Apple launches £1,999 foldable iPhone under new CEO's leadership

Apple has built its fortune on incremental refinement. The iPhone, launched in 2007, has been tweaked and polished for nearly two decades—faster processors, better cameras, larger screens—but the fundamental form factor remained untouched. On Wednesday at the company's California headquarters, that streak ended. The new iPhone Duo, priced from £1,999 in the UK and up to $3,200 in the US, folds in half like a small book. When opened, it resembles a compact tablet. Closed, it feels like a wider-than-usual phone. It is the first major structural reimagining of the device in almost 20 years, and it arrives under new leadership.

John Ternus took over as chief executive this month, replacing Tim Cook, who held the role for more than a decade. The timing is unlikely to be coincidental. Ternus spent years as a senior executive within Apple's hardware division and was directly involved in the eight-year development of the foldable. Technology analysts have noted that major leadership transitions at Apple rarely happen by accident; the launch of a device this significant, at this moment, appears deliberately choreographed. At the event, Ternus positioned the iPhone Duo as a corrective to what competitors had attempted. "Others have created foldables that just feel like two phones awkwardly stuck together," he said, before claiming Apple's version would "redefine the experience of using a foldable phone." He described it as "entirely new and at the same time remarkably familiar"—a passport-sized object that feels comfortable to hold and use with one hand.

Apple is entering a market it did not pioneer. Samsung and Huawei have been selling foldable phones for years. Huawei, in particular, has captured nearly 80 percent of the foldable market in China, according to IDC EMEA analyst Francisco Jeronimo. Globally, foldables remain a niche category, representing only about 2 percent of all smartphone sales. Even with Apple's entry expected to drive interest, analysts project foldables will reach only 4 percent of the market over the next decade. The iPhone Duo's starting price of £1,999—compared to the previous high of £664 for the standard flagship model—positions it as a luxury product, not a mass-market replacement.

The risk is real. Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester, warned that the foldable could become "a premium-priced ornament in the portfolio, imparting badge value but not meaningful growth." He drew a parallel to Apple's Vision Pro headset, priced at $3,699, which has not resonated with buyers. Alternatively, he suggested, it could follow the trajectory of the Apple Watch—not as universally adopted as the iPhone, but purchased by millions annually. The software challenge is substantial. Moving from a traditional smartphone to a foldable requires users to learn new interaction patterns. Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies who attended the presentation, noted that "a lot of people are intrigued by it, but the software and the learning curve that you have from moving from a traditional phone to a foldable is real."

The iPhone Duo launch also reflects a broader pressure on Apple. Since the original iPhone in 2007, the company has struggled to deliver a product that feels genuinely transformative rather than iterative. The iPhone remains Apple's dominant revenue driver, accounting for more than half of annual sales. In recent quarters, the company has emphasized that demand for the latest iPhone model is stronger than ever, with the most recent version becoming its most successful launch. Yet critics argue that meaningful innovation has stalled. The foldable design change, after nearly two decades, represents an attempt to answer that criticism—to show that Apple can still surprise.

Alongside the iPhone Duo, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, starting at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively in the US. The company also announced a significant overhaul of its voice assistant, now called Siri AI. Beginning with the iPhone 18, Siri will be able to search across a user's messages, emails, and other personal data to answer questions and take actions on their behalf. Some features will extend to the Apple Watch, including the ability to transcribe conversations. Ternus framed these capabilities as an "intelligent personal hub" and acknowledged that the system would access "the most private details of your daily life." He emphasized that processing would occur on-device whenever possible, keeping data away from third parties. "Others see that data as something to collect and store," Ternus said. "Here, not even Apple can access what's yours." Whether users trust that promise, and whether the foldable design proves durable enough for mainstream adoption, will determine whether Ternus's first major product decision as CEO becomes a defining success or a cautionary tale about the limits of late entry into an established market.