There are a few things that are inevitable every year, and one of those things is Apple hosting a big, flashy event in September to show off its newest iPhone. And now, Apple has announced a September 9 event that’ll do just that.
The event will happen September 9 at 10am PST, and while the company hasn’t shared exactly what’s in store, it’s not hard to guess that this is where all the latest iPhones are going to get showcased. As for which iPhones will be getting a refresh, its anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to assume that the iPhone 18 and its Pro version will be there, along with the latest Apple Watch.
But rumors have circled for ages that Apple has been toying with the idea of launching a foldable phone. It feels like this is something that I’ve been hearing for years now, but with how far foldables have come in the last two years, specifically, this could be the year that Apple finally brings its version to the masses – after all, it has named this iteration of the event “Surprise and Shine.” A foldable iPhone would certainly be surprising, to say the least.
Back in July, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Quo predicted that the foldable iPhone would be coming sometime this year, but that it would be in limited supply, with “7–8 million units, with 3Q26 shipments at 0.5–1 million units, or about 10% of the total.” He also predicted that if the foldable is real, it’d be quite expensive. That shouldn’t be surprising, though, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra costing $2,100 when it launched last month.
While that would mean Apple would be quite late to the foldable game, the company has a track record of taking technologies and launching them into the stratosphere. It’s hard to imagine that a $2,000 phone is going to have mainstream success, but if any company could do it, it’d be Apple.
Beyond the rumored foldable, though, I don’t suspect that the iPhone 18 and 18 Pro are going to be that different from the iPhone 17. The 17 Pro brought a new chassis, with a much better camera shelf, and I’d expect Apple to ride that chassis out for another year.
Whichever iPhones Apple elects to launch this year will probably come with a modest price bump, though. The RAM crisis does apply to phones, and the company has already raised prices on the rest of its product lineup. It wouldn’t be surprising, then, that the new iPhone is going to have at least some price increase baked in. At least that would help the company avoid raising prices on older products.
Jackie Thomas is the Senior Tech Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
