Apple begins new chapter on Sept 9 with first launch under new CEO John Ternus
On September 9, Apple starts a new chapter. The “Surprise and Shine” event at the Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino at 10 am PT (10:30 pm IST) will be the first product launch under CEO John Ternus, who formally took over from Tim Cook on September 1. Cook becomes Executive Chairman after 15 years as CEO.
It is widely expected to be Apple’s biggest form-factor shift since the iPhone X ditched the home button in 2017.
The star of the show is expected to be Apple’s first foldable iPhone, widely speculated to be called “iPhone Ultra” or iPhone Fold. Leaks point to a book-style design — passport-sized when closed with a 5.3-inch cover screen, opening to a 7.8-inch inner display similar to a small iPad, powered by the A20 Pro chip with 12GB RAM and a C2 modem, with two 48MP rear cameras and Touch ID.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports the hinge and pocketability have impressed early users. Pricing is expected above $2,000 — TrendForce predicts $2,099-$2,299 — making it the first iPhone to breach the $2,000 mark.
As someone who has been building Apple’s hardware for over two decades, from the Cinema Display to the iPhone Air, Ternus is expected to lean heavily on custom engineering rather than a straightforward hinge-and-glass exercise, coordinating hardware and silicon teams tightly as seen with the iPhone Air.
The event will also see iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max with faster chips, better battery and a variable aperture camera on the Pro Max, plus new Apple Watches and AirPods. Notably, the regular iPhone 18 and second-gen iPhone Air are reportedly pushed to early 2027.”We have a huge launch next week that’s going to be phenomenal,” Ternus wrote in his first memo to staff on Tuesday.
Ternus takes over at a turbulent time — soaring memory costs, AI delays, and fresh competition from Huawei’s tri-fold Mate XT2 and Xiaomi’s 18 Fold launched Monday, just ahead of Apple.
