The iPhone Ultra is finally expected to launch at the Apple event on Sept. 9, and no one has been following this device more closely than Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. In fact, he started reporting on Apple’s early work around a foldable iPhone over five years ago.
Now that the iPhone Ultra is almost here, I wanted to pick Gurman’s brain about everything he knows about the new foldable, from the target audience and where the iPhone Ultra is supposed to excel to the design and trade-offs. We also spoke about the major advantage Apple is going to have over the Android competition from “day one.”
Who is the iPhone Ultra for? ‘No one really needs this’
The biggest questions I see from people on social media around the foldable iPhone are “who needs this?” And “who is this thing for?”
Gurman has a pretty clear answer for the first query. “The big answer for you at this point is that you don’t need a foldable iPhone. This is something that you get if you want,” Gurman said. ”I couldn’t tell you with a straight face that you need to spend $2,000 plus on a phone because it has a super advanced hinge and the ability to open to the size of an iPad.”
For Gurman, he sees the iPhone Ultra as the “ultimate flex, the ultimate status symbol phone.”
But analysts predict that a lot of people will indeed crave the iPhone Ultra. IDC has forecasted more than 10 million shipments in the first year despite the premium. And Counterpoint Research says that Apple could take a quarter of foldable phone shipments in 2026 alone, with Samsung dropping from 40% to 32%.
Where the iPhone Ultra will excel
The iPhone Ultra is expected to feature a 5.5-inch cover display and 7.8-inch main screen, with a passport-style design that’s similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 8. And it’s the ability to morph into an iPad mini-like tablet that Apple is counting on to wow early adopters.
"They are going to position this as a device that's excellent for web browsing, a big camera viewfinder, and the biggest thing they're going to advertise it for is watching video."
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
“They are going to position this as a device that's excellent for web browsing, a device that's excellent for a big camera viewfinder, and the biggest thing they're going to advertise it for is watching video,” Gurman said.
This is the reason Apple has apparently opted for a wide format display, so that the iPhone Ultra is optimized for watching video in landscape mode. Turn the device around to portrait mode, and it’s ideal for vertical video.
But I had to ask. “What about multitasking?” Running multiple apps at once? Think iPad Lite.
“You're not going to get the full-blown Mac-like multitasking that Apple added to iPadOS a couple of years ago,” Gurman said. “What you will get are iPad-like app layouts, the ability to do side-by-side applications, drag-and-drop things between applications.”
The iPad mini has an 8.3-inch display, compared to 7.8 inches for the rumored iPhone Ultra. But it should still offer an immersive entertainment experience. In fact, Gurman said the foldable iPhone should be “awesome for gaming.”
“Imagine you know putting your thumbs on the bottom corners of the phone and using it like a joystick for a racing game or a shooting game or ‘Grand Theft Auto’. It's going to be quite compelling, I think, for gaming on the go,” shared Gurman.
Is the crease really gone?
One of the supposed reasons Apple has taken so long to release a foldable phone is that the company has been obsessing over erasing the crease in the middle of the display. Samsung certainly minimized the crease on the Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra with its Flex Titanium technology, but it’s still visible.
"That's one of the things that they've spent a lot of time working on: the durability"
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
According to Gurman, Apple has gotten close to making the crease disappear, but it’s not totally gone.
“I don't think they cracked it. I think they've gotten somewhat close,” Gurman said. “Samsung has made serious strides on the crease, and I think Apple is going to be on the same trajectory as them, maybe a little bit better because Apple is going to have a stronger hinge.”
In other words, the crease shouldn't get as bad over time.
The iPhone Ultra could have a durability advantage over the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and all other foldable phones because it’s rumored to feature a Liquid Metal hinge. The hinge reportedly uses a teardrop internal cavity to ease mechanical strain.
“If you've used a 17 Pro Max or iPhone Air, you know how durable those phones are,” Gurman said. “And so the spec for Apple was to make the foldable phone as durable — or at least close to it — as any other iPhone. And that's one of the things that they've spent a lot of time working on: the durability.”
iPhone Ultra trade-offs
Despite being the most expensive iPhone ever, the iPhone Ultra is rumored to have some trade-offs versus the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. And it starts with the lack of a telephoto zoom camera. The device is expected to feature just a main wide camera and ultra wide shooter, so you’ll be limited to just digital zoom.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 makes the same trade-off, and yet it has been the best selling device so far among the three new foldables in Samsung’s lineup.
“I think the telephoto is a dealbreaker for some in the sense that there is an overlap on that Venn diagram of consumers who want the very best stuff from Apple and the consumers who want to use features like a telephoto lens,” Gurman said. “But I think at the end of the day, most people within that bucket will probably still veer towards the foldable phone.”
The other notable trade-off is that the iPhone Ultra will reportedly not feature Face ID for unlocking the device, which would make it the first premium iPhone since the iPhone X not to have this feature. But Gurman doesn’t view this as a huge deal since the iPad and Mac still offer Touch ID and it’s very familiar to Apple users.
The good news is that Gurman believes that the iPhone Ultra will in fact offer MagSafe charging, so you’ll be able to magnetically attach it to all sorts of chargers and accessories without having to buy a case. The Fold 8 doesn’t offer built-in magnets.
iPhone Ultra price: What will Apple charge?
The iPhone Ultra price has been tipped to be anywhere from $2,000 to as high as $2,500. And this comes at a time when Apple is also expected to raise the price of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max by as much as $250.
So what will Apple wind up charging?
“I’m sticking to $2,000 or above for the iPhone Ultra,” Gurman said. “I mean, if you look at the pricing of the iPhone Pro models, you know you're already hitting that $2,000 price point on the 2 terabyte model. So you're going to be well into the $2,000 range, depending on the storage capacity you choose for this thing.”
At least shoppers will be able to ease the sting somewhat with the new Apple Upgrade program, which essentially lets you lease an iPhone for a lower monthly cost.
Gurman believes that Apple has sped up the launch of this program in order to combat component-based price hikes.
Will the release date be delayed?
The rumor mill has gone back and forth on whether the iPhone Ultra will be delayed. Some say it will be announced at the Apple event but may not come out right away, while others believe it will launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro series.
Gurman is not buying into the idea of a long delay.
“I would be very surprised if the foldable phone did not come out at the same time as the new Pro phones or very close to it,” Gurman said. "This idea of a late October, a November launch, massive delays, supply chain issues — I don't believe to be the case.”
Apple’s foldable advantage from ‘day one’
As impressive as the latest Android foldable phones are, there’s one missing piece of the puzzle: app optimization. Several high profile apps look and feel like stretched out phone apps on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and similar devices. This includes Instagram, Slack and X.
“Foldables have been in the Android ecosystem for nearly a decade now, and it's taken an extremely long time for them to get the app story in the correct shape. Apple is going to have that from day one.”
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
Meanwhile, the iPhone Ultra/Fold could act just like an iPad mini when it comes to apps, giving Apple a sizable advantage.
“One of the things that has held foldables back has been the app story.” Gurman said. “Foldables have been in the Android ecosystem for nearly a decade now, and it's taken an extremely long time for them to get the app story in the correct shape. Apple is going to have that from day one.”
Gurman stressed that Apple has worked hard to make apps auto resizable to different screen sizes, releasing new developer tools as part of iOS 27 “that indicated strongly that a foldable is coming and to make it easier for [developers] to adjust their applications for consumers.”
“I think it’s going to be easy to understand, and people are going to love it for watching video,” he said. “I’m personally psyched for it."
