For those after a more full-bodied iPhone, Apple is rumoured to be unveiling a new Pro model with a scratch-resistant antireflective display and an 8x telephoto lens, and the Pro Max could pack a bigger battery.
Apple is also expected to use the event to showcase the translucent, “liquid glass” iOS 26 upgrade, previewed mid-year at WWDC.
Rival Samsung recently released the 5.9mm slim Galaxy Edge (not yet available in NZ) and its new foldable the Galaxy Fold 7 – which achieves a closed form factor no thicker than a regular smartphone via edges barely wide enough to accommodate a USB-C port. The pocketability comes at a price, with the fold topping out at $4099.
Apple shares were up 0.3% to US$227.79 in late trading.
The stock has risen 6.4% over the past month.
Shares climbed after an August 6 meeting between Apple CEO Tim Cook and US President Donald Trump.
Apple gained tariff exemptions after a pledge to invest an additional US$100 billion in the US (on top of US$500b promised in February).
The FT reported that one of the biggest changes is that Apple’s chip suppliers will source silicon wafers from a GlobalWafers facility in Texas that opened in May with a US$406m grant from the Biden administration’s Chips Act.
Wafers are the fundamental building blocks on which circuits are imprinted and then sliced up into individual chips. As part of a “new partnership”, Apple said GlobalWafers’ 300mm wafers, which use US-sourced silicon, would be used by TSMC and Texas Instruments to produce chips for iPhones, the FT said.
Apple also said the largest US-based semiconductor equipment provider, Applied Materials, would “boost the production” at its site in Austin, Texas.
Applied is also making a new US$200m investment to build a component production facility in Arizona.
Apple will also work with a Samsung semiconductor facility in Austin “to launch an innovative new technology for making chips, which has never been used before anywhere in the world”.
It’s said the semiconductor project will involve a new image sensor for the iPhone 18, due next year – which would mean the displacement of incumbent image sensor supplier Sony.
Apple will also work with US companies Broadcom and GlobalFoundries on new 5G components.
Apple’s increased US investment also includes spending on data centres, R&D expenditure and Apple TV+ productions across 20 states.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
