Apple’s annual September event delivered more than the usual iPhone and Apple Watch updates this year. New CEO John Ternus led the unveiling of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, the iPhone Duo (Apple’s first foldable iPhone), Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, and AirPods 5 with Active Noise Cancellation across the entire lineup.

After the event, Apple confirmed that iOS 27, watchOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, iPadOS 27, tvOS 27, and visionOS 27 will all ship September 14th. As always, we recommend waiting a week or two before upgrading essential devices, and holding off on Golden Gate for a few months until you’re confident your must-have Mac apps are compatible. And always make a backup before upgrading.

Here’s a rundown of everything announced.

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max bring improvements to the camera, performance, and battery life. Apple did not announce a plain iPhone 18, with rumors pointing to an early 2027 arrival.

The headline feature is a new 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera with variable aperture, a first for iPhone. The camera offers four aperture settings: ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0. The Camera app adjusts automatically based on lighting, but photographers can also take manual control through new Pro controls. The wider ƒ/1.48 aperture should improve low-light shots and deliver better bokeh. The Ultra Wide and Telephoto cameras are unchanged from the iPhone 17 Pro.

Performance is noticeably better too. The A20 Pro chip delivers up to 20% faster CPU performance and 40% faster GPU performance compared to last year’s A19 Pro, along with a Dual 16-core Neural Engine with double the AI processing power.

Apple also redesigned the Dynamic Island to be smaller while displaying more information, now showing up to three Live Activities at once.

Battery life gets a bump as well. The iPhone 18 Pro offers up to 24 hours of typical use, while the Pro Max delivers up to 30. Fast charging has improved too: the 18 Pro can add 50% charge in just 15 minutes with a 60W or higher adapter.

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299, each up $100 from last year due to the ongoing memory shortage. Storage upgrade prices have also increased. Available in black, silver, glacier, and burgundy. Pre-orders open at 5 AM Pacific on September 12th, with availability starting September 18th.

If those prices are out of range, the iPhone 17e ($699), iPhone 16 ($799), iPhone 17 ($899), and iPhone Air ($1,099) are all still available, each up $100 from before the event.

Should you upgrade? The iPhone 18 Pro is impressive, but unless you specifically want the best possible camera, top-end performance, and longest battery life, we’d suggest holding off. An iPhone 15 Pro or newer that supports Apple Intelligence will likely continue to serve you well.

iPhone Duo

The biggest surprise of the event was the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable iPhone. Foldable Android phones have been around for a while but have always had trade-offs. Apple’s take shows the same attention to design and software polish you’d expect.

Closed, the iPhone Duo is roughly passport-sized, with a 5.4-inch outer display that covers 90% of the screen area of the iPhone 18 Pro. Open, the 7.6-inch inner display is 50% larger than the Pro Max, giving you noticeably more room for media, gaming, and productivity. A nano-texture finish on the inner display reduces glare and makes the crease less visible.

Apple says the hinge and integrated magnet array give it a smooth, solid feel. Despite the folding design, it’s still rated IP68 for water resistance (up to 6 meters for 30 minutes), matching the iPhone 18 Pro. Ceramic Shield and Ceramic Shield 2 protect the back and front from scratches.

The iPhone Duo uses Touch ID in the side button rather than Face ID. It runs on the same A20 Pro chip as the 18 Pro and delivers up to 24 hours of battery life in typical use.

iOS 27 has been reimagined for the Duo. Lock Screen controls, the Dock, the Dynamic Island, and app navigation sit along the side to maximize vertical content space. When open, the display shows two Home Screen pages with Today View on the left. Content adapts as the phone folds, reorients when turned sideways, and switches displays when flipped. Split View lets two apps run side by side, borrowed from iPadOS. StandBy activates whenever the Duo is set down, even without charging.

The camera system includes a 48-megapixel Fusion Main and a 48-megapixel Ultra Wide, but no variable aperture or Telephoto. The folding design enables some fun new modes: Smart Take captures photos automatically while subjects are posing, Duo Preview shows a live preview on the outer display so subjects can guide the shot, and Kid Cue plays Peanuts animations to get kids’ attention. Duo FaceTime lets people nearby join a video call on the outer display.

The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 in star white and night sky. Pre-orders open October 16th, with availability starting October 23rd. Apple Pencil support is coming later this year.

At $1,999, the Duo costs more than an iPhone 18 Pro and an iPad mini combined. It’s clearly aimed at early adopters and those who’ve been waiting for Apple to enter the foldable market. If that’s you, it’s worth a close look.

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 focus on health sensing accuracy and introduce a new category of features called Audio Intelligence, powered by the new S11 chip.

The new Health Sensing System delivers what Apple calls its most accurate heart rate sensing ever. Larger, more efficient green LEDs now measure heart rate every 5 seconds throughout the day, 60 times more often than before. Heart rate variability is measured up to 24 times more frequently as well.

These improvements power a new Readiness feature that analyzes recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep to give you a 0-10 score with one of four recommendations: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It. The score updates throughout the day as new data comes in.

Audio Intelligence is a genuinely new category for Apple Watch. Sound Recognition alerts Deaf users or those hard of hearing to sounds like doorbells, sirens, or crying babies. Shazam now automatically identifies nearby music and surfaces it in the Smart Stack. Live Rewind shows the previous 15 seconds of conversation as text when you double-press the Digital Crown. Siri Recap creates summaries of conversations for later review. Live Rewind and Siri Recap arrive in beta later this year and require an iPhone 16 or later, excluding the iPhone 16e.

The always-listening nature of these features has already raised privacy questions. Apple says no audio recordings are created or stored: raw audio is processed in a hardware-isolated Secure Exclave and immediately deleted, while Live Rewind and Siri Recap data synced via iCloud is end-to-end encrypted. It’ll be interesting to see whether this gets the same scrutiny as Meta’s AI glasses.

The Series 12 now offers up to 10 hours of workout battery life, 25% more than the Series 11, while maintaining 24 hours of everyday use. Charging is faster too: 15 minutes gives you up to 12 hours of battery.

Aluminum models gain Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple says is 60% tougher than the previous Ion-X glass. A new ceramic case option comes in pearl white and night blue. Other finishes include dark bronze, black, light gold, space gray aluminum, radiant gold, and natural titanium.

The Apple Watch Ultra 4 gets the same Health Sensing System and Audio Intelligence features, plus improved battery life: up to 50 hours of everyday use, 25 hours in Extended Workout mode with full GPS and heart rate, and 45 hours in Max Extended Workout mode. Fast charging carries over as well.

Pricing is unchanged: the Series 12 starts at $399 and the Ultra 4 at $799. Pre-orders are open now, with availability September 18th. The Apple Watch SE 3 remains available starting at $249.

For most people on a Series 10 or 11, the upgrade may be hard to justify unless the Audio Intelligence features are particularly appealing. Those on older models may find the battery improvements and new health sensing worth the jump. Keep in mind that watchOS 27 requires a Series 9 or later, SE 3, or Ultra 2 or later.

AirPods 5

The AirPods 5 bring Active Noise Cancellation to Apple’s entire open-ear lineup for the first time. Both the base model and the wireless charging case model now include ANC, along with Transparency mode, Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, Personalized Spatial Audio, and Live Translation.

Water resistance also improves from IP54 to IP57, meaning they can handle temporary immersion for up to 30 minutes.

The wireless charging case model keeps a few exclusive features: volume swipe on the stems, longer battery life (5 hours with ANC versus 4 on the base model), support for Apple Watch and Qi chargers, and a speaker in the case for Find My.

The AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case costs $149, actually $30 less than the $179 AirPods 4 with ANC it replaces. The base model stays at $129. That makes ANC more accessible than ever, though anyone who needs maximum noise isolation should still look at the AirPods Pro 3. If your current AirPods are working fine, there’s no rush to upgrade, but the AirPods 5 will be a solid choice whenever you’re ready for a new pair.

(Featured image by Apple)