John Ternus is preparing to lead his first major Apple keynote as CEO, and he has added more mystery to the September 9 event with a short teaser video posted just hours before the presentation begins. Ternus officially became Apple CEO on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook, who moved into the executive chairman role.
The 14-second clip shows a narrow beam of light shining through a changing hexagonal opening toward what appears to be the edge of an iPhone. The animation closely resembles the movement of a camera aperture, which lines up with one of the biggest rumored upgrades for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup.
The teaser could point to iPhone 18 Pro’s camera
Apple has been linked to a mechanical variable aperture system for the 48MP main camera. Previous iPhone 18 Pro camera reports from The Mac Observer explained how the system would physically change the lens opening rather than relying entirely on computational photography.
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A variable aperture can provide:
- More control over how much light reaches the sensor
- Greater control over depth of field
- Better flexibility between bright and low-light scenes
- More natural background separation in some shots
Recent reporting suggests Apple could reserve the feature for the larger iPhone 18 Pro Max, although Apple has yet to confirm the final camera configuration.
| Event detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Date | September 9, 2026 |
| Start time | 10 a.m. PDT / 10:30 p.m. IST |
| CEO | John Ternus |
| Expected iPhones | iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max and foldable iPhone |
Apple’s “Surprise and shine” event also marks the first major test of how Ternus presents the company under his leadership. The Apple event begins at 10:30 p.m. in India, with the iPhone 18 Pro lineup expected to take center stage alongside Apple’s first foldable iPhone and new Apple Watch models.
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