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Posted On: September 10th 2026, 12:10 am
THOUGHTS FROM A BIG DAY AT APPLE: (Read my full report via USA Today on 9/10.) Video and first hands-on impressions are uploading to Techish.com and across all my socials any second now.
1. iPhone Duo - Apple’s first foldable phone: The screen is the breakthrough.
Every foldable I’ve held feels like plastic. The iPhone Duo doesn’t. The matte finish cuts glare and hides the crease so well that I had to go looking for it.
2. It’s heavier than Samsung’s newest Fold, and you feel it.
The Duo weighs about as much as a large apple (coincidence?). Folded, one-handed is fine. Opened up, it’s too big for my hands. Apple made the phone heavier on purpose. It put a battery in each half instead of one, built the frame out of titanium instead of aluminum, and sealed it against dust, not just water. BUT … All of that adds grams. Samsung went the other direction and made its phone as light and thin as possible.Apple’s phone lasts longer and survives more; Samsung’s is easier to hold. You just have to decide what you care about more.
3. Apple didn’t give the Duo a better camera than the 18 Pro. It has fewer lenses, no real zoom. — BUT … What it has is a screen on the outside, and that changes who’s in the picture.
Flip it around, and you take selfies with the good 48-megapixel cameras. The person you’re shooting sees themselves and fixes the shot. Cartoons play to get kids looking at the lens. Tap once, set it down, and it takes the photo it
4. Apple Watch may be the sleeper story.
If you’ve ever worn an Oura ring or clipped a Plaud AI recorder to your shirt, Apple just built both into the watch. It now gives you a readiness score, adds “Health Age,” and can rewind the last 15 seconds of a conversation or summarize one later. Useful? Absolutely. Also worth a privacy conversation - I get into this more in my article.
5. AirPods got the easiest win.
Noise-canceling now comes in regular AirPods without silicone tips, still starting at $129.
And the big question: can Apple make folding phones normal?
After today, I think it has a real shot.
#apple @usatoday #iphone #iphone18 @apple
1. iPhone Duo - Apple’s first foldable phone: The screen is the breakthrough.
Every foldable I’ve held feels like plastic. The iPhone Duo doesn’t. The matte finish cuts glare and hides the crease so well that I had to go looking for it.
2. It’s heavier than Samsung’s newest Fold, and you feel it.
The Duo weighs about as much as a large apple (coincidence?). Folded, one-handed is fine. Opened up, it’s too big for my hands. Apple made the phone heavier on purpose. It put a battery in each half instead of one, built the frame out of titanium instead of aluminum, and sealed it against dust, not just water. BUT … All of that adds grams. Samsung went the other direction and made its phone as light and thin as possible.Apple’s phone lasts longer and survives more; Samsung’s is easier to hold. You just have to decide what you care about more.
3. Apple didn’t give the Duo a better camera than the 18 Pro. It has fewer lenses, no real zoom. — BUT … What it has is a screen on the outside, and that changes who’s in the picture.
Flip it around, and you take selfies with the good 48-megapixel cameras. The person you’re shooting sees themselves and fixes the shot. Cartoons play to get kids looking at the lens. Tap once, set it down, and it takes the photo it
4. Apple Watch may be the sleeper story.
If you’ve ever worn an Oura ring or clipped a Plaud AI recorder to your shirt, Apple just built both into the watch. It now gives you a readiness score, adds “Health Age,” and can rewind the last 15 seconds of a conversation or summarize one later. Useful? Absolutely. Also worth a privacy conversation - I get into this more in my article.
5. AirPods got the easiest win.
Noise-canceling now comes in regular AirPods without silicone tips, still starting at $129.
And the big question: can Apple make folding phones normal?
After today, I think it has a real shot.
#apple @usatoday #iphone #iphone18 @apple
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