Apple

iPhone Duo became available in more than 70 countries and regions on October 23. Apple said Apple Stores would have limited units for walk-in customers and expected that allocated supply to sell out quickly. Bloomberg News reported that the device went on sale that Friday, with people queuing overnight.

MacRumors, reporting DigiTimes, said supply-chain sources had seen instructions to Foxconn and component manufacturers for a roughly 44% higher iPhone Duo target, from 9.7 million to 14 million devices. The revised target was reported to cover a full 12-month period rather than the remainder of 2026.

Apple said TSMC Arizona produced more than 100 million chips for Apple during 2026. Apple said the chips were used in iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch products.

MacRumors reported that Apple was allowing U.S. customers to buy a maximum of two iPhone Duo units, a limit the U.S. site showed only when a third was added to the cart. Apple already listed two-per-customer restrictions in markets including China, Singapore and Hong Kong. MacRumors said it could not confirm whether the U.S. limit was in place when pre-orders opened on October 16.

Apple said customers could pre-order iPhone Duo beginning at 5 a.m. PT on October 16. MacRumors reported that pre-orders opened at that time, that delivery dates slipped from October 23 to November within minutes, and that estimates reached January 25 by 5:30 a.m. Yahoo Finance reported that pre-orders sold out almost immediately.

Apple opened a process for customers to save an iPhone Duo configuration before pre-orders. Apple said pre-order checkout would begin at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 16.

Securities Times in China reported that Apple had raised its iPhone Duo supply-chain orders by about 30 percent on stronger expected demand, with 9to5Mac noting that total supply for the rest of 2026 still does not pass 10 million units against prior estimates of 6 to 7 million. Pre-orders had not opened when the report ran.

9to5Mac, reporting Nikkei Asia, said Apple had reportedly cut orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The report characterized the alleged reason as soft demand.

Apple promoted Carson Oliver to vice president of the App Store. Bloomberg reported the promotion as another leadership change at Apple.

Adrian Perica remained responsible for iCloud, Fitness+, and Apple News and reported to services chief Eddy Cue. Reuters reported that Perica would dedicate his efforts entirely to the services leadership team.

Apple replaced Adrian Perica with Steve Smith as head of mergers and acquisitions and corporate development. Smith was to report to Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh.

In his first interview since handing Apple to John Ternus on 1 September, Tim Cook said he had timed the handover so Ternus would have momentum behind him, that he is not meddling in how Ternus runs the company, and that he had passed on the advice Steve Jobs gave him — make the job your own rather than copy your predecessor.

Apple said iPhone 18 Pro Max owners who had already lost AT&T service would need a hardware replacement, confirming the cellular fault users had been reporting since late September. AT&T said its top priority was keeping customers connected and that it was working with Apple to make it right.

Apple's vice president of hardware engineering, Kate Bergeron, said the nano-texture cover layer above the iPhone Duo's inner display can be peeled off and replaced. The layer helps hide the crease in the folding display; Bergeron said Apple had done a significant amount of engineering work to keep it in good condition, and that customers could replace it if it wore down or the crease became more visible.

Bloomberg News reported that Apple's new chief executive, John Ternus, was weighing a broad overhaul of the company aimed at sharpening its engineering focus, introducing products more frequently and creating a leaner organisation.

Apple released iOS 27.0.1, whose release notes say it fixes an issue where iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max may unexpectedly restart when Face ID fails to authenticate. Tom's Guide reported that the update appeared to fix the Face ID bug Apple had said a week earlier was still being worked on.

Apple confirmed that a software update addressing the freeze-and-reboot problem that followed failed Face ID attempts was in the works and should be available early the following week.

9to5Mac reported reproducing the issue on one European iPhone 18 Pro. MacRumors reported that Face ID authentication for actions including unlocking a locked app could fail, followed by a freeze and reboot to the lock screen.

iFixit reported that the plastic frame around the display cracked or pulled away in three of four iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max openings. 9to5Mac also reported iFixit's finding from the four devices it opened.

MacRumors and 9to5Mac reported that a TechInsights teardown identified Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 modem in the U.S. iPhone 18 Pro Max. The reports attributed the finding to TechInsights' device teardown.

Apple debuted the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max at Apple Store locations worldwide, alongside Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5. John Ternus, Deirdre O'Brien and Greg Joswiak greeted customers at Apple Fifth Avenue in New York.

MacRumors reported that GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu characterized initial iPhone 18 Pro demand as softer than expected. Pu attributed the demand assessment to limited specification upgrades and higher prices, particularly for larger storage tiers.

9to5Mac reported that delivery times for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max orders had largely moved into October after several days of pre-orders. The report said Apple had opened pre-orders over the weekend.

John Ternus and Greg Joswiak participated in an interview with TechRadar and Tom’s Guide. Ternus called becoming Apple CEO an “extraordinary privilege.”

Apple extended free access to satellite features for an additional year for existing iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 users. The extension was stated in Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max announcement.

MacRumors reported that Apple raised prices for existing iPhone 16, iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17e models on its online store. The report placed the price changes behind the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo announcements.

9to5Mac reported that Apple debuted iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and iPhone Duo. The report said these were the only new iPhones debuted at the event.

Eight days after taking over, John Ternus opened the 'Surprise and Shine' event at the Steve Jobs Theater with a Jobs-style argument that the iPhone is the ideal device for AI, then unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro at $1,199, AirPods 5, Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, and finally the $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo. Tim Cook, now executive chairman, did not present.

Apple said iPhone 18 Pro introduces its C2 cellular modem system. MacRumors corrected its initial report, saying iPhone 18 Pro Max does not appear to include C2.

Apple's first foldable opens to a 7.6-inch inner display with a nano-texture finish and closes to a 5.4-inch outer screen, in polished grade 5 titanium with a precision hinge, a dual-battery design, Apple Pencil support and the A20 Pro. It starts at $1,999 in star white and night sky, with pre-orders on October 16 and availability on October 23, the first iPhone launch to slip past September since the iPhone 12.

John Ternus's first launch as CEO led with the Pro models: a 48MP main camera with a variable aperture, a smaller Dynamic Island, the A20 Pro with a new vapor chamber, Apple's own C2 modem in both models, the largest battery-life gain in an iPhone's history on the Pro Max, and iOS 27 with Siri AI. Prices rose $100 to $1,199 and $1,299, pre-orders opened September 12 and the phones ship September 18; no standard iPhone 18 was shown, with reports pointing to a spring 2027 launch.

John Ternus sent Apple employees a memo on his first day as chief executive. He thanked employees for their warm wishes.

On John Ternus's first day as CEO Apple filed an amended 8-K setting his salary at $3 million, a prorated $2.5 million RSU award for fiscal 2026 and a $55 million target equity award for fiscal 2027, 75 percent performance-based. Tim Cook, now executive chairman, gets a $2 million salary from September 26 and a $45 million target award, half performance-based, that vests on retirement after the first anniversary of the grant.

Bloomberg News reported that Apple's hardware engineering division had begun cutting engineering program-management roles, and that the reductions affected several program managers, including roughly half a dozen directors.

Tim Cook told Apple employees that he was excited for John Ternus's leadership. Cook said Ternus understood how to build products that change the world.

Invitations for a September 9, 2026 event at the Steve Jobs Theater went out a week before John Ternus succeeded Tim Cook as CEO. Analysts expected the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple's first folding iPhone and new Apple Watches, with the standard iPhone 18 reportedly held back to spring 2027 as Apple splits the launch cycle.

Apple cut about 100 roles in the Vision Products Group, largely closing a Vision Pro gaming team and shrinking immersive video, and around 100 more in Siri and software engineering, one of its few layoffs of the AI era, telling staff they could apply for other roles.

MacRumors reported that Luca Maestri stepped down from leading Apple’s Corporate Services organization in recent weeks. The report said he remained at Apple with no responsibilities other than hosting a class at Apple University.

Bloomberg News reported that Phil Schiller stepped down from leading the App Store and product events. The report described Schiller as an Apple executive from the Steve Jobs and Tim Cook eras.

Bloomberg News reported that John Ternus hired Laura Legros for his management team. Legros had been a vice president of hardware engineering until retiring in 2022.

Tim Cook said Apple's fiscal-third-quarter call would be his final earnings call. He said John Ternus would lead subsequent earnings calls.

Apple launched Apple Upgrade in the United States. Apple said it would no longer offer the iPhone Upgrade Program or iPhone Payments in the United States.

Apple disclosed that it had applied for refunds of tariffs paid through CBP processes. It said tariff refunds contributed to product gross-margin improvement during the quarter.

MacRumors reported claims that Apple's iPhone 18 Pro lineup and first foldable iPhone would launch at higher prices in September. The report attributed the claims to several Chinese leakers.

MacRumors reported that Apple moved product-design oversight from Kate Bergeron to Shelly Goldberg and Dave Pakula. Goldberg and Pakula had previously been Bergeron's deputies.

On the day of the CEO announcement Apple named Johny Srouji, senior vice president of Hardware Technologies and leader of Apple silicon since the A4, as chief hardware officer with immediate effect, adding the Hardware Engineering organization Ternus had run to his hardware technologies remit.

Apple said Tim Cook would become executive chairman and John Ternus, senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, would become CEO effective September 1, 2026, after a unanimous board vote and what it called a long-term succession planning process. Cook would stay CEO through the summer and, as executive chairman, engage with policymakers; Arthur Levinson would move from non-executive chairman to lead independent director and Ternus would join the board.

According to the Form 8-K Apple filed on April 20, the board appointed Ternus, then 50, as chief executive officer and a member of the board on April 17, 2026, three days before the public announcement, with both appointments effective on the September 1 transition date. The filing noted that Ternus's compensation would be disclosed in a later amendment.

The second 'e' phone doubled the starting storage to 256GB, moved to the A19 and Apple's second-generation C1X modem, and added MagSafe, which the 16e had lacked. It was announced by press release alongside the MacBook Neo and M4 iPad Air and reached stores on March 11.

Apple said it was on track to purchase well over 100 million advanced chips produced by TSMC at its Arizona facility in 2026. Apple said this would be an increase from 2025.

Apple said Jennifer Newstead, joining from Meta, would become general counsel on March 1, 2026 as Kate Adams moved toward retirement in late 2026, and that Lisa Jackson would retire in late January 2026. Government Affairs was folded under the general counsel, and Environment and Social Initiatives moved under COO Sabih Khan. Within a week Apple had also lost design chief Alan Dye to Meta.

MacRumors reported that Apple planned to replace Alan Dye with Stephen Lemay. Lemay had been an Apple designer for more than 25 years.

Apple announced that John Giannandrea, senior vice president for Machine Learning and AI Strategy since 2018, was stepping down to advise the company before retiring in spring 2026. Former Microsoft and Google executive Amar Subramanya joined as vice president of AI reporting to Craig Federighi, with the rest of Giannandrea's organization moving to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue.

MacRumors reported that Tim Cook put John Ternus in charge of Apple's design teams in the final months of 2025. The assignment expanded Ternus's responsibilities.

Apple's last September launch under Tim Cook replaced the Plus with the 5.6mm-thin titanium iPhone Air on the A19 Pro, gave the base iPhone 17 a 120Hz ProMotion display and 256GB base storage, and rebuilt the 17 Pro around an aluminium unibody with a vapor chamber and three 48MP cameras. Ceramic Shield 2 and Apple's N1 wireless chip appeared across the line.

Apple's board appointed Sabih Khan chief operating officer effective July 25, 2025. Khan succeeded Jeff Williams under Apple's previously announced COO transition plan.

On the second-quarter 2025 call, CEO C.C. Wei said construction of the second Arizona fab, for 3nm, was complete and its volume production schedule was being sped up by several quarters. Work on the third fab, for 2nm and A16, had begun. Wei said about 30 percent of TSMC's 2nm-and-smaller capacity would eventually be in Arizona.

Apple said Jeff Williams, long viewed as a potential successor to Tim Cook, would pass the chief operating officer role to Sabih Khan later in July 2025 as part of a long-planned succession, keep design, Apple Watch and Health until his retirement late in the year, after which the design team would report directly to Cook.

The 'e' model retired the SE line and the home button, moving the budget iPhone to a 6.1-inch OLED design with Face ID, the A18 chip and the Apple-designed C1 cellular modem, Apple's first step away from Qualcomm. It went on sale February 28.

Apple pitched the whole iPhone 16 line around its generative AI features, which shipped later in iOS 18.1 and 18.2 rather than at launch, and added a touch-sensitive Camera Control button plus the Action button to the base models. The 16 Pro grew to 6.3 and 6.9 inches on the A18 Pro.

Apple announced that Luca Maestri would step down as chief financial officer on January 1, 2025, staying on to lead Corporate Services, and that Kevan Parekh, vice president of Financial Planning and Analysis, would become CFO as part of a planned succession. It was the first of a series of executive-team handovers ahead of the CEO change.

Eleven years after Lightning arrived, all four iPhone 15 models moved to USB-C, months before the European Union's common-charger rule took effect. The 15 and 15 Plus inherited the Dynamic Island and a 48MP camera; the 15 Pro and Pro Max switched to titanium, replaced the mute switch with an Action button, and the Pro Max added a 5x tetraprism telephoto.

The mini was replaced by a 6.7-inch 14 Plus, US models dropped the physical SIM tray, and every model gained Emergency SOS via satellite and crash detection. The 14 Pro introduced the pill-shaped Dynamic Island in place of the notch, an always-on display and a 48-megapixel main camera on the A16 Bionic.

A refinement year: the 13 and 13 mini gained sensor-shift stabilisation, Cinematic mode video and longer battery life, while the 13 Pro models added 120Hz ProMotion displays and macro photography. Storage started at 128GB and prices held, with the mini returning for a final year.

Apple moved Dan Riccio to a new project reporting to Tim Cook and promoted John Ternus, a Product Design hire from 2001 and a vice president of Hardware Engineering since 2013, to lead Hardware Engineering on the executive team. Cook called him a bold and visionary leader of the hardware teams.

Delayed by pandemic supply disruptions, the first October launch since 2011 introduced four models: the 5.4-inch 12 mini, the 12, the 12 Pro and the 6.7-inch 12 Pro Max. All had 5G, the A14 Bionic, OLED displays, the flat-sided design and magnetic MagSafe accessories; Apple also stopped including chargers and EarPods in the box.

With Apple's offices closed by the pandemic, the new SE was announced without an event. It put the A13 Bionic and Touch ID into the 4.7-inch iPhone 8 design at $399, and went on sale April 24, 2020.

Apple split the range into the iPhone 11, a $699 successor to the XR with a second ultra-wide camera, and the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max with three cameras, Night mode, a brighter Super Retina XDR display and the A13 Bionic. All three went on sale September 20.

Apple extended the iPhone X design to three models: the 5.8-inch XS, the 6.5-inch XS Max, its largest phone yet at $1,099, and the 6.1-inch aluminium XR with an LCD 'Liquid Retina' display, a single camera and six colours from $749. All used the 7-nanometer A12 Bionic; the XR shipped a month later, on October 26.

The first event in the Steve Jobs Theater introduced the all-screen iPhone X with the notch, Face ID via the TrueDepth camera, an OLED Super Retina display, wireless charging and the A11 Bionic with a Neural Engine, at a new $999 starting price, shipping November 3. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus kept the home button and Touch ID in a glass-backed body and shipped first, on September 22.

The iPhone 7 kept the 6-series look but removed the 3.5mm headphone jack in favour of Lightning and the new AirPods, added IP67 water and dust resistance, stereo speakers, the A10 Fusion chip and, on the 7 Plus, a second telephoto camera enabling Portrait mode. Jet black and a solid-state home button rounded out the changes.

Nine years after the first went on sale, Tim Cook told an employee meeting in Cupertino that Apple had sold the billionth iPhone the previous week. The milestone came in the first year iPhone unit sales fell, as the 6s cycle lagged the 6.

Apple's first 'special edition' put the A9 chip, 12-megapixel camera and Apple Pay into the iPhone 5s body for $399, its lowest launch price to date, aimed at buyers who wanted a small phone and at markets such as India and China.

The 'S' year kept the iPhone 6 design in stronger 7000-series aluminium, added the pressure-sensing 3D Touch display, the A9 chip and Live Photos, and introduced rose gold. Apple also launched the iPhone Upgrade Program, its first instalment plan sold directly to customers.

Apple's first large-screen iPhones, announced alongside the Apple Watch, answered years of Android phablets and set sales records, with more than 10 million sold in the opening weekend. They carried the NFC hardware for Apple Pay, which went live that October; reports of bent 6 Plus units became the year's 'Bendgate'.

Apple sold nine million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models within three days of their launch. Apple announced the combined sales result on September 23.

The 5s paired the 64-bit A7 with a fingerprint sensor in the home button and a gold finish, while the colourful polycarbonate iPhone 5c took over the mid-tier slot, the first time Apple launched two new models at once. Both arrived with iOS 7's flat redesign.

The first taller iPhone moved to a 4-inch 16:9 display, the A6 chip and LTE, and introduced the Lightning connector that would last until 2023. It shipped with iOS 6 and Apple's own Maps app, whose problems prompted a public apology from Tim Cook within weeks.

Six weeks after Steve Jobs's death, Apple named Arthur D. Levinson non-executive chairman. Levinson had been a co-lead director since 2005 and on the board since 2000; Disney CEO Robert Iger joined the board the same day. Levinson would hold the chair for the next fifteen years.

Tim Cook's first launch as CEO kept the iPhone 4 design and added the dual-core A5, an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video, and Siri, the voice assistant Apple had acquired in 2010, alongside iOS 5 and iCloud. Steve Jobs died the following day, October 5, 2011.

Apple's board announced that Steve Jobs had resigned as chief executive and named Tim Cook, then chief operating officer, as CEO with immediate effect. Jobs became chairman and Cook joined the board. Art Levinson, speaking for the board, said Jobs had recommended the board implement its succession plan.

The fourth iPhone introduced the 960-by-640 Retina display, front-facing camera and FaceTime video calling, Apple's first in-house A4 processor, a gyroscope and a stainless-steel band design that also served as the antenna. Complaints about signal loss when the band was gripped, dubbed Antennagate, led Apple to offer free cases in July.

The 3GS doubled performance over the 3G, added a 3-megapixel autofocus camera with video recording and voice control, and shipped with iPhone OS 3.0's cut, copy and paste and MMS. The App Store had passed 50,000 apps a year after opening.

At WWDC 2008 Apple introduced the iPhone 3G with faster networking, built-in GPS and the iPhone 2.0 software that opened the App Store to third-party apps. Carrier subsidies cut the US price to $199 for 8GB, and the phone launched in 22 countries on July 11 with more than 70 planned by year end, selling a million units in its first weekend.

Apple sold its one millionth iPhone on September 9, 2007. Apple said the milestone came 74 days after the iPhone's June 29 introduction.

Apple made the 8GB iPhone available immediately for $399 in the United States. The price was offered through Apple retail and online stores and AT&T retail stores.

Apple retail stores stayed open until midnight on Friday, June 29, 2007, with a two-per-customer limit and AT&T stores selling alongside them. The launch set the pattern of Friday-evening lines that would follow every generation for a decade.

At Macworld San Francisco, Apple introduced the original iPhone, a 3.5-inch multi-touch device with no physical keyboard, running a version of OS X, on a 2G EDGE network and exclusive to Cingular (soon AT&T) in the US. Pricing was set at $499 for 4GB and $599 for 8GB with a two-year contract, with shipping promised for June.