With the higher than usual amount of leaks about the iPhone foldable, it seemed like a done deal that the iPhone Ultra/Fold/whatever-it-gets-called will finally launch this autumn. But maybe it won’t.
Companies from the Apple supply chain are now indicating that the launch has been pushed back to early next year:
Largan Precision CEO Lin En-ping said (machine translation): “the fourth quarter of this year will be busier than in previous years due to customer new product scheduling factors, with some new products expected to be launched in the third quarter and others postponed to early next year.” Analysts believe this refers to the iPhone Ultra/Fold.
Until now, it looked all but certain that the company’s first foldable will be the “one more thing” at the iPhone 18 Pro reveal this September. Apple might still unveil – or at least tease – the iPhone Fold/Ultra at the event as a “coming soon” device and release it later. It did something similar with the iPhone X, for example, which was announced alongside the iPhone 8 duo but launched a month later.
There are other possibilities too. In case you missed it, Apple will be splitting its iPhone 18 reveal into two parts. First, it will unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max (and Ultra?) this September. The vanilla iPhone 18, the 18e and the next iPhone Air are expected to be announced in spring 2027.
Anyway, it looks like the predictions that Apple would become a top-three foldable player in 2026 were premature. It will still make a splash, whenever it arrives, though. Market analysts are predicting that the iPhone Fold will ship 11 million units in its first year.
