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A trio of leaks have revealed new features for the rumored iPhone Ultra, Apple's take on the foldable phone. That includes a new image purporting to be a dummy unit of the device.
The dummy unit photo comes from the leaker Ice Universe, most known for his Samsung leaks. The image they posted on Weibo shows the unit with a plastic cover on the display and only the rear side with the camera array. It also shows the phone in white.
This is one of the first images of the iPhone Ultra that isn't a leaked CAD or rendering.
Notably, I can't see the Apple logo on the unit, dummy or not. It does seem to confirm the more square, passport-like design of the foldable. Additionally, because of the plastic covering we can't see the hinge of the foldable phone.
It does seem to match the renderings and previous leaks we've seen.
Liquid metal hinge
Speaking of hinges, in another leak from Weibo, the tipster known as Fixed Focus Digital claims that Apple will offer a liquid metal hinge on the iPhone Ultra.
"Research and development are progressing rapidly, and prototypes have already been sent to global carriers for testing," (machine-translated), they posted.
This follows shortly after a previous leak from separate leaker Instant Digital that claimed Apple was having reliability issues with the liquid metal hinge that had the potential to cause an indefinite delay. Fixed Focus contradicted that rumor last week claiming that any production problems were due to circuit board issues.
Both leakers suggested that a September release alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models was in question. Now, however, with this and FFD's other leak, it seems the iPhone Fold might be on track for September.
Vapor Chamber cooling and why it matters
Separately, Fixed Focus Digital reported yesterday that the iPhone Fold will boast vapor chamber cooling that is apparently "impressive" and demonstrates a "significant amount of advanced technology" (machine-translated).
It's a feature that hasn't been rumored or leaked yet. Apple put vapor chambers in the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max last year.
If you're not familiar, a vapor chamber is a sealed cavity with a small amount of liquid and metal strands that helps dissipate heat. This helps with sustained stable performance and lower temperatures as you put the iPhone through the paces.
We found in testing that the vapor chamber significantly improved performance when comparing the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models. So, this is a boon for the iPhone Fold, if true.
iPhone Ultra release date
Fixed Focus claimed that things should proceed as planned, meaning that the iPhone Fold should launch in September.
We expect to see it Apple's foldable launch with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models. Apple is reportedly planning to split the launch of the iPhone 18 family with the iPhone 18 and 18 Plus not releasing until next spring alongside the iPhone 18e.
As for pricing, the iPhone Ultra will likely be in the $2,000 range, which would put it around the same price of Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 series.
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