The iPhone Ultra is expected to be the star of the Apple September event, and it should as it will be Apple’s first foldable. But there’s some debate over how soon it will launch after the event.
For months we’ve seen conflicting reports around the release date for the iPhone Ultra. Some have pointed to a Sept. 9 unveiling followed by a staggered release compared to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, while others believe it will go on sale at the same time as the Pros but have limited availability.
Right now we’re leaning towards the latter, especially after I spoke with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has been following the foldable iPhone saga for the past 5 years.
“I would be very surprised if [Apple’s] foldable phone did not come out at the same time as the new Pro phones or very close to it,” Gurman said. “So either on the same launch date, a dual launch, or coming out within weeks later. This Idea of a late October, November launch, massive delays, supply chain issues. I don’t believe to be the case.”
So if we take this best case scenario, this could be the launch timing for the iPhone Ultra.
iPhone Ultra launch date: Sept. 9
The iPhone Ultra should be fully unveiled at Apple’s “Surprise and Shine” event on Sept. 9 in Cupertino. We’ll be there live to bring you all of the news and our hands-on impressions.
This will be the first Apple event helmed by the new Apple CEO John Ternus. And I asked him directly about foldable phones during the iPhone Air launch last year and this was the response:
“As we develop new technologies and pieces, we often take inspiration for things across other product lines,” said Ternus. “And so much of the things we learned in material science and miniaturization you’ll see those pop up in other places, because when we’ve got something really good, we want to take advantage of it.”
iPhone Ultra pre-order date: September 12
Normally, new iPhones go up for pre-order the Friday following the Apple event, but this year that date would fall on Sept. 11. And it’s easy to understand why Apple would want to avoid that date given that it’s the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
So the prevailing wisdom is that the iPhone Ultra along with the iPhone 18 Pros will be available for pre-order on Saturday, Sept. 12. So expect a wave of promotions and iPhone Ultra pre-order deals to start that day.
I also expect Apple to really play up its new Apple Upgrade leasing program during the pre-order period, as it would lower the monthly payments for a foldable that’s expected to cost anywhere from $2,000 to $2,500.
iPhone Ultra release date: September 18 (with limited availability)
I’m hedging our bet on this one. Typically Apple will have the pre-order period for new iPhones last a week before they actually go on sale. But I’m guessing that Apple will want us much buzz around the launch as possible, so making the release date Friday, Sept. 18 makes the most sense. It would maximize media coverage.
Some analysts have predicted that the foldable iPhone release date could be pushed back due to production issues. As late as July, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone Ultra might follow a similar pattern as the iPhone X. That would mean a joint announcement with the iPhone 18 Pros, but a launch as late as October.
More recently, however, the leaker Fixed Focus Digital said that the iPhone Ultra would merely have “extremely limited stock” at launch but didn’t mention a delayed release date.
Outlook
I’m not saying it’s impossible that the iPhone Ultra could have a staggered launch. It could help Apple catch up with production, given that it’s reportedly ramping up to produce as many as 10 million units. But the latest signs point to the iPhone Ultra having the same release date as the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.
The one rumor I do believe is that the iPhone Ultra could have limited availability, as it could come to the U.S. first and then roll out to other countries. We’ll bring you all the details live on Sept. 9.
- iPhone Ultra — 12 things you need to know before the Apple event
- Apple Sept. 9 event — all 9 new products we’re expecting to see
- iPhone Ultra and 18 Pro Max unboxed ahead of Apple event — these could be the final designs
