Apple’s folding iPhone ‘Ultra’ could cost under $2,000
Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Macworld is reporting the rumor that Apple’s foldable iPhone may be called “iPhone Ultra” instead of “iPhone Fold” according to recent leaks.
- The device is expected to feature 12GB of RAM provided by Samsung and launch in September with storage options of 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
- Price predictions vary widely, with some leaks suggesting a starting price of $1,999, while others speculate that it could cost as little as $1,221.
With the (somewhat) budget-focused iPhone 17e, leakers are free to focus on the more premium handsets that Apple will launch later in the year. And the most premium of them is the iPhone Fold, which has been leaked several times this week.
The most useful of the new revelations, assuming the information is accurate this far out from launch, comes from the prolific if somewhat unproven Instant Digital. They claim to have details on the iPhone Fold’s storage tiers, as well as Chinese prices for each. According to a post on Weibo, the models will look like this:
- 256 GB: RMB 15,999
- 512 GB: RMB 17,999
- 1TB: RMB 19,999
Based on current conversion rates between the Chinese yuan and the US dollar, this would equate to the following approximate prices:
- 256 GB: $2,330
- 512 GB: $2,621
- 1 TB: $2,913
But of course, Apple rarely uses strict currency conversion rates when selling products in overseas territories, as British fans have discovered to their cost. A 256GB iPhone 17 Pro, for example, costs $1,099 in the US, which should translate to RMB 7,546; instead, this device currently costs RMB 8,999. And if we use that conversion rate (dividing the cost in yuan by 8.188 and adjusting for Apple’s usual pricing tiers), we would get the following, more acceptable US matrix:
- 256 GB: $1,999
- 512 GB: $2,199
- 1TB: $2,399
A starting price close to $2,000 may seem like a lot, but it’s actually a bit lower than we expected. Sources previously reported the whopping $2,399.
Elsewhere, Korean-language site The Bell (via MacRumors) reports that the iPhone Fold’s RAM will be provided by Samsung, and there will be 12GB of it. That’s the same as the RAM allocation in the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, but perhaps we should be grateful if it stays the same, given the increase in price of that product.
Finally, a new leaker, to be taken with caution, claimed that the name of Apple’s first foldable would not be the iPhone Fold at all. An individual calling themselves WayLabs claimed on Weibo that it would instead be called iPhone Ultra. This isn’t a completely absurd idea, given that Apple already uses this suffix on high-end products like the Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra versions of its M-class chips, so it’s not unprecedented. And a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman earlier this week floated the idea of an “Ultra” line of devices.
WayLabs’ prediction for the device’s starting price is much less conventional. While Instant Digital predicted an entry point of 15,999 RMB, WayLabs only claims that it “could exceed 10,000”, a much lower threshold. For comparison, 10,000 RMB would be $1,456 using the current exchange rate, or just $1,221 using our more practical ratio. That’s only slightly higher than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which starts at $1,199. A good deal!
The iPhone Fold…sorry, the iPhone Ultra is expected to launch in September. For all the latest news and rumors as we head towards the announcement, bookmark our regularly updated iPhone Fold superguide. If you can’t wait that long, check out our roundup of the best iPhone deals to get the lowest possible prices on the current lineup.
