Apple’s iPhone 18 lineup — featuring the Pro, Pro Max, and a landmark first foldable — marks a historic new chapter as John Ternus succeeds Tim Cook and redefines what premium consumer technology can cost.
Apple, the world’s second most valuable company with a market cap of $3.7 trillion, opened its most pivotal product chapter yet on September 9, 2026.
For the first time in over fifteen years, the podium at Steve Jobs Theatre had a new face: John Ternus, who succeeded Tim Cook as CEO on September 1
The 2026 lineup is an unabashedly premium play — three models, zero budget options: the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and Apple’s first-ever foldable smartphone.
Tentatively called the iPhone Ultra, the foldable is expected to feature a 5.5-inch outer screen, a 7.8-inch inner display, dual 48MP cameras, and a starting price of at least $2,000 — approximately ₹1.90 lakh.
Add to it, 28% Import Duty and 18% GST, the device could be retailing at stores for INR 2.99 lakhs. The latest Royal Enfield Hunter comes at an on-road price of INR 1.79 lakhs.
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max arrive powered by Apple’s new 2nm A20 Pro chip, 12GB RAM, variable-aperture main cameras, and what is reportedly the best battery life ever on an iPhone.
Apple’s decision to skip the standard iPhone 18 this September is deliberate — base models and a second-gen iPhone Air have been deferred to spring 2027.
The iPhone 17 was Apple India’s most significant volume chapter. The standard iPhone 17 became the best-selling smartphone model in India, driving record consumer adoption across price brackets.
Apple India’s FY26 revenue grew over 20% to near INR 1 lakh crore, with iPhone shipments climbing 24% year-on-year to 14 million units — confirming India as a cornerstone growth market.
Globally, Apple’s FY25 revenue stood at $416 billion, with Q1 FY26 at $143.8 billion, marking 16% year-on-year growth — iPhone alone accounting for roughly half of all quarterly revenue.
Tim Cook leaves behind a transformed company: Apple’s market capitalisation expanded from $350 billion to $3.7 trillion under his fifteen-year tenure — a tenfold multiplication unmatched in corporate history.
Ternus, 50, is a hardware engineering veteran who oversaw every major Apple product launched in the past decade.
His appointment signals a return to design-first leadership after an era of operational precision.
Samsung, Motorola, and Google have long populated the foldable space.
Apple’s entry — characteristically late, characteristically deliberate — could redraw the category’s competitive map entirely.
Pre-orders are expected to begin September 12, with retail availability from September 18. The foldable iPhone, due to limited early production, may ship later than the Pro models.
For a company that has consistently redefined what a consumer product can mean, the autumn of 2026 may well be the beginning of Apple’s most consequential chapter yet.
Editor’s Note
What’s in it for Indians? The INR 2 Lakh Question — and Why History May Not Be the Right Guide
India has already answered the affordability question once, quietly and decisively.
Apple’s nearly INR 1 lakh crore India revenue in FY26 wasn’t built on wealthy buyers alone — it was constructed on EMI culture, trade-in ecosystems, and aspirational spending that consistently outpaces conservative income projections.
The lessons from other premium brands are instructive, but not cautionary.
Vertu collapsed under its own exclusivity. BlackBerry mispriced loyalty. Sony retreated when the story became complicated.
But Apple’s model is architecturally different — it creates desire at the top of the market, then engineers accessibility through financing, retail experience, and ecosystem stickiness.
India’s premium smartphone segment is projected to cross INR 1.5 lakh crore by 2028.
A INR 2 lakh foldable is not designed for mainstream India — it is designed for the India that spent INR 3 crore on a wedding this year and INR 12 lakh on a family holiday.
That India is larger, and growing faster, than the data suggests.
When Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold at $1,980, it was dismissed as a curiosity. Four generations later, it is a category.
Apple rarely arrives first — but it rarely arrives wrong. The foldable era in India is not a matter of if. It is a matter of retail readiness and timing.
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