Apple Finally FOLDED: iPhone Duo, 18 Pro & New Watches!
Apple stole the show today with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, packing the A20 Pro chip, a vapor chamber, and a 48-megapixel variable aperture camera, alongside its first foldable, the iPhone Duo, coming in at $2,000. On top of that we got the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 with a real health stack and the AirPods 5 with an open-ear fit, while there’s no base iPhone 18 this year. I’m running through everything Apple announced in under six minutes so you can see what’s new and which phone makes sense for you. (Part of this video is sponsored by CASETiFY.)
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are where the normal iPhone actually changed: the A20 Pro on a 2-nanometer process is the headline chip, but the cool part is the vapor chamber, with Apple talking roughly 40% better sustained performance so the phone stays fast while you edit, game, or live in the camera app. The Dynamic Island got smaller and can stack up to three Live Activities, the 48-megapixel main camera gets a variable aperture so you can change background blur without hopping lenses, there are new Pro video controls, battery is rated up to 24 hours on the Pro and 30 on the Pro Max, faster wired charging hits 50% in around 15 minutes, and pricing starts at $1,199 and $1,299 in new blue, red, silver, and full black colors. The iPhone Duo is what everybody’s been waiting for: a 5.4-inch cover screen that opens into a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR display, basically an iPhone and an iPad mini glued together, with a titanium build, Ceramic Shield, IP68 water and dust resistance, Touch ID on the side button instead of Face ID, apps that adapt by posture, and an under-display FaceTime camera. Trade-offs: just two rear cameras with no telephoto and the Pro main camera without the variable aperture, charging that’s a bit slower at 50% in about 20 minutes, and eSIM only worldwide, while Apple claims about 31 hours on the inner display, 40 on the cover screen, and 24 flipping between both; it’s $1,999, with pre-orders on Friday, October 16th and availability on October 23rd. The Watch Series 12 is built around a new health sensing system with better heart rate and HRV tracking, Readiness, and Health Age, plus audio intelligence with sound recognition, Live Rewind, and Siri recap, starting at $399 in aluminum, stainless steel, and ceramic, while the Ultra 4 gets the same health stack and about two days of battery but no redesign, which is a bummer. AirPods 5 move to an open-ear fit with adaptive EQ, Live Translation, about 4 hours with ANC and 20 with the case, at $129, or $149 with a wireless case and stem touch volume control.
Watch the full keynote recap to see every announcement, the Duo’s modes, and the new colors. Final thoughts: if you want the best camera and something that still feels like just an iPhone in your pocket, go 18 Pro or Pro Max, but if you want something fresh and future-facing, the way the Air felt last year, the Duo is the way to go, and it’s the phone I’ll be switching to; if you have last year’s Apple Watch I wouldn’t upgrade because these are very minor refreshes, the CASETiFY Ultra Impact case I’m putting on my 18 Pro (drop tested to 11.5 feet) is linked with a 15% off code in the video description, and I’ll be doing color comparisons on the Pros and the Duo once they’re out.
