Apple Event 2026 live — last-minute iPhone Ultra leaks, AirPods 5 rumors, and more ahead of today's big showcase

09 Sep 2026, 09:12 by https://www.techradar.com/author/axel-metz · TechRadar

Apple Event 2026 live — last-minute iPhone Ultra leaks, AirPods 5 rumors, and more ahead of today's big showcase

Get ready for what could be the biggest Apple Event in years

News By Axel Metz Last updated 9 September 2026

(Image credit: © Apple / Future)

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Apple's hotly anticipated ‘Surprise and Shine’ event takes place today, and we're on the ground in California to bring you all the big announcements as they happen.

Leading the list of rumored-to-be-unveiled products is Apple's first foldable iPhone — expected to be called either the iPhone Ultra or iPhone Duo — which, if it does arrive, would represent the biggest iPhone shake-up in recent history. This dual-screen device could also skyrocket the popularity of foldable phones more generally, so Samsung and Google executives are surely paying close attention.

Elsewhere, Apple looks set to refresh its wearable, earbud, and smart home lines with new Apple Watches, AirPods, and HomePods, respectively — and we may even see a new version of the Apple TV 4K, which hasn't been updated since 2022.

Today's event kicks off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST — or 3am AEST on September 10 if you're in Australia — but in the meantime, we'll be rounding up the latest leaks, rumors, and predictions about new CEO John Ternus' first Apple Event.

Jump to the live updates here

Written by

Written by Axel Metz

Axel is TechRadar's Phones Editor, responsible for covering the latest hardware and software developments in mobile technology. He's written close to 2,000 articles for TechRadar on everything from iPhones to tri-folds, and so is well-placed to walk you through today's potentially historic Apple Event.

Apple Event 2026 — rumored announcements

Foldable iPhone Ultra (or iPhone Duo)
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max
Apple Watch Series 12
Apple Watch Ultra 4
AirPods 5
Apple TV 4K (2026)
HomePod mini 2

Apple Event 2026 — how to watch

Apple Event — September 9 - YouTube

Watch On

Today's ‘Surprise and Shine’ Apple event is taking place at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park, California, but you'll be able to follow along via the livestream video embedded above or via Apple’s official event page.

Proceedings kick off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, which is 3am AEST on September 10 if you're in Australia.

If you press the ‘Notify me’ button on the video embedded above, you’ll get a reminder when the event is starting, and, of course, you'll be able to re-watch the stream once the event finishes (we're expecting things to wrap up around 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm BST, or 5am AEST in Australia).

Live updates

Get notified of updates 2026-09-09T11:55:56.129Z

Don't forget about the iPhone 18 Pro

A quick word on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, which will likely be the forgotten children of today's Apple Event while also being the best-selling Apple products of the next 12 months.

Gurman says both phones will have smaller, more functional Dynamic Islands, an upgraded vapor chamber (read: they won't get as hot), and "major" new camera hardware. Rumors suggest a variable aperture feature could be chief among this new hardware, which would make the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max some of the best camera phones around.

2026-09-09T11:32:21.829Z

A clear message from Samsung

(Image credit: Samsung)

If you walk around London, New York, or Seoul today, you may spot Samsung's new tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign, dubbed ‘Welcome to Foldables’.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 manufacturer is clearly hoping to remind people that it has spent a decade developing foldable technology, and that Apple — if it does release its first foldable today — is late to the party.

That said, Samsung isn't totally against Apple's late entry into the foldables market. Speaking to Bloomberg last year, Samsung's President and COO of the company’s Mobile eXperience (MX) division, Won-joon Choi, said: "I think healthy competition with other companies will bring more innovations, and then bring more benefits to consumers. So we are welcoming others to join this category, which we created back in 2019 [...] Having another global company join this category, I think it's good for the industry, and also, it's going to be great for consumers."

2026-09-09T11:06:33.482Z

(Image credit: Apple)

Today might also be the day we finally get a successor to the HomePod mini. This smaller, more affordable version of the standard Apple HomePod (which now exists as the HomePod 2) was released way back in November 2020, but hasn't been updated since.

More than 20 (!) new iPhones have launched in that same period, so to say the HomePod mini 2 has been a long time coming would be an understatement.

Rumored upgrades for the HomePod mini include a faster chipset (duh!), superior audio quality, and Siri AI functionality.

2026-09-09T10:43:25.529Z

Let's talk AirPods

(Image credit: Future)

Moving away from the iPhone for the moment, let's talk AirPods. Today, we're expecting Apple to announce two new AirPods models: the AirPods 5 without ANC (active noise cancellation), and AirPods 5 with ANC.

Both models are set to use Apple's new H3 chipset, which should improve audio processing and reduce latency, though it remains to be seen how different the AirPods 5 with ANC will be from the AirPods Pro, which already offer ANC.

In any case, we're not expecting to see any camera-equipped AirPods launch today, despite rumors suggesting that such a product is indeed in development.

2026-09-09T10:07:03.843Z 2026-09-09T09:40:17.574Z

Another important note: Gurman says Apple's first foldable iPhone will have Apple Pencil support. Steve Jobs won't be happy...

(Image credit: Apple)

2026-09-09T09:26:41.064Z

Gurman adds in the same X post that the iPhone Duo will have a starting price of $2,000, rising to $3,000 for the 2TB model. And, yes, in case you were in any doubt: those numbers would make the Duo the most expensive iPhone of all time.

2026-09-09T09:21:39.365Z

Could the iPhone Ultra be the iPhone Duo?

According to seasoned Apple tipster Mark Gurman, the iPhone Ultra will in fact be called the iPhone Duo. It's pretty hard to believe that such a drastically different name has emerged just hours before the product itself is due to be unveiled — so we're still a tad skeptical about its authenticity — but Gurman has an excellent track record when it comes to Apple predictions.

2026-09-09T09:19:11.482Z

Of those nine rumored products, the most hotly anticipated is Apple's first foldable iPhone, which we've been referring to as the 'iPhone Ultra' for close to a year now. But at the very last minute, the rumor mill has spat out an unexpected new name for this folding device...

2026-09-09T09:16:29.034Z

First, a quick reminder of what's happening: Apple's ‘Surprise and Shine’ event is scheduled to start at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST today (that's 3am AEST on September 10 if you're in Australia).

This is the 2026 edition of Apple's annual product showcase, and we're expecting to see as many as nine (yes, nine) new products unveiled.

2026-09-09T09:14:25.563Z

Good morning, folks! It's Apple Day — the most important date in the annual tech calendar and the busiest day of the year for the TechRadar office (sigh).

I'll be bringing you the latest iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch rumors ahead of the event's kick-off later today, and trust me: there's a lot to cover.

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