Apple Event Live Blog: Folding iPhone, Apple Watch Series 12, AirPods, and More
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Welcome to our live coverage of today's Apple media showcase. Our reporters on the scene at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, to bring you live coverage. You'll be hearing from Julian Chokkattu, Boutayna Chokrane, Lauren Goode, Reece Rogers, and Michael Calore throughout the event.
The iPhone Duo is expected to be very similar in size and shape to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 (and somewhat like the original Pixel Fold ). I quite like the shape! It's not as tall as book-like folds and is really great for watching videos (which is basically what we all do on our phones, right?).
But would you pay $2,000+ for a folding iPhone? Maybe that's why Apple announced the new Apple Upgrade leasing service…
The Steve Jobs Theater is currently bumping “Paradise” by electronic duo Anotr after playing Overmono’s “After the Rain.” Truly a dance party!
Folding phones are still a very slim slice of the phone market, just a few percent.
One of the biggest factors that has limited their growth is weight. The devices have two screens, huge batteries, and they’re just a lot of phone —more phone than most people want or need. So it will be very interesting to learn today how Apple has managed the problems of weight, bulk, and “pocket feel.”
The show starts in about 10 minutes, folks! Everyone's very excited for the iPhone Duo—what we expect Apple to call its first folding iPhone. (I bet Microsoft is happy .) I would have gone with iFold. iPhone Fold? Or, as WIRED senior writer Jeremy White suggested, iPhold?
Lauren, I was just reading your reporting!
If you’re curious about the impact of Tim Cook’s tenure, I definitely recommend reading Goode's great piece on his dynasty of software subscription services.
I'm optimistic that in the Ternus era I will be invited back to Apple Park sometime.
Hi friends. I'm with Reece. I mean I'm not actually with Reece. But I'm home like Reece, live-blogging from afar. The livestream content won't load on my Apple TV. It's going very well so far.
Good morning! I’m remotely blogging from beautiful San Francisco. Since it’s going to get unusually hot later, I’ve prepped my caffeine needs and will likely stay inside all day. Currently hunkered down in front of the TV with a fully charged laptop and a scratchpad.
Hello! Senior editor Julian Chokkattu and I are seated, caffeinated, and ready to roll!
A mostly empty Steve Jobs theater. But it’s filling up quickly.
To watch the livestream, you can of course just hit play on the video stream on this page. But it's better on the big screen.
You can watch it in your TV's YouTube app; just tune into Apple's YouTube channel . You can also watch it on Apple's own streaming app. If you have an Apple TV or any streaming box, just go into the Apple TV app. When you open the app, the livestream for the event should be displayed prominently right at the top. This works even if you don’t subscribe to Apple’s paid streaming service. Watching it on the television frees up your laptop screen so you can follow the live blog. Convenient!
Along those lines are the rumored AirPods with tiny cameras in them that can be used, in conjunction with voice commands, to give Siri AI some additional context about what you’re looking at and inquiring about. Those earbuds might come today, but we also could just as well see them at an additional event in late September or in October. (It’s likely the smart home products will show up at the next event too.)
Also notable is the list of things we’re not expecting: Apple’s various smart home products that have been rumored to be close to release, including new HomePod speakers and a smart home device that’s used to interacting with Siri’s camera-based Visual Intelligence capabilities.
All the tech journalists gather ahead of the event.
Both the new iPhones and the new Apple Watches will be getting some additional capabilities enabled by Siri AI, the newest version of Apple’s artificially intelligent assistant. So, expect lots of talk about the beefed up new chips in these devices, as well as “on device AI,” secure computing, and battery optimization. Siri AI is actually powerful and impressive in our testing of the beta version, but just like the various Siris that came before it, there are limits to how helpful it can really be in your day to day life.
It’s also likely we’ll see the newest Apple Watch and Watch Ultra models debut at today’s event.
What about the base model iPhone 18? That might not arrive until early next year , though Apple might tease it today. The longer wait could be because of a number of factors, including rising manufacturing costs, the ongoing memory crisis in the broader PC industry. Also, delaying the next generation of cheaper iPhones—the 18, the 18e, and the Air—would give Apple an opportunity to promote its premium handsets more heavily this fall.
Photo: Julian Chokkattu Photo: Julian Chokkattu We’re all at the Steve Jobs theater here at Apple HQ. There are breakfast treats for media attendees.
The short version of what to expect: The folding variant of the iPhone should make its debut today. The word around Silicon Valley is that it’s expected to be named the iPhone Duo , and that it will likely cost more than $2,000.
We’ll probably also see a Pro version iPhone today, and we can expect the folding iPhone and the Pro models to go on sale next week and ship in September or October…
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