Technology

Apple has unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone, with sales set to begin October 23. The new model opens to a 7.6-inch inner screen and carries a 5.4-inch outer display. Apple says the larger panel offers the biggest screen yet on an iPhone. U.S. prices start at $1,999 for 256GB of storage. Preorders begin October 16 across more than 70 countries and regions.

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The iPhone 18 Pro camera system adds four selectable aperture settings to control lighting and depth of field. Its main camera supports apertures of f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8 and f/4.0. The system also includes 48-megapixel Ultra Wide and Telephoto cameras. New Pro controls allow adjustments to aperture, shutter speed and white balance inside the Camera app. Users can also view a histogram while composing photos or videos. Apple has introduced Reference Image, an opt-in feature designed to help verify the authenticity of photographs. The system captures signed sensor data when users take a photo in Reference mode. That data creates a reference image that users can compare with an edited version in the Photos app. The company is also adding support for image metadata and the SynthID standard. SynthID support will arrive through a software update later in 2026. Camera controls expand with variable aperture The A20 Pro chip uses a 2-nanometer manufacturing process and includes a six-core CPU and seven-core GPU. It also has a Dual 16-core Neural Engine with 32 total cores for artificial intelligence processing. Apple says the GPU delivers up to 40% faster performance than the A19 Pro. A redesigned vapor chamber increases surface area and improves sustained performance. The models also include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread through Apple’s N1 wireless networking chip. Battery life also increases across the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. Apple

The United States is expanding domestic battery production as it works to reduce dependence on China. The larger challenge sits deeper in the supply chain. China still dominates battery materials, processing and key manufacturing technologies used worldwide. U.S. factories have added capacity, but many depend on imported components and refined minerals. That gap has placed graphite, cathodes, anodes and lithium iron phosphate materials at the center of Washington’s battery push.

The valuation shift reflects broader recalibrations across international financial markets as institutional managers re-evaluate capital commitments tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure. While competing hyperscale computing enterprises including Alphabet and Tesla accelerated capital investments toward data centers, robotics, and autonomous transport networks, Apple maintained disciplined expenditure controls over consecutive fiscal quarters. Market participants increasingly view Apple’s disciplined spending approach as an operational buffer, allowing the firm to expand its proprietary Apple Intelligence software ecosystem without incurring high infrastructure depreciation costs. Trading patterns across major equity benchmarks highlighted diverging sentiment between hardware component suppliers and consumer technology platforms. Nvidia shares experienced increased selling pressure alongside wider pullbacks across semiconductor equities, as investors scrutinized the timeline for financial returns on massive artificial intelligence data center investments. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index recorded notable weekly declines as market participants reassessed elevated valuation multiples across pure-play chipmakers. Despite persistent demand for graphics processing units, concerns surrounding energy supply constraints, macroeconomic interest rate trajectories, and capital expenditure intensity weighed on semiconductor equity prices.