Future TechnologyApple's 9 September Event: Three Phones, and No iPhone 18
Key takeaways
- Apple's Surprise and shine event runs Wednesday 9 September at 10am Pacific from Apple Park, with three phones and no standard iPhone 18
- All three run the A20 Pro on a 2nm process, and the Pro models get a variable aperture main camera, a smaller Dynamic Island and Apple's own C2 modem
- The foldable is book style and wider than it is tall, with a 5.3 to 5.5 inch outer display, a 7.6 to 7.8 inch inner one, and Touch ID in the power button rather than Face ID
Three phones on Wednesday, and none of them is the iPhone 18. Apple's "Surprise and shine" event runs at 10am Pacific on 9 September at Apple Park, and the lineup is iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the foldable widely expected to be called iPhone Ultra.
The standard model has moved to spring 2027. That splits the iPhone line into two launches a year for the first time, and it is the detail with the longest consequences.
What the split actually does
For close to two decades the September keynote has put the same question to most buyers: pay more for the Pro, or take the standard model that does most of the same things for several hundred less. Removing the cheaper option from the room removes the comparison.
A spring launch also gives the cheaper iPhone its own news cycle instead of a paragraph at the end of someone else's. Whether that sells more phones or simply moves the same sales six months later is the thing to watch through 2027.
The hardware, as expected
All three phones run the A20 Pro on a 2nm process. The Pro models get a variable aperture main camera, a smaller Dynamic Island, and Apple's C2 modem, continuing the move off Qualcomm silicon.
The foldable is the outlier. It is book style and wider than it is tall, which no other foldable currently is, with a 5.3 to 5.5 inch outer display and a 7.6 to 7.8 inch inner one. The frame is titanium, and Touch ID sits in the power button rather than Face ID in the display. Starting price estimates cluster around 1,999 dollars, with some configurations reported as high as 2,500. We covered the pricing and the crease question separately.
Ternus takes the stage
This is also John Ternus's first keynote as chief executive. He inherits the only large technology company without a frontier model of its own, at a moment when every rival opens its keynote with one.
A foldable is a hardware answer to a software question. It is a good hardware answer, and Apple is unusually well placed to build it, but it does not close that gap. The part worth watching on Wednesday is how much stage time goes to silicon and hinges, and how much goes to what the phone can do on its own.