iPhone Ultra: Apple Folds for the First Time
Apple Has Never Made a Foldable. That Changes in September.
The iPhone has had the same essential form factor since January 2007: a glass slab, a single display, a rectangular body you slide into your pocket. In September 2026, Apple will ship its first foldable phone, nineteen years after it invented the modern smartphone. The device, called the iPhone Ultra by supply chain sources and iPhone Fold by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, opens like a passport to reveal a 7.76-inch inner display. Closed, it is just 11mm thick. Open, it becomes the thinnest Apple product ever built at 4.5mm, thinner than the current iPad Pro at 5.1mm. Starting price is $1,999 for the 256GB model, up to $2,399 for 1TB. Apple has not confirmed the device's name, specs, or pricing. But the paper trail is crowded enough that there is no credible exit ramp: iOS 27's source code already includes "foldState" and "angleDegrees" variables, case-maker iFunSmart listed cutouts for it in May, and OLED panels are running in Vietnam factories with hinge suppliers contracted. Tim Cook said
Inner display (unfolded)
7.76 inches, 4:3 ratio
Outer display (folded)
5.49 inches
Thickness when open
4.5mm (thinnest Apple device ever)
Thickness when folded
11mm
Starting price
$1,999 (256GB)
Top-tier price
$2,399 (1TB)
Chip
A20 Pro, 12GB LPDDR5X RAM
Battery
5,000 to 5,500mAh (dual-cell)
Rear cameras
Dual 48MP (wide + ultrawide)
Biometrics
Touch ID, not Face ID
Why Apple Waited and Why That Made Samsung Very Nervous
Apple entered the foldable market last. Samsung shipped its first Galaxy Z Fold in 2019. In 2025, Samsung held 64% of the 20.6 million foldables sold worldwide, a market worth roughly $33.5 billion. Apple ignored it entirely while the technology caught up. The early foldable generation had two problems Apple refused to ship with: visible creases and soft plastic screens that scratched too easily. The panel Apple has sourced from Samsung Display uses a laser-drilled metal plate process that minimises the crease to near-invisible. Apple also waited for hinges to mature. The result is a device that opens to 4.5mm, a full 0.6mm thinner than the Z Fold 8 Ultra when open. IDC forecast in early 2026 that the global foldable market would grow 30% that year, up from just 6% in prior projections. IDC's analysts cited one reason: Apple entering the segment. Samsung's 64% share is about to be tested.
"The iPhone Ultra is on track. Apple has no credible exit ramp at this stage. The supply chain is locked, the software is ready, and the event is set.
"Mark Gurman
Three Things Apple Gave Up to Make It This Thin
Face ID is gone. For the first time since the iPhone SE third-generation in 2022, Apple is shipping an iPhone without its face-recognition system. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first reported the change in January 2026: the True Depth camera array that powers Face ID needs more vertical space than a 4.5mm-thin half of a phone allows. Touch ID returns, embedded in the power button on the right edge. The Action Button, introduced on iPhone 15 Pro in 2023 and present on every Pro model since, is also absent. Case-maker cutout files confirm no Action Button opening. And there is no telephoto lens. The Ultra ships with two 48MP cameras, wide and ultrawide, but no optical zoom. For a device positioned above the Pro Max at roughly $2,000, the missing telephoto is the most surprising trade-off. The engineering constraint is space and weight: a periscope telephoto module adds both, and the Ultra's hinge mechanism already claims its share of the interior. Apple has apparently decided that the form factor
Supply Will Be Very Tight at Launch Barclays analyst Tim Long warned in July 2026 that while the iPhone Ultra launches in September, wide retail availability may not arrive until December. Apple's production yield on the crease-free inner panel is improving but not yet at the volumes that cover global demand. Analysts estimate first-year shipments at 15 to 20 million units, compared with 80 million-plus for the standard iPhone 18 line. If you plan to order one, pre-ordering at the September even