Apple Event September 2026

[harshness]

I'm surprised the price increase is only $100 more than the 17 Pro and Pro Max.

As a stockholder, I'm a bit perturbed that Apple isn't pricing the iPhone 18 Pro above the Pixel 11 Pro. The AirPods seem like a little too good a value, as well.

I may have dozed off during the Apple Watch segment (it is hard for me to stay awake through these video packages). Did they announce pricing for the watches?

Apple seems to have fallen into a pattern of only citing improvements in specifications versus prior products. It seems like they used to engage in occasional claims of "industry-leading".

I'm happy to see the Dynamic Island go away on the Duo (replaced by a fingerprint sensor like that used by the competition). I expect that trend to extend to other iPhones.

The Duo seems to have a rather odd aspect ratio. I think it is too wide when folded.

 

[b4pjoe]

As a stockholder, I'm a bit perturbed that Apple isn't pricing the iPhone 18 Pro above the Pixel 11 Pro. The AirPods seem like a little too good a value, as well.

That is because they are one size fits all just like the Airpods 4 that suck.

 

[TheForce]

Right.

Money better spent on bathroom fixtures.

Need to decide. 18PM 1TB @$60/mo for 2 years. Or, continue to manage my remaining storage on the 15PM and weak battery.

TBH- I am more annoyed with the transfer of all the data and app access. Last time with my wife's upgrade it was a half day of making everything work. Then another week of discovery of stuff that needed more attention. I complained to Apple about it and their excuse was "for security reasons you will need to reinstall all those apps and update them with the provider."

 

[cp2k]

I am interested in the Duo, but I want to wait a year for them to refine the technology a bit first. I keep phones a long time now, so in the end the amount would be worth it over time. I still have my 15 Pro Max now, but I was using a 6S Plus up until it came out. I typically don't upgrade now until they stop receiving updates. As I'm getting older my close up vision is getting worse, and I have to wear reading glasses now to see a lot of the small print on my phone. The screen size on the Duo would help with that, and would keep me from having to carry my iPad around as much.

 

[comfortably_numb]

18PM 1TB @$60/mo for 2 years

Why would anyone choose to finance or lease a locked phone that you don't own? Best to buy it outright.

 

[Foxbat]

Considering this is the fifth or sixth (or seventh) multiple-screen device with the "Duo" moniker, Boo to Apple's naming department. (Microsoft had the Surface Duo a few years back which had a similar size to this new Apple form factor.) They should have gone with an apple varietal like "Gala", "Fuji", or "Pippin".

edit: sorry for the Paywall link, I didn't know The Verge had started that. A Boo to them, too!

 

[Foxbat]

Why would anyone choose to finance or lease a locked phone that you don't own? Best to buy it outright.

If you take the $2,000 for the base iPhone Duo and invest it instead, it should make more than the $1,440 needed for the two-year commitment. But, it depends on a number of factors that only TheForce has access to.

Sort of buried in the lede was the fact the existing iPhone models bumped up in price by $100. So I am happy that I got my iPhone 17 when I did.

The new Series 12 watches are still at $399/$449 for the Aluminum bodied GPS models. Returning is the Ceramic case starting at $899.

 

[klang]

Phones acquired directly from Apple are not generally locked.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Phones acquired directly from Apple are not generally locked.

Correct, if you pay cash. You can't finance/lease a phone from Apple without choosing one of the "big 3."

 

[comfortably_numb]

If you take the $2,000 for the base iPhone Duo and invest it instead, it should make more than the $1,440 needed for the two-year commitment

I agree. Plus you don't own the phone at the end of that lease unless you do a buy-out.

 

[klang]

Correct, if you pay cash. You can't finance/lease a phone from Apple without choosing one of the "big 3."

Choosing one of the big 3, in my case AT&T, does NOT lead to a locked phone. In my experience.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Choosing one of the big 3, in my case AT&T, does NOT lead to a locked phone. In my experience.

Regardless, the millions of people who use MVNO's can't finance or lease from Apple at all. So it's the same question as has been discussed here before... if you have one of the Big 3, why not finance with them? At least you own the phone at the end without a buyout.

 

[navychop]

Need to decide. 18PM 1TB @$60/mo for 2 years. Or, continue to manage my remaining storage on the 15PM and weak battery.

TBH- I am more annoyed with the transfer of all the data and app access. Last time with my wife's upgrade it was a half day of making everything work. Then another week of discovery of stuff that needed more attention. I complained to Apple about it and their excuse was "for security reasons you will need to reinstall all those apps and update them with the provider."

A new battery is what, about $100 or so?

I think I'll continue to use my "old" iPhones until they can't support certain apps or dl the latest iOS. Actually, I'd be happy with an iOS a release or two behind. Get max bang for my buck.

And I pay Apple to do the battery swap.

 

[comfortably_numb]

A new battery is what, about $100 or so?

Yes, or if you have Apple Care+ it's a free replacement.

I always pay cash for my phones then carry the $11/month Apple Care insurance. Use any carrier you want, dual-SIM, etc.

Now I guess if one can't afford to pony up $2,000 for that Duo then financing makes sense. But I would still carry the insurance regardless.

 

[TheForce]

As a stockholder, I'm a bit perturbed that Apple isn't pricing the iPhone 18 Pro above the Pixel 11 Pro. The AirPods seem like a little too good a value, as well.

I still keep 10 shares of Apple stock. Used to be my largest holding but when they stopped innovating and the stock plateaued, I sold off and moved it into Tesla. Apple is never good these days at setting trends. Instead they usually do it better than the competition although often a year late.
Some exceptions, like the Apple Vision Pro was a total misread of the market for VR180 3D HMD. While the image quality was good, it was a complete flop for those who use these HMD's for gaming, exercise, 3D video production, and augmented reality. Not to mention the price was eight times the cost of the Meta Quest 3. I went through their AVP session and discovered it was unable to do anything except watch a movie on a virtual flat screen, in a high resolution that no content was capable of. Plus it was uncomfortable to wear and had to be tethered to an external battery.

 

[Ronnie-]

Regardless, the millions of people who use MVNO's can't finance or lease from Apple at all. So it's the same question as has been discussed here before... if you have one of the Big 3, why not finance with them? At least you own the phone at the end without a buyout.

In my case, if you finance with the carrier it IS locked for 90 days, which renders the dual sim capability useless for that time.

Since I use two lines on one device (verizon and google fi) I would need it unlocked.

 

[TheForce]

I can afford to pay the interest free + 3% cash back for the $60 a month. But considering, I am retired and would need to sell stocks to pay cash, it seems to me the problem solver 18PM 1TB makes sense. In another year the stocks I would sell return a 17%+ compounded monthly so the $60 a month won't be worth $60 out of pocket in the future.
Some of these new cameras have internal storage so when they fill up you have to offload to a phone app or desktop to make room for more shooting. On my last cruise two excursion days, I ran out of storage and had to use my wife's iphone to shoot stills. her phone has 256GB 17P. I decided on my last trip I would upgrade to a 1TB before my next 7 day cruise. When I shoot 3D VR180 8K 60 fps, it's 3 GB a minute.

 

[TheForce]

For those with experience- I bought the Apple Care+ for multiple devices as we have 2 iphones and 2 AW on it. If I get the 18PM on ACMI do I need to manually remove the the tradein 15PM and add the 18PM or does Apple do that automatically since it is a tradein?

 

[Foxbat]

do I need to manually remove the the tradein 15PM and add the 18PM or does Apple do that automatically since it is a tradein?

Apple takes care of that. You'll see a credit for the unused AppleCare+ on the traded-in device.

 

[harshness]

Used to be my largest holding but when they stopped innovating

Apple hasn't practically innovated in years. I don't view the Apple Vision Pro as a practical innovation. They've mostly been playing catch-up and putting Apple icing on their competitors' innovations. The fact that features they touted a few cycles ago have come and gone shows me that they've run low on ideas.

You can tell yesterday's announcements weren't exciting, as the stock price has been rising since the announcement. I've long observed that the value seems to move counter to the level of positive excitement (which has been increasingly tempered by "leaks"). The stock price has been rising pretty briskly since the announcement, so I may be able to get out soon. I missed the point when it hit $340 as I was waiting for the dividend, but it may get close enough soon. My cost basis is $13.27/share, so I need to research how to handle the capital gains.