Apple Inc.’s fall showcase on Wednesday at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, is expected to be highlighted by the debut of its first-ever foldable smartphone alongside the official public introduction of new CEO John Ternus.

More importantly, the event, themed “Surprise and Shine,” marks a pivotal moment for the tech giant.

Ternus, the former head of hardware engineering who took over from longtime CEO Tim Cook on Sept. 1, faces the task of defining his vision for a company that generated $209.6 billion from iPhone sales alone in its most recent fiscal year.

The centerpiece of the product showcase is widely expected to be Apple’s first foldable iPhone — reportedly named the iPhone Ultra — which analysts estimate could command a record price tag upward of $2,000. The move represents the flagship device’s most dramatic redesign since the removal of the physical home button on the iPhone X in 2017.

“Apple finally joining the foldable market is more about Apple trying to redefine what a premium smartphone is worth. At $1,999, with a 5.4-inch external display opening into a 7.6-inch screen, Apple is effectively collapsing the boundary between the iPhone and a small tablet,” said Sid Nag, president and chief research officer at Tekonyx.

“The interesting part from my perspective is not the hinge. It is the software and compute model around it: iOS 27, multitasking, the A20 Pro and increasingly on-device Apple Intelligence give Apple an opportunity to make the larger canvas useful for AI-assisted workflows rather than simply giving consumers more screen real estate,” Nag said. “If Apple can make applications dynamically exploit that space, Duo could become a new endpoint for personal AI and mobile productivity.”

Though competitors such as Samsung Electronics, Huawei, Motorola Inc., and Google have marketed foldable devices since 2019, the category remains a relatively small fraction of the broader smartphone industry.

“Typical Apple. It’s not so much about the device, but the usability factors that will matter to possible buyers,” tech analyst Jack Gold said. “There are several foldables in the market, and Samsung has been at this for years with some fine devices. But what Apple wants to do is make the new foldable Apple-esque.”

“They have a revamped OS to take advantage of the foldable, and enable control functions when the screen is open, closed or partial,” Gold said. “And it has a high-end chip for performance. But at $2K, it will limit the appeal of the device to the most die hard, and less cash strapped, iPhone aficionados. But I do expect it to do well in the market and will likely do well in China and other geographies where screen real estate is highly desirable.”

Apple’s late entry reflects its historical playbook of allowing rival brands to test emerging form factors before stepping in to refine the technology. Market research firm IDC projects Apple could capture roughly 40% of the foldable device market within 18 months of launch.

“The foldable launch is straight out of Apple’s playbook: Wait for the product to work out its kinks and for the market to offer glimpses of viability, then enter and shape the category,” said Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester. “The difference is that foldables still represent a minuscule share of the smartphone market. The test of Apple’s ambition will be whether it can expand that niche into a meaningful new segment.”

Alongside the entry into foldables, Apple is expected to introduce the flagship iPhone 18 lineup. Industry analysts said the standard models may see price increases compared to the iPhone 17’s $799 to $1,999 range, largely driven by an ongoing global memory chip shortage. Updated Apple Watch models are also anticipated, while refreshes for lower-priced iPhone lines will likely be postponed until spring to help balance annual revenue flows.

Beyond hardware, Wall Street is watching closely for updates on Apple’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. The company is set to showcase a rebuilt Siri voice assistant powered by large language models, built upon Google’s Gemini technology. However, regulatory hurdles remain: Apple previously confirmed the updated Siri will not be available in the European Union at launch due to ongoing compliance disputes regarding the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

For Ternus, the showcase offers an immediate platform to address both hardware evolution and software competitiveness.

“Tim Cook’s perfected execution, scale, and monetization set a high bar, and Ternus must extend that run,” Chatterjee said. He added that the executive must sustain momentum while navigating an era where smartphones eventually cease to be consumers’ primary digital interface.