantly, Apple is talking it up as having powerful AI chops.

Apple is using three cameras on the back of the phone again this year.

And once again, they’ll sit on a raised, phone-wide plateau that sets the Pro apart from cheaper models.

The three lenses on offer are, once again, wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto.

There are a couple of tweaks this time around.

One is that the main lens now has a variable aperture, which can open wider to allow more light in.

That should make it possible to have faster shutter speeds in low-light environments, and helps to isolate subjects.

And it usually makes autofocus snappier too.

You’ll be able to very precisely adjust the depth of field when you’re trying to isolate a subject in a snap.

Apple has also added a feature called Apple Reference Image that securely signs a photo at a pixel level at the moment of capture.

That means you can verify it as a proper image, as opposed to an AI fake.

And battery life also looks strong this year, with Apple boasting a mammoth 36 hours of video playback on the iPhone 18 Pro, or 45 hours on the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Another bonus feature is iPhone Handoff, which lets you use one phone number across two iPhones – with Verizon (US) and EE (UK) expected to add support before the end of the year.

The bad news is that the new iPhone 18 Pro is more expensive than last year’s model.

This price rise is almost certainly due to the global memory shortage, which is plaguing consumer electronics companies everywhere.

AI giants are paying over the odds for the world’s supply of memory, which is making it far costlier for anyone trying to make phones, computers, and games consoles.

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have already put up prices on existing PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch consoles respectively.

And Apple was forced to raise prices on its iPad and Mac models earlier this year too.

So if you want the new iPhone 18 Pro, you’ll have to pay $1,199 (or $1,299 for the Max) – that’s £1,199 and £1,299 in the UK.

“Unsurprisingly, Apple increased prices by $100 across the board, with the iPhone 18 Pro starting at $1,199 and the 18 Pro Max at $1,299,” said Ben Wood, an industry watcher at FDM CCS Insight.

“The company has made no secret of the fact that prices would need to go up because of rising component prices, and that iPhones with higher memory configurations could see even steeper increases.

“Consumers can be relieved that Apple followed rivals such as Google and Samsung and only bumped up prices by $100, as there had been speculation it could have been an even bigger increase.”

It’s available to pre-order from Saturday, September 12, with availability on Friday, September 18.

IOS 27 INCOMING!

Apple’s new mobiles run on the latest iOS 27 software, which isn’t out for general release yet.

It was unveiled back in June at Apple’s annual WWDC event, and likely arrives for the public early next week.

The biggest improvement comes to Siri, bringing the long-waited AI upgrade that transforms her into a super-powerful assistant.

You can now extend and even re-frame photos that you’ve already taken using AI.

And parental controls have received a major overhaul that gives you much broader powers to limit what your youngster can do with their iPhone.

As well as that, iOS 27 also makes the iPhone run faster generally, with some clever tweaks boosting app launch times, AirDrop transfer speeds, and even how quickly photos load after you’ve snapped them.

iCloud Shared Albums now support full-resolution photos – although they now take up iCloud Storage space, closing a longstanding loophole.

And the Health app adds support for perimenopause and menopause in the Cycle Tracking feature.

APPLE WATCH SERIES 12 & ULTRA 4

There’s a new core smartwatch in the line-up – the Apple Watch Series 12.

It (unsurprisingly) replaces last year’s Apple Watch Series 11, and brings a few decent upgrades.

The big hardware improvement is Apple’s new S-series chip that is faster – and makes the watch more AI-capable.

And as usual, there are new case and band options to make it highly customisable.

There’s now always-on support for the heart-rate sensor.

That means it’ll be able to collect data right through the day, rather than randomly or during specific workouts.

Apple says this gives you a “key indicator of your overall health”, taking heart rate readings every five seconds all day.

And it’ll measure HRV (heart-rate variability) every five minutes.

Apple’s beefiest smartwatch series – the Ultra range – also has a new addition.

The super-rugged Apple Watch Ultra 4 has received several respectable upgrades that make it even more tempting – namely two days of battery life. It comes in black and natural titanium options.

There’s a new Health Age feature that will use your health data to monitor your, well, health age.

And there’s a new longevity tab that uses this info to show you how well you’re doing in terms of extending your lifespan.

NEW AIRPODS 5

There’s no shortage of demand for Apple AirPods, which likely explains why the series has received another update.

This time we’re getting the Apple AirPods 5, two years after the AirPods 4.

They have better Active Noise Cancellation than AirPods 4, and boast improved Live Translation for understanding other languages in real-time.

Apple reckons the new pair are more durable than ever, and serve up four hours of listening with ANC – and up to 20 hours with the charging case.

They cost $129, which is the same price as the previous generation without ANC.

And there’s another version with a wireless charging case, which cost $149.

And they now have on-stem volume control, which is a fun swiping feature previously locked to Pro models.

Both pairs are available from September 18.

THE BIG DAY

The big reveal took place at Apple’s special Surprise and Shine event in Cupertino, California today.

Apple hosts this iPhone launch event annually in the Steve Jobs Theatre at its Apple Park campus.

It’s an important time for Apple for several reasons.

Firstly, we’re fast-approaching the 20-year anniversary of the original iPhone launch in 2007.

And secondly, this event is the first hosted by brand new Apple chief John Ternus.

John took over from long-time CEO Tim Cook on September 1.

It marks a major shift for Apple, given that Tim had been hand-picked for the role by Steve Jobs before the founder died from pancreatic cancer in 2011.