Posted on 09/08/2026 6:59:35 PM PDT by Red Badger
We're counting down to Apple's Sept. 9 unveiling of the foldable iPhone Ultra. It's the first keynote helmed by new Apple CEO John Ternus and expected to be Apple's biggest event in years.
Apple’s Sept. 9 event is nearly here, and we’re expecting it to be filled with firsts for the company. The company’s fall event — starting Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) — will be the first to be hosted by new Apple CEO John Ternus and could be the stage where we see Apple’s long-rumored folding iPhone.
That possible foldable, rumored to be called the iPhone Ultra, is expected to be joined by a new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, but, for the first time, might exclude a base iPhone 18 by punting it to the spring, along with a rumored iPhone Air sequel.
CNET reporters will be at Apple Park for the company’s latest product unveiling, and we’ll count down all the final rumors and commentary in the leadup to the live event. Wednesday morning, you can follow along with us at CNET through both this live blog and with our livestream watch party (kicking off Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET) as we report all the announcements live as they happen.
Driving home from the G20 tech forum in Chapel Hill, I asked Siri to send my friend a text message. (Don’t text and drive, kids.) I didn’t use the exact right words I wanted to, so, per usual, Siri couldn’t understand what I meant and wrote an incoherent text. Hopefully, this is one of the last times I’ll have to deal with Siri screwups, thanks to the upcoming general release of iOS 27 with Siri AI.
We got our first glance at Siri AI inside iOS 27 at Apple’s June WWDC event. Since then, CNET reviewers have been busy testing the public betas of the new software. And so far, it seems like the new Siri lives up to the hype. Even my colleague Zach McAuliffe, who’s ignored Siri for a decade, said the revamped digital assistant was surprising and “immediately improved” – a green flag from CNET’s iOS expert.
I’m hoping the new Siri will give iPhone owners like me the quality-of-life updates we deserve. I don’t need my phone to start acting like a chatbot. I do want it to better at understand my voice commands and use improved world knowledge, two things that generative AI has gotten much better at over the past few years. So I’m unusually optimistic about Siri AI.
Apple’s super-slim iPhone Air wasn’t a blockbuster when it debuted last year, but it still may be one of the company’s most important products. The 5.6mm thick handset could lay the groundwork for Apple’s highly anticipated foldable iPhone, which has speculatively been dubbed the iPhone Ultra.
Samsung, for instance, debuted the skinny Galaxy S25 Edge last year before launching the also-slim Galaxy Z Fold 7 a few months later. It’s possible that with the iPhone Air, Apple was flexing its hardware capabilities, which it could then – ahem – fold into the iPhone Ultra’s design.
“The first iPhone Air may eventually be viewed as a transitional step rather than a failed product category,” Rishi Padhi, research principal at Gartner, told me. “It proved that Apple could still make a thinner iPhone.”
You can read more about how the iPhone Air may hint at what we’ll get with Apple’s first foldable phone here.
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Just give me back a real keyboard with team buttons. I sure miss those.
Team buttons?..........
I’ve been an android guy since I got a cell. The wife and kids are apple. Gonna have to go apple next time since apple came out with the satellite texting. Unless ATT comes out with that option that can communicate with Apple. Nice option. Will make my Garmin inreach mostly obsolete. Mostly.
I’ve owned Apple stock since 2014. Obviously its done very well. I’ve sold off a fair amount over the years, but my remaining stake is still up 10X over what i paid.
From what I’m reading, the phone prices will be higher for marginal performance improvements, and the foldable phone will be $2000+. No way I would pay that for a phone, but many will.
I sold off about 20% today. I’m skeptical Apple can keep the run going. Of course, i’ve been wrong every time I’ve sold before.
Buy a House or an iPhone ,LOL
My first smartphone was an Android phone. I wasn’t impressed with it. My next phone was an iPhone 5. I have had iPhones ever since, the 5, an iPhone 8, an 11 Pro, now a 16 Pro Max. I’ve been happy with all of them. Unfortunately, they’re getting too expensive.
“I’ve been happy with all of them. Unfortunately, they’re getting too expensive.”
But the new ones have 10 more Nits! Don’t you want more Nits?
iPhones could always be folded. They simply didn’t survive it.
“foldable iPhone.” No thanks. I already have an iPhone SE from 2022 that works just fine.
I still have an old BlackBerry I will sell you.
My iPhone 7 has caused isues at my new job. So many apps require a newer version of iOS, and for some reason, loading some work related websites is unbearably slow. My last two employers provided me with a phone, and I had hoped for the same, as I never bought a new smartphone (I paid $70 for the iPhone 7.
Here is what I in an iPhone:
1. NO NOTCH OR ISLAND. I can live with a bezel, but Brave covers of FR text in landscape mode. Extensions don’t resolve.
2. USB C connector instead of Lightniing. That will happen due to EU regs.
3. Base model with sub $600 price. If they can due it with the Nanio, they can do it with a phone.
I don’t care about folding 200 terapixel cameras, etc.
What I really want is a Linux phone, but my Pine Phone expeeriement ended in diaster.
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