Apple hosts its "Surprise and Shine" event today at Apple Park in Cupertino, where new CEO John Ternus presents the company’s first foldable iPhone alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. The keynote began at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, and it is the first major product launch of the Ternus era.
What Apple is expected to announce
The foldable iPhone, reportedly called the iPhone Duo, uses a book-style design with a roughly 5.5-inch outer display and a 7.8-inch inner screen. Bloomberg-reported details put the starting price at about $2,000 for a 256GB model, with higher-storage versions reaching around $3,000. Sales begin in October, with white and dark blue color options.
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to use the new A20 Pro chip on a 2-nanometer process. The Pro Max reportedly gains a mechanical aperture for better low-light photography, and both models feature a smaller Dynamic Island and a redesigned vapor chamber for heat management.
Key product and investor details
| Product | Expected details |
|---|---|
| iPhone Duo (foldable) | 5.5-inch outer display, 7.8-inch inner display, from about $2,000 |
| iPhone 18 Pro / Pro Max | A20 Pro chip, 2nm process, smaller Dynamic Island |
| Apple Watch Series 12 / Ultra 4 | New colors, ceramic returns, longer battery life on Ultra |
| AirPods 5 | Heart-rate tracking, versions with and without noise cancellation |
| Home Hub | 7-inch display smart home device |
Why the foldable matters financially
A $2,000 to $3,000 price band puts the foldable well above the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s premium tier. If Apple sells even 10 million units at a $2,500 average selling price, the device adds roughly $25 billion of high-margin revenue in its first year.
That math explains why the foldable is the single most watched product of the event. It is Apple’s first genuinely new hardware category since the Vision Pro, and the first real test of demand for premium foldables at scale.
The dividend and cash return picture
Apple pays a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, an annualized $1.08, for a yield near 0.35 percent at recent prices between $309 and $325. The board lifted the rate 4 percent in May from the $0.26 paid in February.
The June quarter generated a record $34.4 billion in operating cash flow against $2.45 billion of capital expenditures. Dividends took $4 billion and buybacks took $25.8 billion, yet cash still grew to $147 billion against $84 billion of debt.
| Capital return metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Quarterly dividend | $0.27 per share |
| Annualized payout | $1.08 |
| Yield at $325 | About 0.33 percent |
| June quarter operating cash flow | $34.4 billion |
| June quarter buybacks | $25.8 billion |
Leadership transition adds uncertainty premium
Ternus took over as CEO on September 1, 2026, succeeding Tim Cook, who moved to executive chairman. He previously served as senior vice president of Hardware Engineering and led a series of product launches, but Wednesday marks his first extended public commentary as chief executive.
Investors will listen for three signals: how Ternus frames growth beyond iPhone, whether services momentum holds, and how he handles pricing on the foldable. Apple trades at a P/E of 42, which leaves little room for a stumble.
Risks to watch
- Rising memory costs, flagged by Tim Cook as a "100-year flood," pressure margins in the December quarter
- The foldable’s $2,000-plus price limits the addressable market to premium buyers
- Services growth must offset hardware cycle fatigue across the installed base
Bottom line for Apple investors
The foldable is a real growth test but not a dividend test. The payout is among the safest in mega-cap tech, with roughly eight times cash-flow coverage. Income investors hold Apple for rising income and buybacks, not current yield, and today’s event does not change that math.
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