Apple delivers iPhone 18 Pro series, iPhone Duo foldable, and new Apple Watch + AirPods 5

Another year, another round of big announcements from Apple. For this year, we have the new iPhone 18 series complemented by the iPhone Duo foldable alongside the fresh new Apple Watch models and AirPods 5 to form the 2026 “3C digital companion package”.

First, we have the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, with the main highlight being the new 48MP Fusion Main camera enabling variable aperture for the very first time for the Apple smartphone. They use a 6 laser-cut blades to let the aperture adjust itself automatically according to the lighting and depth-of-field requirements, while users can manually select from 4 aperture settings.

The aperture can open as wide as f/1.48 for low-light photography, while f/1.8 is designed for portraits and f/4 provides greater depth of field for situations such as group photos.

Apple has also added new Pro controls that provide manual adjustment of aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, alongside a histogram for exposure monitoring. Photographic Styles now includes additional texture and grain controls.

Video recording gets several improvements as well, including 4K Dolby Vision HDR time-lapse recording, post-capture Cinematic effects for footage recorded at up to 60FPS, and an updated Audio Mix system for improved voice isolation.

There’s also the “Apple Reference Image” toggle, which is essentially the metadata portion to identify whether an image is shot with an iPhone, so to speak. The system signs sensor data at capture and creates an unalterable reference image through Private Cloud Compute. Apple also says support for the SynthID standard is coming, allowing users to identify AI-generated or AI-edited imagery.

Aside from the Dynamic Island’s redesign to display up to three Live Activities simultaneously, the performance comes from the 2nm A20 Pro that pushes 50% more memory bandwidth than the A19 Pro, and runs a 6-core CPU + 7-core GPU + Dual 16-core Neural Engine combo, with Apple claiming the GPU is up to 40% faster than the previous generation.

Meanwhile, the new vapor chamber is much better at cooling the phone, and the battery is now packing enough power to do up to 6 hours of video playback and the Pro Max for up to 45 hours. The Pro can reach 50% charge in around 15 minutes, while wireless charging reaches 50% in around 30 minutes.

Both models use Apple’s N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, alongside the new C2 cellular modem.

Now for Cupertino giant’s first foldable entry, the iPhone Duo. The inner side runs a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR display, and it has a nano-texture finish to reduce reflections, while ProMotion, Always-On functionality, and up to 3,000 nits of outdoor brightness are included.

When folded, the Duo switches to a 5.4-inch outer display that Apple says provides around 90% of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro. Both displays share the same aspect ratio so content can transition between them without major changes in scaling.

The phone uses a Grade 5 titanium frame and hinge cover and comes in Star White and Night Sky. Apple has also integrated Touch ID into the side button rather than using Face ID.

The foldable design is paired with a redesigned version of iOS 27. Apps can use the larger display for multitasking, while Split View allows two apps to run side by side. Users can also open two windows from the same app, such as Safari, and save app combinations for later. There’s also ready support for things like Netflix, Zoom and Slack, with the larger screen being used for video conferencing, productivity and content consumption.

The Duo also supports Apple Pencil via USB-C, although that functionality is coming later this year.

For the chip, you find the same A20 Pro SoC as the iPhone 18 Pro models, as well as a custom vapor chamber. The dual-battery architecture is new here, with one battery on each side of the foldable chassis. Apple rates it for up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner screen and up to 44 hours using the outer display, while mixed use across both screens is rated at up to 24 hours.

Charging reaches 50% in around 20 minutes over a wired connection, while MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging can reach 50% in around 30 minutes.

The camera system consists of a 48MP Fusion Main camera and a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera. The main camera includes optical-quality 2x telephoto functionality, while the system also supports macro photography, Smart Take, and new foldable-specific shooting modes.

Duo Preview lets subjects see the camera preview on the outer screen, while Smart Take uses on-device AI to determine when subjects are ready before automatically capturing a photo. The phone can also use its rear cameras for selfies while displaying the preview on the outer screen.

Video recording goes up to 4K at 120fps in Dolby Vision, while Cinematic effects can be applied after recording at up to 60FPS.

The iPhone Duo is eSIM-only worldwide and supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread through Apple’s N1 wireless chip. It also uses Apple’s C2 cellular modem.

Now for the Apple Watch Series 12 that focuses on health data management thanks to the new Health Sensing System and the S11 chip.

Citing official numbers, they say it can measure heart rate every 5 seconds throughout the day as well as perform higher-frequency heart rate variability measurements, which feed into a new Readiness score that combines recent activity, training load, health metrics, and sleep data to provide an indication of how prepared a user is for the day.

The redesigned Health app will eventually add a new Longevity section and Health Age feature, allowing users to compare certain health metrics against age-related trends.

Apple is also expanding cycle tracking with perimenopause and menopause support, including notifications for users aged 40 and above when logged cycle patterns show deviations that may be associated with perimenopause.

The Series 12 comes in 42mm and 46mm sizes, with aluminium, titanium and new ceramic configurations. Aluminium models receive Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple says is 60 percent tougher than the previous Ion-X glass.

Also, there’s the Hermès collection special model that is like 4x more expensive than the normal ones, so yeah, take your pick.

Want more out of your wearable because you’re a power user like athletes and outdoor enthusiasts? Then fix your eyes on the Apple Watch Ultra 4, which carries many of the same health improvements through the S11 chip and Health Sensing System.

Apple also claims its most accurate on-device GPS performance yet for a sports watch. Battery life has been increased to up to 50 hours for regular use, or up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode, while extended outdoor workouts can be tracked for up to 45 hours. Charging is also faster, with 15 minutes of charging providing up to 18 hours of battery life.

The 49mm titanium watch comes in Natural and Black finishes and features a display reaching up to 3,000 nits.

For software, there’s the new Siri AI that will be shipped together with iOS 27 that brings personal context understanding, onscreen awareness and broader knowledge to Siri. The assistant can work across messages, emails, photos and apps, while users can also interact with it based on what is currently displayed on the screen.

Apple Intelligence is also being used for features such as Spatial Reframing, Extend and improved Clean Up in Photos. Image Playground is gaining photorealistic image generation, while Safari gets Notify Me for monitoring changes to webpages such as product restocks and price drops.

Aside from the usual on-device processing + Private Cloud Compute privacy protection, the same intelligence features are being extended to Apple Watch, including a new Siri experience. On the same topic, Apple Watch will get Audio Intelligence that packs Sound Recognition, Live Rewind, Siri Recap and faster Shazam functionality.

Sound Recognition can alert users to sounds such as alarms, sirens, doorbells and a baby crying. Live Rewind can display the previous 15 seconds of a conversation as text, while Siri Recap can create a high-level summary of a conversation.

Apple says raw audio is not stored, and the S11’s Secure Exclave handles the audio processing in an isolated hardware environment.

The last item on the list is the new AirPods 5 that come with stronger ANC than last gen, up to 50%, and it is supported by a new multiport acoustic architecture and updated computational audio.

Transparency mode has also been improved, while Adaptive Audio automatically balances ANC and Transparency based on the surroundings.

AirPods 5 use a redesigned acoustic system and next-generation Adaptive EQ, alongside Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking.

The earbuds also tie into Siri AI and Live Translation. Users can interact with Siri using head gestures, while Live Translation allows conversations to be heard in the user’s preferred language when paired with a compatible Apple device.

The standard AirPods 5 provide up to four hours of listening with ANC. The version with the Wireless Charging Case increases this to five hours per charge and up to 22 hours with the case.

The higher-end case also introduces on-stem volume control, allowing users to swipe up or down on the stem to adjust volume.