John Ternus's First Keynote: Everything Apple Announced, and What I Think

Opinion piece. My own views.

Apple called Wednesday's event "Surprise and shine". It delivered the surprise, and it was the first keynote with John Ternus running the company. I've now had two days to sit with it, so here's everything that was announced, what wasn't, and what I think it tells us about Apple under its new CEO.

What was announced

iPhone Duo. Apple's first folding iPhone. A 5.4-inch screen outside, 7.6 inches inside, Touch ID in the side button, eSIM only, and £1,999 to start. Pre-orders open 16 October and it arrives 23 October. I've written a full explainer here.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. From £1,199 and £1,299. A 48MP main camera with a real variable aperture, the 2 nanometre A20 Pro chip, and the best battery life on any iPhone. Pre-orders Saturday, on sale 18 September. My upgrade guide is here.

AirPods 5. Noise cancellation on every model, from £119. Details here.

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. New heart sensors, a daily Readiness score, and features that listen out for doorbells and alarms for people who are hard of hearing. From £369 and £749. Written up here.

iOS 27 arrives on Monday 14 September for iPhone 11 and later, with watchOS 27 and macOS 27 Golden Gate alongside it. That, more than any of the hardware, is the upgrade most of you will actually feel.

What wasn't announced

No standard iPhone 18. Apple showed the Pro, the Pro Max and the Duo, and said nothing about a regular model. The iPhone 17 stays on sale at £899. Whether a non-Pro iPhone 18 turns up later is rumour for now, and I'll treat it that way.

No Macs, which was expected after the Mac mini and Mac Studio updates in August. No HomePod or Apple TV either. Both are overdue, and I'd guess at a later announcement, but that is a guess.

One feature worth flagging. iPhone Handoff, which lets one phone number work across two iPhones, launches with T-Mobile in the US and Telekom in Germany. No UK network yet. Don't buy a Duo expecting to share a number with your old iPhone.

What I think about Ternus

Tim Cook's first keynote as CEO, back in 2011, was the iPhone 4S. A safe, incremental product, and the internet was disappointed. Ternus's first was a folding iPhone that Apple is calling the biggest change since the original. That's a statement of intent, and a very different opening move.

What struck me was the language. Ternus is an engineer, and it showed. The line that stuck with me from the Duo announcement was about "what's possible when hardware and software are engineered together". That's the old Apple idea, the one that made me fall for the company when I worked there, said out loud by someone who has spent 25 years building the hardware half of it.

The event was also tighter than recent years. Fewer products, more time on each. Whether that's Ternus or just the shape of this year's lineup, I don't know yet. But I liked it.

The part I'm less happy about

Prices. The Pro is £100 up on last year. The iPhone 17 and 17e are £100 up on where they were in the spring. Macs went up in August. The MacBook Neo I recommended at £599 is now £699. Apple hasn't explained any of it, and a foldable at £1,999 doesn't help the perception. For a lot of the people I look after, who are on fixed incomes and keep their phones for five years, this matters more than a variable aperture ever will.

What I'd actually do

If your iPhone is a 13 Pro or older, the 18 Pro is a big upgrade, and the iPhone 17 at £899 is the sensible one if you don't need the camera. If you're on anything from the 15 Pro onwards, install iOS 27 on Monday and enjoy it. It's free, and it's the update I've been wanting for years.

And the Duo? Go and hold one in October. Then wait for the second generation. That's my honest advice, and I say it as someone who really wants one.

If you'd like to talk any of this through, book a session or reply to this post. I read everything.