Days after taking over as Apple‘s chief executive, John Ternus is widely expected to introduce a foldable iPhone at the company’s Surprise and Shine event on Wednesday.
That is only one of many possibilities for what looks set to be an iPhone-centric event. His predecessor, Tim Cook, was responsible for launching a string of successful products and projects, and it seems the new Apple chief executive is aiming to make a splash right out of the gate.
Apple detractors say the company is several years behind in releasing foldables, but supporters point out the same could have been said about smartphones before the iPhone’s introduction in 2007.
Here’s a look at what to expect at the Apple event this week:
Formidable foldable
Samsung was one of the first mainstream smartphone makers to introduce a foldable phone back in 2019.
The company’s first foldables were the subject of controversy stemming largely from misunderstanding how the phones worked, with some users peeling what they thought was a temporary cover off the devices, only to find these were necessary to prevent the screen from breaking.
Most foldable smartphones fall into one of three design areas: the clamshell that is akin to the flip phones of the pre-smartphone era; book-style foldables that open and provide more screen real-estate similar to a tablet; and tri-fold smartphones that resemble a slightly larger tablet and provide several display options.
For all the progress on foldables since 2019, critics highlight that the devices have visible creases because of the folds. Speculation is rife that Apple, known for its attention to detail, has been hard at work to minimise creases.
Apple is known for secrecy surrounding future products, but purportedly leaked photos showing foldable iPhone designs have spread on social media.
Despite the increasingly saturated market for foldables, analysts say Apple can make a major impact if a foldable iPhone is introduced on Wednesday.
Counterpoint Research’s most recent forecast report said global foldable smartphone shipments are expected to hit a major milestone in 2026, “with total lifetime units set to surpass 100 million by the end of the year”.
Apple’s penchant for innovation and the growing desire from consumers for foldables could mean that the company ships “up to six million foldable iPhones” this year, which Counterpoint Research says could give it a 25 per cent market share in the foldable market, behind the industry leader Samsung, just surpassing Huawei.
Tarun Pathak, Counterpoint’s research director, believes Apple will unveil a foldable iPhone geared more towards the premium side of the foldable sector. “There is room for the category to grow well beyond current volumes,” he added.
Liz Lee, associate director at Counterpoint, said desire for an Apple iPhone foldable offering is so strong that the biggest obstacle will be meeting demand.
“Initial supply for Apple’s first foldable iPhone will inevitably be limited during the early production ramp,” she said, adding that the significant demand would prove the impact Apple can have on the category even before supply fully accelerates.
Reports from various publications, citing analysts, have speculated that the cost of Apple’s foldable might range from $2,000 to $2,600.
AirPods with AI cameras?
In August, a rare leaked video from Apple showed what appeared to be AirPods featuring cameras that use artificial intelligence.
A narrator on the video can be heard talking about the product as a man wearing AirPods reads a book.
“With visual intelligence, your world becomes saveable,” the narrator says. “If you see something you like, just ask me to save it for later.”
The video came after months of speculation, largely fuelled by patents filed by Apple, about how the company might reinvent its popular AirPod wireless headphones.
Apple’s new AirPods leaked in video
Apple never denied what the leaked video showed, but reports have suggested the company will instead make more gradual adjustments to the AirPod line-up before introducing models with more camera, sensor and AI features.
An expressive lamp?
It wouldn’t be an Apple event without some fanciful predictions.
There has been some talk that Apple will announce an expressive lamp robot not unlike Pixar’s Luxo-lamp animated logo.
The speculation stems from an academic research paper composed by a group of Apple engineers in 2025.
“How do we design expressive movements alongside functional actions for robots interacting with humans?” the introduction to the research reads.
“In this paper, we present the design and prototyping of a lamp-like robot that explores the interplay between functional and expressive objectives in movement design.”
Apple’s engineers provide examples in which the robotic lamp would be able to provide reminders and suggestions, introduce visitors, play music and games, and, of course, provide proper lighting for a wide variety of occasions.
“Our results indicate that incorporating expressive movements significantly increases user likeability towards the robot and enhances interaction engagement,” Apple’s engineers wrote in their 2025 paper, along with a video of what a hypothetical lamp product might look like.
While this sort of product might seem far-fetched given Apple’s current focus on smartphones, tablets, computers and cloud services, it’s worth noting that the company’s previous iconic product introductions such as the iPod in 2001 also came as a surprise.
Apple’s new chief executive has said the company has many products under development that users might not have imagined.
The company is sitting on a pile of cash and has some of the world’s best engineers, so it’s safe to say that Apple would be able to contribute to the robot sector in a thoughtful way.
One more thing
The late Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, was famous for concluding his keynotes with “one more thing” announcements that were often the major headline items from Apple’s events.
Some have speculated that Apple TV’s hardware is getting long in the tooth and Wednesday’s event will be the perfect place to provide a major update.
Similarly, rumours have circulated for years about Apple preparing a significant update to its HomePod AI speakers.
One thing is clear: about a week after becoming Apple chief executive, the stakes could not be higher for Mr Ternus.
Apple’s event takes place at 10am Pacific time on Wednesday.