Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC) had a good Thursday, with shares up 3.1% after unveiling its first foldable iPhone, the $1,999-and-up iPhone Duo.
The move puts Apple into a market Samsung, Google and Huawei have played in for years – the biggest shake-up to the iPhone lineup in a long time.
The reveal also marked new CEO John Ternus's first major product launch since taking over.
The Duo packs a 5.4-inch outer display, a 7.6-inch inner display, Apple's new A20 Pro chip with a fresh display engine, and Touch ID. It comes in star white and night sky, starts at $2,000 for 256GB and tops out at $3,200 for 2TB. Pre-orders open October 16, with shipping starting October 23.
Apple also trimmed its lineup to three models: the Pro ($1,199), the Pro Max ($1,299), and the Duo, with both the Pro and Pro Max up $100 from last year.
What analysts are saying
Bank of America called the Duo the star of the show, praising how well Apple blended the hardware and software. The bank sees the bigger foldable screen opening up a much larger market for Apple, especially once pencil support arrives later in the year and the device starts feeling more like an iPad for productivity.
New touches like dual capture in FaceTime and apps built around the extra screen space should help it go mainstream over time, analysts added.
UBS said the event mostly matched expectations, since the firm had already anticipated the foldable, though it still called the Duo a real shift for the lineup.
On pricing, UBS noted the $100 increases on the Pro and Pro Max don't fully offset Apple's higher memory costs, but a bigger $200 jump likely would have hurt demand. The bank pointed back to 2022, when Apple raised European prices and demand stayed soft for nearly a year, as a cautionary comparison.
UBS also expects the iPhone 18 Base, Air and e models to launch early next year.
Supply chain signals
UBS's supply chain checks point to 8 million to 10 million foldable builds. At $1,999, the Duo costs more than the 1TB iPhone 17 Pro at $1,499 but lines up closer to the 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max at $1,999.
UBS expects early demand to come mostly from existing Apple customers upgrading rather than switchers. Using Samsung's foldable sell-through as a guide, roughly 10 million units over a year, about 3 million in the first three months, UBS thinks Apple could top 5 million foldable units in fiscal 2026.
If a couple million Pro and Pro Max buyers shift to the Duo, that could add about 6 million incremental units, roughly a 2% boost to its 261 million iPhone estimate for the year. UBS left its broader iPhone estimates unchanged.
Ternus makes his mark
Thursday's event also served as a coming-out party for Ternus, who used his first major keynote as CEO to put his own stamp on Apple's product philosophy.
Bank of America said Ternus, in his debut as CEO, leaned into Apple's focus on reliable products that tie hardware, software and services together. He described the iPhone as an "intelligent personal hub" powered by on-device AI and Private Cloud Compute for tougher requests, with Siri expected to grow more capable while protecting user privacy.
BofA kept its Buy rating, noting pricing came in lower than expected, which could boost units but may pressure gross margins given rising memory and component costs.
Whether the Duo becomes a true growth driver or a niche upgrade for loyalists will be the key question heading into the holiday quarter.
