Apple Releases iPhone 18 in Stores Under New CEO Ternus’s First Product Launch

A lineup of new products hit Apple stores worldwide on Sept. 18, headlined by the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

“With iPhone 18 Pro, we’ve made advancements to the areas our users care about most: camera, performance, battery, and intelligence,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a news release announcing the new phones.

The company also debuted the Apple Watch Series 12, the Apple Watch Ultra 4, and the AirPods 5 as part of the product launch—the company’s first such launch under its new CEO, John Ternus.

Ternus, Joswiak, and senior vice president of retail Deirdre O’Brien led one of Friday’s launches at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are priced at $1,199 and $1,299, respectively, which is $100 more than the previous generation.

The phones are available in the colors black, silver, glacier, and burgundy. Pre-orders began on Sept. 12.

The company stated that the new phones’ Fusion Main camera adds customizability, and a new sensor improves image quality in the photos.

Apple also highlighted the phones’ battery life, saying that the iPhone 18 Pro can charge up to 50 percent in around 15 minutes and that a full charge on the Pro Max can provide up to 30 hours of usage.

The phones come with Apple’s new Siri AI, which can draw on its understanding of context to help users find what they need in their messages, emails, photos, and other apps, according to the company.

The new phones were debuted on Sept. 9 at the company’s Cupertino headquarters, where a new foldable phone called the iPhone Duo was also revealed.

Ternus said the Duo has “the largest display ever on an iPhone while still fitting easily in your pocket.” With a 7.6-inch screen, the Duo is 50 percent larger than the iPhone 18 Pro Max and is compatible with an Apple Pencil. It will be available on Oct. 23 for $1,999.

Ternus had been Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering since 2021 and has worked on many of the company’s signature products in his 20-plus years with Apple.

He officially took the reins from Tim Cook on Sept. 1 after the succession was announced in April.

Cook was the CEO of Apple for 15 years after Steve Jobs and turned the $350 billion company into a $4.5 trillion one.

Apple said in April that Cook would stay with the company as an executive chairman to handle relations and engagements with policymakers around the world.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.