All the news from Apple’s ‘Surprise and shine’ event – The Verge

There aren’t AirPods with cameras yet and I hope it stays that way

2026-09-09T19:00:04-04:00

New AirPods Pro with cameras were thankfully not announced at the September Apple event. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

September Apple events are always a swirl of information and new, exciting products, and today's was no different. Apple announced its first foldable, the iPhone Duo, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max; active noise cancellation (ANC) is now on the cheapest AirPods model, the AirPods 5; and a Siri Recap feature comes to the Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4. But missing were the AirPods Pro with cameras that have been rumored throughout the year and, according to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, are delayed until 2027. I'm happy about that and I hope we never get them.

I have too many concerns about a company - any company - putting cameras a …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The black iPhone Pro returns

2026-09-09T18:37:51-04:00

Black is back. | Photo: Nilay Patel / The Verge

Apple has seen reason: It has a black model in the iPhone Pro lineup again.

Last year, Apple went bold with its colors for the iPhone 17 Pro, offering a flashy orange, a shiny silver, and a dark blue. Don't get me wrong, they looked nice. But there was no black (or dark gray) for the first time since the start of the iPhone Pro lineup, which Apple first introduced in September 2019 with the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max.

I care about this because I always buy the black phone. I learned my lesson with the iPhone 6: I got it in gold to mix things up and came to regret it. I don't need something flashy - I need a phone that blends into the backg …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The incomplete history of Duo devices

2026-09-09T18:23:35-04:00

Apple announced the company's first device with a folding screen today, the iPhone Duo, but that's where the firsts end. The Duo is not only far from the first foldable on the market thanks to the efforts of Samsung and Google, but it's also not the first product to be called the Duo.

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs popularized the saying "good artists copy, great artists steal," but will the iPhone Duo's folding screen, which features a custom nano-texture display material to help minimize the visibility of its crease, be enough to make us forget these other Duos that have come before it? Only time, or how aggressively Apple plans to market i …

Read the full story at The Verge.

It’s the year of smartphone price hikes

2026-09-09T20:03:39-04:00

Paying more for a new phone seems almost unavoidable after Apple's event today. The new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max start at $1,199 and $1,299, respectively - a $100 price hike over their predecessors. You can't dodge the price hike by opting for an older iPhone, either, because Apple raised prices on those by $100, too. And it's not just Apple. This year, the $100 price hike has been a trend across the industry.

Google and Samsung followed the same formula as Apple when they each launched new phones over the past few months. The Pixel 11 starts at $899, up from $799 for last year's Pixel 10. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra launched at $2,099, $10 …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Read the Apple document explaining how new listening features still protect your privacy

2026-09-09T16:44:43-04:00

At Wednesday's iPhone Duo launch event, Apple announced a handful of new Siri AI Audio Intelligence features, including Siri Recap, Live Rewind, Sound Recognition, and Music Recognition. Alongside its announcement, Apple released a document laying out how it plans to balance AI "ambient listening" and users' privacy. It says the raw audio from the new features "is handled within dedicated hardware, is not saved as a file, and is not accessible to the operating system, apps, or Apple."

Apple explains that Audio Intelligence relies on the Secure Exclave in the S11 chip that powers the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4:

The …

Read the full story at The Verge.

How the new Apple Watches compare to the last-gen models

2026-09-09T20:23:34-04:00

The new Apple Watches come in a variety of material and strap combinations.

Apple rolled out the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 at its "Surprise and shine" event. The new watches feature sizable improvements to their health sensors and tracking, plus the ability to create brief audio transcriptions and summaries, plus a ceramic case option for the Series 12. Despite the new features, the watches start at the same base prices as their previous iterations. The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399 for the aluminum version without cellular, and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799.

The biggest differences between the models are new features powered by the S11 processor. It supports the new Apple Intell …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Verge staffers react to the iPhone Duo: What we love and don’t love

2026-09-09T16:11:11-04:00

Apple has just announced its first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo. The new phone has a 5.4-inch outer screen and a 7.6-inch inner screen, two back cameras, Touch ID for authentication, an IP68 rating, and all sorts of slick software tricks to make iOS feel more at home on the new device. Preorders start on October 16th ahead of availability on October 23rd, and it starts at $1,999 for 256GB of storage.

It's a huge announcement for Apple, and we have many feelings about it. Here's our gut reactions to the phone. And let us know in the comments what you think!

The Duo name is good

I think iPhone Duo is the perfect name for Apple's foldable …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple’s new iPhone camera mode promises to prove your photo isn’t AI

2026-09-09T16:21:17-04:00

" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/268734_iPhone_2026_event_handson_ADiBenedetto_0023.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />

Apple is launching a new way to prove that the picture you took isn't manipulated by AI. A new feature, called "Reference Image," will arrive with the iPhone 18 Pro lineup later this month and is supposed to use the device's new camera sensor to "sign every pixel it sees."

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will only authenticate photos when placed into Reference mode. Once the camera captures signed sensor data, Apple says its Private Cloud Compute will develop it "into an unalterable reference image" that can be viewed in the Photos app. You'll be able to compare the reference image with other versions of the photo to see if any edits were mad …

Read the full story at The Verge.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: Our first hands-on impressions

2026-09-09T18:32:37-04:00

The 18 Pro in burgundy is ready for fall.

We've just gotten our hands on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max at Apple Park following the company's "Surprise and shine" presentation.

The new phones look quite similar to the previous iPhone 17 Pro lineup, keeping the same general design, aluminum body, and screen sizes. The 18 Pro lineup comes in four colors - black, silver, "glacier" (which is blue), and burgundy - and they now have color-matched glass on the back that blends in more seamlessly with the body.

Another major new feature is the variable-aperture lens for the main camera and new "pro" controls to help give you more options when taking photos. Apple has also added pro control …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Hands-on with the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4

2026-09-09T18:32:54-04:00

After Apple wrapped up its "Surprise and shine" event today, we were able to get a look at the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4.

Ceramic is back, baby. | Photo: Victoria Song / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo: Victoria Song / The Verge">

Both of the new watches launch September 18th, with preorders available starting today.

The Apple Watch Series 12 once again starts at $399 for the aluminum case option in space gray, black, light gold, and dark bronze aluminum. The natural or radiant gold titanium version costs $699, and the night blue or pearl white ceramic costs $899. Apple says this year's watch offers up to 24 hours of "everyday" battery life, and now offers up to 10 hours of battery during outdoor workouts and supports faster chargin …

Read the full story at The Verge.