Apple unveils its first foldable iPhone — and it won't come cheap

Apple showed off its brand-new iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch on Wednesday at an event called "Surprise and Shine." The biggest news of the day was the iPhone Duo — Apple's very first foldable smartphone. The phone folds in half like a small book and starts at $1,999, making it the most expensive iPhone Apple has ever sold.

The event was also the first time Apple's new chief executive, John Ternus, appeared in front of the public as the company's top leader. Ternus used to work as a product designer at Apple, and the event gave people a first look at how he plans to lead the company. He spoke about Apple's goals and introduced several new products during the show.

The iPhone Duo will go on sale on October 23. When you open it, it is about the size of a passport, and it has a bendable screen that is the largest ever put on an iPhone. Ternus said the Duo is meant to fix problems with other foldable phones already on the market.

Apple also raised prices on some of its older phones, which is unusual for the company. Usually, Apple lowers the prices of older models when new ones come out. But this time, the iPhone Pro starts at $1,199, and older phones like the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air each went up by $100.

Ternus also talked about Apple's use of artificial intelligence, or AI. Some people have questioned whether Apple is doing enough with AI compared to other tech companies. Ternus defended Apple's approach and said that protecting users' privacy would remain one of the company's most important values.

In other tech news, researchers from an AI company called Anthropic warned that AI could be very dangerous if it grows out of control. One former researcher said companies are moving too fast toward building super-smart AI without being careful enough. These warnings have started a bigger conversation about how AI should be developed safely.

A cryptocurrency called $LAPTOP also made headlines on Wednesday after it was tied to Hunter Biden. The coin jumped from $37 to about $222 in just one hour after it launched. But by the afternoon it had dropped to around $1.36, losing about 95 percent of its value — a pattern that is common with meme coins.

Finally, Microsoft and a large teachers' union called the American Federation of Teachers announced new safety rules for using AI in schools. The rules say that student and teacher data cannot be used to train AI or sold for advertising. A human must also be watching over any AI tools used in classrooms.