Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) launched the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max this morning, the first product release under new chief executive John Ternus. CNBC anchor Becky Quick used her morning segment to point viewers past today and toward what comes next.
Quick opened by noting, “It’s launch day for Apple, the Pro and Pro Max versions of the iPhone 18 hitting stores with higher price points than previous new device models.” She characterized the pricing as stepped up from prior debuts, without putting a specific number on the Pro line.
Business Insider published photos on September 18, 2026 of shoppers lining up around the world for the iPhone 18 Pro launch. TradingView framed the day on September 18, 2026 as “Apple Raises the Premium Bet: iPhone 18 Pro Hits Stores, First Foldable Arrives Next.”
A New Chief Executive’s First Product Day
On the succession, Quick told viewers, “This is the first product launch under Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus. Prior to taking the company’s top job, Ternus served as senior vice president of Apple’s hardware engineering.” A chief executive stepping in from hardware inherits the product he helped ship, according to CNBC. The scrutiny is whether he can defend the pricing on the flagship line while also opening a genuinely new category.
Why Quick Says the Foldable Is the Real Story
Quick’s framing of where the attention actually sits was direct: “Much of the focus surrounding the new slate of iPhones is centered on Apple’s first foldable model, which is called the Duo that will debut in about a month.”
The reveal itself is already public. Apple announced the iPhone Duo on September 9, 2026. AP News reported on September 9, 2026 that the new Apple CEO unveiled the latest iPhone lineup, including a foldable model called Duo. Reuters described it as Apple joining “the foldable phone race with $1,999 passport-shaped iPhone Duo.” Fortune, covering the same event, called it a $2,000 iPhone Duo, its first foldable smartphone. The Mac Observer reported on September 15, 2026 that Ternus brought the iPhone Duo to the 2026 Emmy Awards. According to Quick on CNBC, the foldable model is called the Duo. The device has been seen in the wild, priced, and photographed. What remains ahead is availability, which reporting places after the iPhone 18 Pro.
Lines Around the World, a Stock That Slipped
Shoppers queued for the Pro. And Apple shares traded at $335.56 in afternoon action on September 18, 2026, down 0.43% on the session., according to Business Insider
Apple is up 23.77% year to date and up 40.93% over the past year. A soft session on launch day sits inside a strong year.
What Ternus Has To Prove
A new chief executive inheriting a mature product line carries two assignments at once. Hold the price ladder on the flagship. Open a category the company has not sold before. The iPhone 18 Pro answers the first. The Duo, once available, will answer the second, according to CNBC. Ternus is being measured on both inside his first month in the job.
The Duo is the more interesting variable, according to CNBC. A $1,999 passport-shaped phone is a real bet on a new form factor from a company that has spent years watching rivals ship foldables first, according to Reuters. Whether buyers follow the price up the ladder, and whether they carry a foldable alongside a Pro rather than in place of one, is the open question Quick is pointing at. Launch day answered part of the story. The rest arrives when the Duo does, according to CNBC.