iPhone Ultra Arrives: Apple's First Event Without Cook

Is Apple really unveiling its first foldable phone tomorrow? Going by everything the specialized outlets that have spent years correctly guessing Apple’s moves are reporting, the answer is yes, and it comes at an event led for the first time by someone other than Tim Cook.

The event, called “Surprise and shine,” is set for Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at 10 a.m. Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern). That puts it at 7 p.m. Central European Summer Time here. Journalists are gathering at Apple Park in Cupertino, where they will get hands on time with the devices after the presentation. The keynote itself, as in every recent year, is pre recorded, and the stream runs on apple.com, YouTube, and the Apple TV app. Apple announced the event on August 26.

The first keynote without Cook at the helm

This is the first product unveiling since John Ternus took over as Apple’s CEO on September 1. Tim Cook held that role since 2011 and is now executive chairman of the board. Apple announced the handover on April 20, 2026, noting that the board approved it unanimously.

Ternus has been at Apple since 2001, when he joined the product design team. From 2021 until this September he served as senior vice president of hardware engineering, a role in which he oversaw multiple generations of iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch. In a statement on the transition, he said:

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to continue Apple’s mission. Having spent nearly my entire career at Apple, I’ve been fortunate to work under Steve Jobs and to have Tim Cook as a mentor.”

Tim Cook, in the same statement, described his successor this way:

“John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and honor.”

Board chairman Arthur Levinson added why the board backed the choice:

“We believe John is the best possible leader to succeed Tim.”

Tomorrow, Ternus will stand alone on stage for the first time as the person running the company, not as the engineer presenting his piece of it.

What’s expected to be unveiled

According to MacRumors, 9to5Mac, and Apple Insider, four product lines are on the agenda: the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, the next generation of AirPods, and, most notably, Apple’s first foldable phone.

• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, a spec bump year without a major redesign. Expect a new 2 nanometer A20 Pro chip, Apple’s own C2 modem, a slightly smaller Dynamic Island, and a variable aperture on the main camera that some reports suggest could be limited to the Pro Max model. Colors are expected to include a dark maroon, a silver, and a light blue shade.
• The foldable phone, rumored to be called the iPhone Ultra. Sources diverge slightly here: MacRumors reports an outer display of around 5.5 inches with a 7.8 inch inner screen, while Apple Insider puts the outer display at 5.3 inches with the same 7.8 inch inner screen. What all the sources agree on is that the phone would use Touch ID built into the power button instead of Face ID, that it would lack a telephoto lens, and that pricing would start around 2,000 dollars, with the top end version possibly reaching 2,500 dollars.
• Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, without a major redesign, focused on a new processor and health sensors.
• AirPods, the next generation, while the Visual Intelligence cameras planned for AirPods Pro are being pushed to a later date.

MacRumors also notes that the standard iPhone 18, without the Pro label, isn’t expected tomorrow at all, but rather in spring 2027 alongside the iPhone 18e and iPhone Air 2. The same outlet estimates that preorders for whatever launches tomorrow could open on Saturday, September 12, with sales starting Friday, September 18.

What a foldable iPhone would cost here

If the rumored prices hold up, a starting price of around 2,000 dollars comes to roughly 1,850 euros at current exchange rates, or about 217,000 dinars. The top end 2,500 dollar version would land around 2,300 euros, or close to 270,000 dinars. That would make the foldable iPhone the most expensive phone Apple has ever sold, even before import costs and the local markup that typically pushes prices higher here.

The iPhone 18 Pro models are rumored to cost 100 to 300 dollars more than the iPhone 17 Pro, which in dinars would mean an extra 11,000 to 33,000 on top of the previous generation’s known price.

Our advice ahead of tomorrow

If the foldable phone interests you, just watch the stream tomorrow and hold off on buying right away. The first generation of any new Apple device shape, from the Apple Watch to the Vision Pro, tends to launch at a high price and in limited supply, and even the sources covering it can’t agree on the screen size. If you need an ordinary phone right now instead, the iPhone 17 Pro will typically get cheaper after tomorrow’s event, which makes that the moment to buy it.

The stream starts tomorrow at 7 p.m. Central European Summer Time, on apple.com, YouTube, and the Apple TV app.