The Verge's Vergecast podcast dissects Apple's latest product launch event, marking new CEO John Ternus's first appearance in the role and the debut of the company's first folding phone, the iPhone Duo. Hosts and colleagues assess the new iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture camera, question whether Apple's foldable borrows the best elements of existing Android designs, and examine new Apple Watch models, including concerns about their always-on microphone feature that generates AI summaries of users' conversations.

The episode also features a segment with Nilay Patel and David Imel speaking to AI researcher CJ Trowbridge about running local large language models on Mac computers, before closing with a rapid-fire "Thunder Round" covering other tech stories. These include controversy over whether OpenAI used mathematicians' work without proper attribution for a recent breakthrough, a $250 price increase for the Trump-branded phone, Sony's revisit of its popular XM4 headphones, and a novelty electronic ocarina device.