Folding compromise: Apple unveils the most expensive iPhone in history

Apple held its annual September launch, unveiling the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, the first folding smartphone, as well as the updated Apple Watch and AirPods. The main feature of the premiere was the record cost of top-end devices: the basic version of the folding Duo will cost $2 thousand, and the price of the iPhone 18 Pro Max has increased to $1.3 thousand compared to the 2025 model. In Russia, individual new items will cost up to 500 thousand rubles. At the same time, experts note that interest in new devices in our country is decreasing due to the unavailability of most relevant functions. Whether Apple will be able to reverse the negative trend against the background of numerous blocking of domestic applications and the unavailability of Siri AI functions is discussed in the Izvestia article.

What Apple showed at its main presentation

Apple unveiled a new generation of devices at its annual September presentation marking the company's 50th anniversary. The main new products are the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, as well as the first folding smartphone, the iPhone Duo. The cost of the Pro version was $1,199, Pro Max — $1,299. The recommended retail price for each model turned out to be $100 higher than the prices for the previous generation.

In addition, the Apple Watch and AirPods lines have been updated. The presentation was the first major one for the company after John Ternus was appointed CEO instead of Tim Cook, who appeared at the very beginning of the 2026 Event and symbolically gave him the floor.

The main premiere was the folding Duo. Its display is 50% larger than the 18 Pro Max and 80% larger than the iPhone 18 Pro — 7.6 inches. The smartphone is designed in a "book" format: when unfolded, it turns into a device with a large internal screen, and applications can be launched simultaneously on two halves of the display. Among the features of the model are Touch ID, built into the side button, and two main cameras.

The cost of the device in the United States starts at $ 2 thousand, and depending on the configuration, it can reach $ 3 thousand. This makes it the most expensive iPhone in history. The high price may be the main obstacle to widespread distribution of the device: competing manufacturers have been producing folding models for several years and have managed to form a separate segment.

The iPhone 18 Pro line includes two models — Pro and Pro Max. They got a new A20 Pro processor, a smaller Dynamic Island and a new dark cherry color. In the older version, we increased the battery capacity and added a camera with a variable aperture, which allows you to more accurately control the amount of light when shooting.

At the same time, the company did not introduce the basic iPhone 18 in September. Its release along with the iPhone 18e and the next generation iPhone Air is expected in the spring of 2027. Such a schedule means further division of the product line: the autumn presentation becomes a platform primarily for flagship devices.

In addition to smartphones, the corporation demonstrated the Apple Watch Series 12 with a new processor and updated functions for health and training. The Apple Watch Ultra 4 has received updated hardware and enhanced satellite communication capabilities without radical design changes. The AirPods have also been updated, and the fifth generation of headphones has been introduced in versions with and without active noise cancellation.

For the Russian market, the availability of some device functions will traditionally depend on the region of supply and software restrictions. In particular, satellite functions on models purchased in the Russian Federation are not fully available. In addition, all new Siri AI functions will not work in Russian.

— The volume of sales of new iPhones in Russia will continue to decline, although the market has probably already reached a certain bottom. Now these smartphones account for about 4% of sales in units. At the same time, the total market volume in 2026, according to our estimates, will be about 20-21 million devices compared to 36 million in peak years. The main reason for the decline in demand is buyers' doubts about the full operation of individual functions and services, as well as a general change in attitudes towards the iPhone. For consumers who have become more attentive to expenses, buying such a device today requires additional arguments," said Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group.

Why you can't buy an iPhone 18 cheap

Interest in the new iPhone in the Russian market began to form even before the presentation. The restore network has opened a pre-booking of the iPhone 18 Pro Max with 256 GB of memory, eSIM support and in a new dark cherry color. The price for the Pro version in the store chain starts from 199,990 rubles, the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts from 219,990 rubles.

Almost immediately after the world premiere, domestic sites revealed prices for the new generation of the iPhone. Pre-order starts on Yandex.Market on September 10. The iPhone 18 Pro will cost from 147 thousand rubles, the iPhone 18 Pro Max — from 157 thousand, and the first folding iPhone Duo — from 245 thousand. New colors will also be available to customers, including burgundy and sky blue, and smartphones can be received after September 26 - delivery dates will depend on the seller.

MTS has announced a wider price range, where the cost depends on the amount of memory. The iPhone 18 Pro with 256 GB of memory was priced at 174,990 rubles, the 512 GB version will cost 204,990, the 1 TB model will cost 264,990, and the maximum 2 TB package will cost 349,990 rubles. For the 18 Pro Max, prices start at 189,990 rubles for 256 GB, 219,990 rubles for 512 GB and 279,990 rubles for 1 TB, while the version with 2 TB of memory received a price tag of 364,990. The vendor is asking for 489 thousand rubles for a Duo with 2 TB.

— According to the results of the first half of the year, 53 thousand folding smartphones were sold in Russia for a total amount of 4.84 billion rubles. For comparison, in 2022, the market was 25 thousand devices worth 3 billion rubles. Thus, in four years, sales of folding smartphones have more than doubled in quantitative terms," the press service of M.Video".

Nikita Tolpygin, head of the Telecom and Gadgets department, is convinced that customers are increasingly considering folding smartphones not as an experimental device, but as a full-fledged flagship for everyday use.

The Russian market has already demonstrated its ability to respond quickly to Apple presentations. Last year, for example, iPhone sales in the MTS retail chain increased by 30% immediately before the launch of new models, and in M.Video, a week before the presentation, sales of Apple smartphones increased by 35% compared to the previous week.

According to Eldar Murtazin, the first deliveries of new models to our country will traditionally be expensive: in the gray market, prices may reach 200-250 thousand rubles, but then they will begin to decline. Given the large number of offers, the cost is likely to adjust significantly within two to three weeks.

The folding Duo, according to the expert, will remain a niche device due to the high price. In the first week, sales may amount to several hundred devices. After the cost stabilizes and it approaches the level of other markets, the sales volume can reach 800-900 devices per month.

The current presentation differs from last year's primarily by the appearance of a new form factor and a significant increase in the upper price range. Therefore, the main issue for the Russian market will be not only the interest in new products, but also the willingness of buyers to pay for them.