Apple catches up after 7 years, unveils Rs 3 lakh foldable iPhone

iPhone fans are in for a shock as the foldable devide is priced from nearly Rs 3 lakh in India.

Cupertino: Apple has unveiled its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, at its annual September event on Wednesday, September 9, marking the company’s long-awaited but expected entry into a category its rivals have occupied for the better part of seven years. However, iPhone fans are in for a shock as the foldable device is priced from nearly Rs 3 lakh in India.

The device was announced at an event headlined by new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on September 1 and briefly took the stage at the Steve Jobs Theater to loud cheers. In a video message, he praised Apple’s “relentless pursuit of excellence.”

The iPhone Duo comes in Star White and Night Sky and is priced at Rs 2,99,900 in for 256 GB of storage. Pre-orders begin on October 16, with sales starting a week later on October 23. It arrives alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which Ternus said bring improvements to battery, camera and performance.

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The iPhone 18 Pro’s price starts at Rs 1,64,900 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max from Rs 1,79,900 in India. Pre-orders start on September 12, with the phones being available from September 18.

Two screens, no Face ID

The Duo carries a 5.4-inch screen on the outside which opens to reveal a 7.6-inch inner display, close to the size of an iPad Mini. Apple said it kept the aspect ratio consistent across both screens for viewing quality.

The phone has a titanium frame with a mirror finish, Ceramic Shield glass on the back and Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, along with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating. Apple described the hinge as having a “custom variable torque profile” that opens and closes the device in an “effortlessly smooth” way, and said the Duo is the thinnest iPhone ever when open.

As Samsung does with its foldables, Apple uses a carbon fibre metal plate beneath the display to manage the stress of bending, which along with a nano-texture finish helps keep the screen flat and “minimises crease visibility.”

Notably, there is no Face ID sensor, likely a concession to the space taken up by the folding mechanism. Instead, the Duo revives Touch ID built into the side power button. It is also the first iPhone to support the USB-C Apple Pencil, due later this year, though there is no way to attach the stylus to the device.

Battery, cameras and chip

Apple said the Duo has the largest battery ever fitted to an iPhone, split across both halves in the manner of most book-style folds. That works out to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display, 44 hours on the outer one, or 24 hours of mixed use per charge. It runs on the A20 Pro chip, the same silicon powering the two Pro models.

There are two rear cameras, a 48-megapixel primary and a 48-megapixel ultrawide, with no telephoto zoom, a sacrifice Samsung also made on its Galaxy Z Fold8. Two selfie cameras are fitted, a 12-megapixel unit on the outer screen and another hidden under the inner display.

The phone can stand upright on its own to capture group photos automatically, and subjects can preview a shot before the shutter is pressed. Apple has also moved essential controls to the side, stacked vertically, with apps expanding to show more information and support split-screen use as the device opens.

Late entrant to a niche market

Apple is a late arrival to foldables, which Samsung introduced with the Galaxy Fold in 2019 and which Honor, Google, Motorola and Oppo have since taken up.

“The foldable launch is straight out of Apple’s playbook: Wait for the product to work out its kinks and for the market to offer glimpses of viability, then enter and shape the category,” said Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee told the Associated Press. “The difference is that foldables still represent a minuscule share of the smartphone market. The test of Apple’s ambition will be whether it can expand that niche into a meaningful new segment.”

The category has declined for five straight quarters, down 13 per cent year on year, and accounts for roughly 2 per cent of the global smartphone market. IDC senior research director Nabila Popal told Wired that Apple could capture up to 30 per cent of foldable market share by the end of 2026. An IDC survey found 60 per cent of consumers were unlikely to buy a foldable, but almost 33 per cent said they “absolutely” would if Apple made one.

No base iPhone this year

Apple announced three premium models but is not releasing a base iPhone 18 this year, breaking up the launch cycle of its core lineup for the first time. The iPhone 18 is expected in spring 2027 alongside the iPhone 18e and a second-generation iPhone Air.

The keynote was Ternus’s first as CEO. “John Ternus inherits perhaps the most successful consumer technology juggernaut in modern times. That is both a boon and a burden for him,” Chatterjee said, adding that he must sustain the momentum built under Cook while positioning Apple for a future in which the smartphone is no longer the primary way people connect to the world.

(With inputs from The Associated Press)