Apple’s September 9 Event Puts Foldable iPhone, Siri AI and New CEO John Ternus in the Spotlight
Apple is preparing for one of its most closely watched product events in years on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, with expectations centred on the company’s first foldable iPhone, major developments around Siri and artificial intelligence, and a potentially broader push into new device categories.
But this year’s launch carries significance beyond the products themselves.
It will be the first major Apple product event under John Ternus, who officially succeeded Tim Cook as CEO on 1 September after previously leading Apple’s hardware engineering organisation. Cook has transitioned to executive chairman.
For Ternus, the event arrives with two major challenges already in focus: injecting fresh momentum into Apple’s hardware portfolio and demonstrating that the company can strengthen its position in the rapidly evolving AI market.
Could This Be the Year of the Foldable iPhone?
The biggest product to watch is Apple’s long-rumoured foldable iPhone.
Multiple reports ahead of the September 9 event indicate that Apple is expected to enter the foldable smartphone category for the first time, potentially with a premium device referred to in reports as the iPhone Ultra. Apple has not yet confirmed the final product name or specifications.
For Apple, entering the category would represent a considerably bigger design shift than the incremental annual upgrades typically associated with recent iPhone generations.
It could also provide an early test of Ternus’s ability to persuade consumers to embrace-and potentially pay a substantial premium for- a genuinely different iPhone form factor.
Josh Gilbert, Lead Market Analyst at , describes the foldable iPhone as the product to watch, particularly given the continuing importance of the iPhone to Apple’s overall business.
Apple generated approximately US$416 billion in annual sales in its most recent financial year, according to reporting around the company’s leadership transition.
Apple Could Be Entering a New Hardware Era
The foldable iPhone may only be the beginning.
Apple’s longer-term product pipeline has reportedly included concepts ranging from camera-equipped AirPods and smart glasses to smart-home devices and new Mac form factors, although these remain reported future products rather than confirmed announcements for September 9.
The direction raises an interesting question about what the Ternus era of Apple could eventually look like.
Ternus comes from a hardware engineering background and played a significant role in the development of products including Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro before becoming CEO.
If Tim Cook’s tenure was characterised partly by the enormous expansion of Apple’s services ecosystem, the company’s next chapter could place renewed emphasis on creating new hardware categories-and putting Apple devices into more areas of everyday life.
Siri AI Could Be Just as Important as the New iPhone
Hardware, however, is only half of the story.
Apple’s progress in artificial intelligence will be closely watched by both consumers and investors, particularly as the company attempts to demonstrate that it can compete more effectively in an industry increasingly shaped by generative AI.
Ternus inherits a company that has faced criticism for moving more slowly than some competitors in AI, making Apple’s next generation of Siri and Apple Intelligence an important part of its broader technology strategy.
According to Gilbert, one of the questions for investors will be how Apple eventually monetises increasingly capable AI services.
A more advanced Siri could potentially remain part of Apple’s ecosystem at no additional charge, become associated with premium services or generate revenue through third-party integrations. For now, however, those potential business models remain speculative.
What will matter more immediately is whether Apple’s upgraded assistant can deliver a sufficiently meaningful improvement to change perceptions of Siri and strengthen the role of AI across the company’s devices.
Why Investors Will Be Watching September 9
This isn’t simply another September iPhone launch from an investment perspective.
A new CEO, anticipated new iPhone form factor and heightened focus on AI mean the event could offer some of the earliest clues about the direction Apple intends to take under Ternus.
Gilbert also points to Apple’s historical share-price behaviour around September launches as a reason for caution, noting that the market has not always responded positively immediately before or after Apple’s annual product announcements.
Expectations are particularly important when investors have already priced significant optimism into a company’s shares. That leaves Apple needing to demonstrate that its upcoming products can translate technological innovation into another meaningful growth cycle.
September 9 Could Mark the Beginning of a Different Apple
Apple has frequently entered technology categories later than competitors, preferring to wait until it believes it can deliver a more polished combination of hardware, software and ecosystem integration.
Foldable smartphones provide another opportunity to test that strategy.
Competitors have already spent years developing the category, while Apple’s expected entry could bring foldables to an even wider premium smartphone audience. Reuters reported on 7 September that Apple is potentially preparing to enter the segment as competition in foldable smartphones intensifies.
At the same time, Apple faces a different challenge with AI: proving that arriving later doesn’t mean being left behind.
That combination makes September 9, 2026 about considerably more than the next iPhone. It could provide the first meaningful glimpse of what Apple intends to become under John Ternus-and whether a renewed emphasis on ambitious hardware and more capable AI can define the company’s next era.
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