Apple sent media invitations on 26 August 2026 local time. The keynote takes place at 10am Pacific on Wednesday 9 September, at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.
Apple holds a September event every year. This year two things coincided.
First: Apple finally folds
Samsung shipped the first foldable smartphone in 2019. Apple watched for seven years. This year it steps in.
Here is what is known so far. None of it is confirmed, as the announcement has not happened yet.
| Item | What is reported |
|---|---|
| Form | Book-type, opening like a book, inner display around 7.8 inches |
| Name | Referred to as iPhone Ultra |
| Authentication | Reported side-mounted Touch ID |
| Price | Starting price cited at around $2,500 |
The price is the thing to watch. At $2,500 it sits clearly above the Galaxy Z Fold line, which would mean Apple has defined foldables not as a mass product but as its top tier.
The seven-year wait becomes easier to read from there. Display creasing, hinge durability and thickness were the chronic weaknesses of early foldables. Apple chose to arrive after those problems had been largely worked out. The one advantage of coming late is that you get to skip somebody else’s trial and error.
Second: the iPhone 18 Pro
Of the changes discussed for the Pro line, two matter most in actual use.
- A mechanical variable aperture. Depth-of-field control that was imitated in software would be done physically in the lens. If true, it is the first hardware-level change in smartphone cameras in several years
- An A20 Pro on TSMC’s 2nm process. A finer process means either more performance at the same power or less heat at the same performance. On a device running on-device AI constantly, the latter matters more
Beyond that, a smaller Dynamic Island and a four-colour lineup of sky blue, dark cherry, dark grey and silver are cited. The traditional space black is expected to be dropped this generation.
The standard iPhone 18 will most likely not be at this event. Reports have persisted that it slips to spring 2027, splitting the release cycle in half. If true, it is a fundamental change in how Apple runs its lineup.
Third: the person on stage changes
This keynote is CEO John Ternus’s first flagship announcement. Tim Cook moved to chairman of the board effective 1 September 2026.
Why that is technology news becomes clear if you recall how Apple announces things. An Apple keynote is a product introduction and simultaneously the place where the company declares what it is betting on next. Over fifteen years in that spot, Tim Cook moved the supply chain and services revenue to the centre of the company. What the new CEO talks about, and for how long, on his first stage tells you the direction of the next few years.
AI is the part to watch especially. At WWDC in June 2026 Apple unveiled a Siri rebuilt on Google Gemini models — folding its previous line of pushing ahead with in-house models only, and choosing a structure that hands the hardest reasoning to an external model. How that decision is justified, and in what language, on the September stage may matter more than the iPhone spec sheet.
Korean release and pricing
Korea has been in Apple’s first-wave launch group for the past several years. How much first-wave supply gets allocated to a new form factor like a foldable is a separate question.
Pricing depends on exchange rates. Factoring in the won-dollar rate at announcement and domestic VAT, a $2,500 starting price typically lands at a higher won figure domestically.
In short
- The Apple event is on 9 September, with the invitation reading “Surprise and shine”
- Alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max comes Apple’s first foldable, cited as a 7.8-inch book-type at around $2,500
- The substantive changes in the Pro line are a mechanical variable aperture and the 2nm A20 Pro chip
- The standard iPhone 18 is reported as possibly slipping to spring 2027
- This keynote is CEO John Ternus’s first product announcement. How he explains the Gemini-based Siri is the thing to watch
Everything before the announcement is speculation. Confirmed specifications, prices and release dates have to be checked after 9 September.
Frequently asked questions
Should I buy a first-generation foldable iPhone?
First generations of a new form factor generally leave room for improvement in hinge and display durability. Unless you have a reason you must have a folding screen right now, waiting a few months for real-world reviews to accumulate is safer. That said, arriving late to the foldable market means Apple may well have avoided much of the early trouble.
Is it better to wait for the standard iPhone 18?
If the spring 2027 reports are accurate, that is more than six months of waiting. If your current device holds up it is worth waiting; if you need to replace it urgently, looking at the Pro line or a discounted previous generation is more realistic.
Is a Gemini-based Siri acceptable from a privacy standpoint?
Apple has described an architecture combining on-device processing with Private Cloud Compute. But which queries take which path is not distinguished on the user’s screen, so judging the actual data flow requires checking the published policy documents.
When will it be released in Korea?
Apple’s pattern in recent years has been a first-wave launch within two to three weeks of the September announcement, with Korea generally included. New form factors can have different allocation, though, so check the announcement on the day.
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