Cook’s Exit Week: Apple’s Rumored $2,000 Foldable iPhone

Tim Cook has three working days left as Apple's chief executive, and the product his successor is about to unveil could be the priciest iPhone the company has ever sold. Apple invited media this week to a September 9 event titled "Surprise and Shine," which will be the first keynote run by John Ternus, who becomes CEO on September 1. The headline act, according to widespread supply-chain and analyst reporting, is Apple's first foldable iPhone, expected to start near $2,000.

The handover was made official in April and approved unanimously by Apple's board: Cook moves into the role of executive chairman, and Ternus, previously senior vice president of hardware engineering, joins the board as he takes over as chief executive, according to Apple's own announcement.

Apple has already raised prices on several devices this year, and Cook told analysts the increases traced to a "hundred-year flood" in memory and storage costs, an unusually blunt admission from a company that has typically absorbed component-cost swings rather than pass them to buyers. The new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to cost more than last year's models for the same reason.

None of the foldable's specifics are confirmed by Apple. Reported details — a starting price between roughly $2,000 and $2,500, a book-style hinge, and a name landing on either "iPhone Fold" or "iPhone Ultra" — come from supply-chain leaks and analyst estimates, not the company. The same memory shortage squeezing pricing is also expected to limit early stock of the foldable and the Pro models alike, according to semiconductor analysts tracking Apple's suppliers.

Hong Kong, traditionally a first-wave launch market for new iPhones, is also one of the few places where the price gap with mainland China still pulls cross-border buyers.

Apple will confirm the device's name, specifications and price when Ternus takes the stage on September 9, eight days after he formally succeeds Cook.