Apple Foldable iPhone Expectations Put Ternus’s First Keynote On Premium Ground

Apple's first keynote under new chief executive John Ternus is expected to center on the iPhone, with The National reporting that the company's Wednesday “Surprise and Shine” event could include a foldable model pitched at the premium end of the market.

The source frames the foldable iPhone as the highest-stakes possibility rather than a confirmed launch.

Apple has kept its product plans secret, while purported design leaks have circulated on social media and analysts have been weighing whether the company can reshape a category that Samsung entered in 2019.

Foldable phones now sit across three main designs.

Clamshell models echo older flip phones, book-style devices open into a larger tablet-like screen, and tri-fold handsets provide several display options from a bigger folded body.

The category has matured since Samsung's first mainstream devices, but visible screen creases remain one of the design criticisms Apple would be expected to address if it enters the segment.

The commercial case rests on Apple's ability to arrive late and still move volume.

Counterpoint Research's latest forecast expects lifetime global foldable smartphone shipments to pass 100 million units by the end of 2026.

The firm also estimates Apple could ship up to six million foldable iPhones this year if a device is introduced, enough for a 25 per cent share of the foldable market, behind Samsung and just ahead of Huawei.

Counterpoint research director Tarun Pathak expects any Apple foldable to target the premium side of the segment, leaving room for the category to grow beyond current volumes.

Associate director Liz Lee identified supply, not demand, as the likely early constraint, arguing that the first production ramp would inevitably limit availability even if buyer interest proves strong.

Price would reinforce that premium positioning.

Reports citing analysts have speculated that Apple's foldable could cost between $2,000 and $2,600, putting it well above mainstream iPhone pricing and making the launch less about immediate mass-market replacement than about testing whether Apple can turn foldables into a higher-end platform.

Other possible products around the event show how much of Apple's near-term consumer strategy may turn on AI features inside familiar hardware.

A rare leaked Apple video in August appeared to show AirPods with cameras using visual intelligence, with a narrator describing the ability to save something seen in the world for later.

Later reports have pointed instead to more gradual AirPod updates before camera, sensor and AI features arrive in fuller form.

A more experimental thread comes from a 2025 research paper by Apple engineers on a lamp-like robot that combines functional and expressive movements.

The paper describes reminders, suggestions, visitor introductions, music, games and adaptive lighting, while its authors wrote that expressive movement increased user likeability and engagement.

The National treated that idea as speculative, noting that Apple has often surprised the market with products outside its apparent focus.

The rest of the keynote could still stay closer to the existing home and entertainment lineup.

Apple TV hardware and HomePod AI speakers have both been the subject of long-running update rumours.

For Ternus, described as only days into the chief executive role, the first test is whether Wednesday's 10am Pacific event delivers a concrete new device category or a more cautious set of upgrades around the iPhone ecosystem.