Opening thoughts. The timing of our conversation last week, was just a few hours after the annual Apple iPhone keynote.
Opening thoughts. The timing of our conversation last week, was just a few hours after the annual Apple iPhone keynote. I am sure you would have enjoyed the detailed coverage on HT including the live updates and the videos on social channels, and read our in-depth analysis of the John Ternus era, a first take on the iPhone Duo foldable, how the iPhone 18 Pro phones balance continuity with some serious upgrades, and an exclusive interaction with three key Apple executives on the company’s silicon efforts across the A20 Pro, the M6 and the S11 chips. But there’s a lot more to discuss to get a sense of what was happening on-ground in Cupertino.
The A20 Pro chip, which marks another benchmark reset for smartphone silicon, is decidedly great news for a future MacBook Neo. Because it is a matter of when and not if, that the Apple A20 Pro will power a future generation of the portable computing device.
Speaking of computing devices, wait till the A20 Pro arrives in an iPad Pro. It’s going to be soon, that’s all I can say for now. That could also prove to be a fantastic work machine for many, including creative workflows, with more power than most Windows laptops. Imagine that.
There was some confusion regarding the Apple C2 modem, as to whether Apple’s latest cellular modem would be available across the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Initially, it was suggested that the iPhone 18 Pro Max wouldn’t get that, but Apple executive Kaiann Drance, VP of Worldwide iPhone & Apple Watch Product Marketing, confirmed to HT that the C2 will figure in the iPhone 18 Pro Max also that will be sold in India. It is that the iPhone 18 Pro Max units sold in the US will not use that hardware due to a couple of reasons — various suppliers they work with, and delivering the best experience.
Apple silicon moving to the 2-nanometer architecture across the A20 Pro, the M6 and the Watch’s S11 chips, means there is now parity with a very efficient architecture. Drance, Sri Santhanam, VP of Silicon Engineering Group, as well as Tom Boger, VP of Worldwide Mac & iPad Product Marketing, insist that the mission of extracting maximum
performance per watt, the very foundation of Apple Silicon’s mission.
“It is about the power of integration between the silicon hardware and software. It is about the power of integration between the silicon hardware and software. We set a goal for increasing sustained performance, and the product design and systems architecture teams worked to figure out how to solve this at a holistic level,” explains Kaiann Drance.
Last but not least, I am certain a lot of you folks would be confused between the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the iPhone Duo. To be fair, while the choice does invite a sense of overlap, both phones are meant for very different audiences. First and foremost, if cameras are of utmost importance, the iPhone 18 Pro Max not only does have more advanced sensors, but also variable aperture which would be extremely useful for the prosumer audience. However, the iPhone Duo’s pristine advantage lies in its collective function as a phone plus an extendable mini-tablet for work.
With the foldable iPhone Duo priced ₹2,99,900 onwards and the iPhone 18 Pro series priced ₹1,64,900 onwards in India, analysing the expected trajectory of the three new phones is a bit more complicated than usual this year—also because the consumer-grade, entry-level iPhone 18 hasn’t arrived as yet. That’s expected early next year, and with no perceived volume driver in the portfolio for now, it’ll be interesting to see how Apple’s sales look in the next couple of quarters.
Prabhu Ram, Vice President - Industry Research Group, CyberMedia Research (CMR), believes that the new iPhones mark a return to the aspirational, premium positioning for the iPhone. That, in his opinion, isn’t a negative. “The iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro series command a distinct premium in India, driven by underlying memory-cost inflation—specifically DRAM and NAND pricing pressures—compounded by local variables like basic customs duties, tax structures, channel margins, and rupee depreciation. Even as overall market volumes face pressure, India’s premium smartphone segment continues to see resilient, double-digit growth,” he says.
As for the foldable iPhone Duo, Ram believes that it will carve out an ‘uber-premium’ tier above the flagship portfolio. Overall average selling prices (ASPs) will go up. “For affluent buyers, structured financing smooths this transition: stepping up from an 18 Pro Max baseline to the Duo requires an incremental outlay of ~₹20,000 per month in EMIs—a low-friction adjustment for consumers seeking a status-driven lifestyle statement,” he says.
The worry for the coming two quarters is that the typical entry-spec iPhone (which in this case would’ve been the iPhone 18), changes the contours of demand. If the trajectory of previous years would’ve continued, what would have happened is that the iPhone 18 launch would’ve led to a price correction of last year’s iPhone 17, with what Ram calls a traditional ’N-1’ generation discount. In fact, the iPhone 17 prices have gone up due to supply-side costs.
Smart Analytics Global (SAG) expects Apple to ship around 6 million iPhone Duo units globally in 2026, with the US expected to be its largest market. The worry is, SAG expects combined iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max shipments to decline by double digits versus iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in 2025. This will be a combination of limited hardware upgrades and some of the premium demand shifting to the foldable iPhone Duo.
“We believe the importance of the iPhone Duo goes beyond Apple entering the foldable market. Apple spent a lot of time showing how consumers can actually use the new form factor, including folded, unfolded, half-folded and Flex-style scenarios. This suggests foldable competition is gradually moving beyond hardware specifications toward user experience, apps, ecosystem and how well consumers can use the larger inner display,” says Linda Sui, Founder and Principal Analyst at Smart Analytics Global.
They expect Apple to emerge as the foldable phone market leader by 2027, with 41% volume share and 58% value share, as the wide-fold devices (also called passport-style foldable) become the dominant form factor.
That’s all folks. Stay tuned for next week’s Neural Dispatch and Wired Wisdom. And do subscribe, for there’s tons coming your way. Do send your bouquets and brickbats.
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