We’ve seen foldables in just about every shape and size over the past few years from the likes of Samsung, Honor, Oppo, Motorola, Xiaomi and Huawei, but there’s still one big name missing from the conversation: Apple.
The company has long been tipped to be working on a foldable iPhone behind closed doors, and while it still might be a little while away from launch, the rumour mill has painted an increasingly detailed picture of what to expect.
From its potential release window and eye-wateringly high price to its unusual iPad-like aspect ratio, crease-free screen ambitions and possible Ultra branding, there’s already plenty to talk about. Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s first foldable right now.
What is the iPhone Fold (and why might it be called the iPhone Ultra?)
The iPhone Fold is, for now at least, simply the unofficial name being used to describe Apple’s long-rumoured foldable iPhone. It’s a handy shorthand that instantly tells people what kind of device we’re talking about, but it’d be a little too on-the-nose for Apple to actually use.
After all, ‘Fold’ branding is already heavily associated with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold range and, to a lesser extent, Motorola’s Razr foldables, and Apple tends to avoid naming that feels derivative of what already exists on the Android side.
Instead, current rumours point towards it being called the iPhone Ultra, and that feels like a much more plausible option. Apple has already used Ultra branding with the Apple Watch Ultra, and it fits the positioning of a foldable iPhone nicely too – a more premium, more expensive and more ambitious take on the regular iPhone formula.
If the foldable does eventually arrive, don’t be surprised if Apple leans into that top-tier branding rather than calling it the iPhone Fold outright.
iPhone Ultra release date – what the leaks say
There has been a lot of debate about the iPhone Ultra’s release date, but the consensus now is that it’ll appear alongside the iPhone 18 Pro range at a launch sometime in September.
That said, there are still questions about whether it’ll actually launch at the same time; Mark Gurman is confident that it’ll launch at the same time, or near, the iPhone 18 Pro, while other reports claim it could be released a little later, potentially in December 2027 due to issues with manufacturing.
However, that could all be thrown out of the window if the latest reports from mid-May 2026 are to be believed. It’s said that the iPhone Ultra could be “indefinitely delayed” due to issues with the hinge mechanism, with the foldable allegedly failing to meet Apple’s quality control standards.
It sounds like the iPhone doesn’t hold up to long-term use, with its hinge experiencing too much wear and tear after being opened and closed too much. It’s unlikely that it’d be canned altogether at this stage, but it could force Apple to delay the release of its first foldable to 2027. We’ll have to wait and see for now.
iPhone Ultra price – how much will it cost?
Apple’s first foldable iPhone was always going to be expensive – but rumours suggest it could come in at roughly double the price of the company’s currently top-end iPhone 17 Pro Max. For context, that phone starts at a not-insignificant £/$1199.
Analysts like Ming-Chi Kuo believe it’ll be priced somewhere between $2000 and $2500 in the US, a figure later backed up by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Other analysts predict slightly different, with UBS analysts predicting somewhere between $1800 and $2000, while Fubon Research suggests a higher $2400 price tag.
No UK pricing has been mentioned yet, but considering Apple tends to keep its iPhone pricing fairly consistent between the UK and US, it’s likely that’d translate to roughly £2000-£2500.
All of this depends on storage, of course, with Apple reportedly offering the foldable in 256-, 512GB and 1TB options.
iPhone Ultra design and display – what will it look like?
The idea of a foldable iPhone isn’t new, and Apple has clearly been working on it for quite some time, with a slew of foldable-related patents dating back to 2016. Of course, future-facing patents often don’t go far beyond the concept stage, but it at least indicates Apple’s interest in the technology.
In fact, leaker Jon Prosser claimed that Apple was testing both a flip-style and book-style foldable iPhone internally at one time, though more recent leaks suggest that Apple has finally settled on the latter. That essentially means it’ll resemble the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7.
The latest rumours claim that it’ll have a frame made from titanium and aluminium, with the former used to keep the frame rigid and the latter for better heat dissipation. It could also measure in at around 4.5mm when open, and around 9-9.5mm thick when folded – which, if true, would make it the thinnest Apple product to date, beating the 13-inch iPad Pro’s 5.1mm.
That said, we’ve already seen thinner foldables in the likes of the Oppo Find N6, Honor Magic V5 and, of course, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7. All of these measure in at 4.1-4.2mm unfolded, and around 8.9mm folded.
Where Apple’s foldable will differentiate itself is in its shape: unlike current foldables that have a tall, skinny cover screen and a roughly 1:1 square internal screen, the iPhone Ultra is said to have a shorter, squatter design reminiscent of the original Pixel Fold and the Oppo Find N2.
That means a shorter, wider cover screen and, more importantly, a 4:3 aspect ratio on the inner foldable panel – pretty close to standard iPad dimensions.
There have been plenty of leaks supporting this radical design change in recent months, both in the form of renders and real-world dummy models photographed in the wild, giving us a good idea of what to expect.
The specifics of the screens are still a topic of debate, with the outer panel said to measure between 5.4 and 5.6 inches, while the inner panel measures between 7.6 and 7.8 inches, depending on the source.
Interestingly, rumours suggest that Apple will do away with Face ID, the staple of the iPhone collection since the iPhone X, with the iPhone Ultra. Likely due to size constraints, Apple is reportedly working on a Touch ID sensor that’ll be embedded in the power button.
What’s more exciting is the claim that Apple has allegedly eradicated the foldable screen’s crease, an issue that has plagued every single foldable since they first appeared on the market.
According to a source speaking to Korean publication ETNews, “Apple has decided to eliminate the crease at all costs, regardless of price, to differentiate its foldable phone from existing models”, with corroborating reports more recently describing it as “nearly invisible” when the iPhone is unfolded.
The latest leaks suggest the crease measures in at less than 0.15mm, which should make it much less noticeable to the eye than foldables from Samsung and co – though it won’t be quite as accomplished as the 0.05mm crease on the Oppo Find N6.
The iPhone Ultra isn’t going to follow the example set by the iPhone Pro’s new fun colour options either; rumours suggest it’ll only be available in two colours, likely space grey/black and silver/white.
It could be the most repairable foldable around though; recent rumours praise the device’s “incredibly rigorous underlying engineering logic”, with the refreshingly modular design allegedly eliminating the complex ribbon cable system that complicates disassembly in most current foldables.
iPhone Ultra specs – processor, cameras, battery
It’s expected that the foldable iPhone will use the upcoming Apple A20 chipset – likely the Pro version – built on TSMC’s next-gen 2nm process, along with a healthy 12GB of RAM.
The transition from 3nm to 2nm essentially allows for more transistors in each chip, resulting in a boost in performance. Rumours suggest there could be a 15% performance jump while being 30% more efficient than the outgoing A19 chips in the iPhone 17 collection.
Apple is also said to be utilising TSMC’s Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) chip packaging technology, which integrates RAM directly onto the chip wafer to further boost performance while offering better thermal management.
That’s said to be powered by a battery in the range of 5,400mAh and 5,800mAh, which not only makes it the biggest iPhone battery yet but also larger than the Z Fold 7’s 5,000mAh cell – though, once again, it falls behind the Oppo Find N6’s 6,000mAh alternative.
Those expecting the same camera setup as the Pro-level iPhones, however, will be disappointed. Current rumours point to a dual-camera setup on the rear, comprising a 48MP main and 48MP ultrawide, the same combination as on the iPhone 17.
The inner screen camera could be interesting though; it’s said to be under-screen like early versions of the Galaxy Z Fold, albeit with a 24MP resolution, making it the highest-res UDC to date. Whether that’ll translate to good performance, however, is yet to be seen – it’s something that plenty of manufacturers have struggled with in recent years.
Without Face ID, that’ll be paired with a regular hole-punch camera on the cover screen. It’s another first for Apple, but something we’ve seen on the Android side of things for years.
iPhone Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 – key differences
The iPhone Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 might share a book-style foldable form factor, but if the rumours are accurate, they’ll take quite different approaches to the experience.
Apple is said to be focusing on a shorter, wider design with a 4:3 inner display, making it feel more like an iPad mini when unfolded.
That could make the iPhone Ultra a more natural fit for reading, browsing and split-screen apps. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 sticks with the taller, slimmer shape that we’ve seen from most foldables so far, with a square-shaped inner screen that isn’t the best for video watching or gaming.
There are likely to be key differences in hardware too. The iPhone Ultra is tipped to use a titanium-and-aluminium frame, a nearly invisible crease and a more modular internal design that could make it one of the most repairable foldables yet.
However, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, which measures just 4.2mm unfolded, 8.9mm folded and 215g, is one of the thinnest and lightest book-style foldables around, comfortably thinner than the Ultra’s rumoured thickness.
Rumours also suggest Apple’s foldable could offer a larger 5,400-5,800mAh battery, but Samsung is expected to retain the advantage in camera versatility, with the Z Fold 7 offering a 200MP main, ultrawide and telephoto setup compared to Apple’s rumoured dual-camera system.
In other words, the iPhone Ultra could stand out through its shape, battery capacity and crease reduction, while the Galaxy Z Fold 7 looks set to remain the more proven and more photography-friendly foldable.
Should you wait for the iPhone Ultra?
If you’re desperate to try a foldable and want the best experience right now, you’re better off going for one of the Android options already on shelves. Phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, Oppo Find N6 and Honor Magic V5 offer mature hardware, refined software and none of the uncertainty that still surrounds Apple’s first foldable.
The iPhone Ultra does sound intriguing, especially with its squatter iPad-like aspect ratio, larger battery and promise of a much less visible crease, but with reports of delays and even potential hinge issues, it feels far from a sure thing at this stage.
Unless you’re particularly tied into Apple’s ecosystem or happy to wait and see what could be a very different take on the foldable formula, the safer bet is to buy one of the excellent Android foldables available now.
