Apple on Wednesday redefined its flagship smartphone with the launch of the Duo, a folding $1,999 iPhone, betting its design and promises of data privacy will let it leap ahead of rivals who have been selling folding phones for years.
The Duo could shake up a category long dominated by Samsung and Chinese companies like Huawei, whose devices have struggled to move beyond a niche audience. Analysts have long said Apple's entry could be the catalyst foldables need, helping bring the form factor into the mainstream much as the company did with smartwatches and wireless earbuds.
The Duo is sized and shaped like a passport, with rounded edges. It opens into a horizontal, 7.6-inch-diagonal (19 cm) screen that can also be viewed vertically. There is a smaller single screen on the front when the phone is folded. When open, it is Apple's thinnest phone, the company said. However, it is thicker than folding phones offered by Chinese rivals.
New CEO John Ternus led the event, for the most notable overhaul of Apple's flagship product since the iPhone X in 2017. The iPhone brought in $209.6 billion, or just over half of Apple's sales, in its most recent fiscal year.
"We started with the experience that we wanted for ourselves. A larger display that feels as natural and intuitive as iPad. Then we brought together thoughtful design with breakthrough engineering in a way only Apple can. And the result is a series of remarkable innovations that we believe will redefine the experience of using a foldable phone," Ternus said.
It will fall to Ternus, the previously low-profile hardware chief, to persuade Apple's customers that they need a foldable device costing about $2,000, a new high for a global brand that has defined mass luxury. Analyst firms such as International Data Corporation expect Apple will sell every foldable iPhone it can produce and secure a 40% share of the lucrative niche by the end of next year.
Former CEO Tim Cook handed off to Ternus at the start of the presentation with a video of a joking debate about how to begin the event. The video closed with a close-up of Cook, who said, "Not me. That's your guy," pointing back toward the new CEO.
Apple shares closed down 0.3% at $315.34 on Wednesday, following the presentation.