iPhone Ultra or iPhone Fold? The official name is neither… You Should Know
What will Apple name its first foldable? Thanks to supply chain and wider industry leaks, we know almost everything there is to know about the model.
We expect Apple to announce it at its regular autumn launch event, now officially taking place today, on 9 September, with the tagline “Surprise and Shine”.
The folding phone’s specifications are also out in the ether, thanks to leaked CAD renders and images of dummy models used by iPhone case makers. It’ll be a book-style foldable with a fresh, new passport-shaped format that opens up into something much like an iPad mini.
Sonny Dickson
In fact, Apple’s plans are so widely known that Samsung got in first with the launch of its own wide foldable, which has similar dimensions – the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Apple’s rival is expected to be even pricier than the Samsung model, which starts at £1,699/$1,899.99 for 256GB of storage.
Apple’s new foldable is expected to have an outer display of around 5.3-5.5 inches and an inner display of around 7.7 inches. There will be a pronounced camera plateau on the back, much like the one on the iPhone Air. It’ll feature a 48Mp camera.
Luke Baker
We even know the phone’s likely colour options: it’ll come in a silver and white colourway, as well as silver and indigo blue.
It will be called the iPhone Ultra. Or will it?
When it was first rumoured, the upcoming foldable was commonly and sensibly known as the iPhone Fold. The name seemed to fit with Apple’s simple but descriptive naming conventions. Everyone was on board with it.
But in the spring, the discourse shifted. A Weibo post from a Chinese leaker suggested that the foldable would be called the iPhone Ultra. That alone wasn’t decisive, but then Mark Gurman’s Power On report for Bloomberg on 8 March stated that the foldable model would be classed among a range of new Ultra products to be launched later on in 2026, including a touchscreen OLED MacBook Ultra and camera-equipped AirPods Ultra.
From then on, it seemed that everyone was calling it the Ultra. Even Apple. Recently, in response to a post on X in which analyst Max Weinbach expressed that the Ultra branding “made no sense” for the foldable, Mark Gurman replied: “Everyone calls it the Ultra internally”.
But that doesn’t mean Apple’s marketing department will agree.
What we can say is that several case manufacturers for the upcoming foldable seem to be betting on iPhone Fold, including Armor-X and Gorilla. This doesn’t likely indicate any secret knowledge gleaned from Apple. But whether they went for iPhone Fold because they created their marketing materials back when it was the favourite name, or whether they like it because it’s descriptive of the product in a way that Ultra isn’t, we don’t know.
Burga, however, has plumped for iPhone Ultra.
Who’s right? We won’t know for sure until Apple says it on stage. But there are other possibilities on the table beyond Fold or Ultra. These are the most popular options:
- iPhone Duo
- iPhone Passport
- iPhone Folio
- iPhone Wide
- iPhone 18 Fold
Update: It’s Duo! Today, on the day of the Apple event, Mark Gurman reported that iPhone Duo is the first foldable iPhone’s official name.
To read up on all the rumours about the upcoming Apple launch, check out our in-depth articles on the iPhone 18 series and the iPhone Duo. You might also want to know whether Apple’s foldable iPhone will perfect the creaseless screen?
Apple’s priciest phone won’t have all the best iPhone features
FAQ
Is Apple really releasing a foldable iPhone?
Yes, although way behind the likes of Samsung, Huawei and Oppo, Apple is going to release a book-style foldable iPhone. Short of a last-minute disaster cancellation, it’s a case of when and not if.
Has there ever been an iPhone Ultra?
Not yet. Apple has so far stuck to Pro and Pro Max monikers for the top-end iPhone models, though it does use ‘Ultra’ branding for the Apple Watch.
How much will the iPhone Duo cost?
Regardless of name, the foldable iPhone is rumoured to cost $2,000 or more, putting it at a similar price to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
