John Ternus hosted Apple’s “Surprise and shine” event at Apple Park on September 9, his first keynote since he succeeded Tim Cook as CEO on September 1. The event produced the iPhone 18 Pro from $1,199, AirPods 5 from $129 and, according to keynote coverage, an iPhone Duo foldable priced at about $2,000.
Cook remains at Apple as executive chairman, so the change at the top was a handover rather than a break. Eight days into the job, Ternus presented a lineup that looks a lot like the one Apple has shipped every September, with a few departures worth separating out.
What changed at Ternus’s first keynote
The most visible change was the person on stage. Ternus, who teased the iPhone 18 Pro ahead of the event, ran the show as CEO for the first time, and Apple’s press release quote on the phones came not from him but from Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
Don’t miss the best of The Mac Observer
Set us as a preferred source and our Apple reporting ranks higher in your Google Search results and Discover feed — one tap, no account changes.
The lineup itself shifted in ways that would have been notable under any CEO. There is no standard iPhone 18 this year, a decision we examined in why Apple isn’t launching a standard iPhone 18 today, and the Pro models start $100 higher than the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max did at $1,099 and $1,199.
Two firsts also landed. The A20 Pro is Apple’s first 2-nanometer chip, and the iPhone Duo is, according to the keynote, Apple’s first foldable, though Apple has not published a press release or full specifications for it yet.
What did not change
The calendar held. Pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro open Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. PT, with availability Friday, September 18 in more than 65 countries and regions, a Saturday pre-order followed by a Friday launch six days later.
The iPhone 18 Pro also carries over its design from the 17 Pro generation with a new rear finish, keeps the 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch sizes, and keeps Face ID. Our iPhone 18 Pro announcement coverage has the full feature list.
| Area | Changed | Unchanged |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership | Ternus is CEO | Cook stays as executive chairman |
| iPhone lineup | No standard iPhone 18, iPhone Duo added | Two Pro sizes, 6.3 and 6.9 inches |
| Pro pricing | Up $100 to $1,199 and $1,299 | 256GB base storage |
| Chip | First 2nm A20 Pro | Same A20 Pro chip in both sizes |
| Release cadence | iPhone Duo slips to October | Pre-orders Saturday, on sale the following Friday |
| Press release voice | Ternus not quoted on iPhone 18 Pro | Joswiak quoted on the phones |
What the keynote does not tell us about Ternus
One event is a thin basis for judging a new CEO, and most of what shipped on September 9 was in development long before September 1. The price increase, the missing standard iPhone 18 and the October foldable all read as product-cycle decisions rather than a new agenda.
What Apple has not said is whether Ternus will front the October iPhone Duo launch, or how the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, which have no confirmed prices or dates, fit into the rest of the fall. The next fixed points are September 12 for Pro pre-orders, September 14 for iOS 27 and September 18 for the first deliveries.
