Apple's September event became one of the most talked-about moments in the tech world in recent years. The company simultaneously announced two fundamentally different devices: the ultra-flagship iPhone 18 Pro Max, which features a revolutionary camera with physically moving elements, and the iPhone Duo — the brand's first-ever foldable smartphone in a titanium body. Both devices were shown live, and their key specifications were confirmed by the company's official materials. Photos from the event show the iPhone Duo in its folded state — a compact device the size of a passport that, when unfolded, transforms into a 7.6-inch tablet with a vibrant gradient wallpaper on the screen.
iPhone 18 Pro Max: a camera that "breathes" mechanically
The main innovation of the iPhone 18 Pro Max is its 48-megapixel Fusion main camera with laser-cut aperture blades. Unlike all previous iPhone models, where background blur and light control were handled exclusively by algorithms, here the blades physically contract and expand, giving the user real optical control over depth of field and the amount of light reaching the sensor. Apple emphasizes that this allows for natural bokeh without electronic "fakes" or neural-network processing artifacts. In addition, every pixel of a photo is signed by the sensor at the hardware level — the Apple Reference Image technology lets you prove in one click that a photograph is authentic and was not generated or edited by artificial intelligence. The smartphone is available in four designer colors: Burgundy (dark cherry), Glacier (light blue), Black (deep black), and Silver (classic silver).
A20 Pro chip and record battery life
The heart of the iPhone 18 Pro Max is the A20 Pro processor, built on a 2-nanometer process. The chip features a 6-core CPU and a 7-core graphics accelerator, with memory bandwidth up 50% compared to the previous generation. The battery provides up to 45 hours of continuous video playback, and 5 minutes of fast charging add another 7 hours of use. The updated interactive Dynamic Island cutout can now display up to three active Live Activities widgets at once, turning it into a full-fledged multitasking module. Connectivity is handled by the new in-house N1 chip with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support, as well as the Apple C2 wireless modem, which is 15% more power-efficient than its predecessor.
iPhone Duo: the first foldable iPhone in titanium
The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable smartphone, built in an ultra-strong titanium body. In its folded state, the device is the size of a standard passport, and when unfolded it becomes a 7.6-inch tablet. The outer 5.4-inch display supports persistent StandBy clock display even without being connected to a charger. The inner 7.6-inch flexible screen features a special hinge with a smooth profile, allowing the smartphone to unfold perfectly flat without a visible crease. The model's official colors are Night Sky (deep dark blue) and Star White (pearl white). Due to the ultra-thin edges, engineers had to drop Face ID: instead, a high-speed Touch ID scanner is built into the side power button. The device also gained full compatibility with the in-house Apple Pencil stylus for drawing and note-taking.
Tablet-style interface and interactive cameras
The iPhone Duo's operating system automatically adapts app scaling in an iPadOS style. Full Split View is supported — working in two windows at once, dragging files between apps with a finger, and a side dock panel. During FaceTime calls, you can simultaneously stream footage from both the front and main cameras, and when filming children, the outer screen displays animations to draw the child's attention to the lens. These features turn the foldable form factor from a technological experiment into a practical tool for everyday use.
Prices and availability
According to Ukrainian media, prices for the new iPhones in Ukraine start from several tens of thousands of hryvnia and reach 188,000 hryvnia for top-tier configurations. Meanwhile, as the outlet Obozrevatel reports, Apple is delaying the release of the base iPhone 18 model without the Pro suffix — it was not presented at the September event and, according to available data, will appear later. This creates a certain gap in the lineup: consumers waiting for a more affordable version have to wait, while the Pro Max and Duo are already available for pre-order.
Contradictory data
There is a discrepancy between sources over exactly which models were presented on the main stage. The outlet 24tv.ua focuses on the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, while TSN emphasizes the Pro and Duo duo. Meanwhile, Obozrevatel notes that the base iPhone 18 model was delayed and did not feature in the presentation. Thus, the full iPhone 18 lineup at the time of the September announcement includes the Pro, Pro Max, and Duo, but not the "bare" iPhone 18. Apple has not officially disclosed the exact release date for the base model, leaving room for various interpretations in the media space.
