Apple iPhone Ultra Foldable Could Face Pre-Order Delays Despite September Launch

Apple's highly anticipated foldable iPhone Ultra is expected to debut in September with the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. However, limited production could delay pre-orders and result in lengthy delivery times for early buyers.

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Now that Apple has confirmed that it is entering the foldable phone segment in the year 2024, excitement is reaching an all-time high. It appears that the American tech giant would release its first ever foldable iPhone along with iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in September. Nevertheless, those who want to purchase this phone immediately need to get prepared for a long wait because production bottlenecks may force Apple to postpone pre-orders for some weeks.

It is expected that the upcoming foldable iPhone, which goes by the name of the iPhone Ultra, will be the most premium offering from Apple till now.

Apple May Repeat Its iPhone X Launch Strategy

Apple supplier chain expert Ming-Chi Kuo states that the manufacturing partners of Apple are not going to produce enough foldable iPhones before their release. In such a way, the company may follow a similar strategy to that one implemented for the release of iPhone X in 2017.

Indeed, when launching iPhone X and iPhone 8 series, the customers had to wait until October for the availability of pre-orders since the manufacturer was not prepared to meet customer needs. According to Kuo, history may repeat with iPhone Ultra foldable. Even though Apple may present this smartphone in its September presentation, the pre-orders of the device may become available only in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Apple's First Book-Style Foldable Design

In contrast to the flip-style folding design of the foldable phones, the first foldable phone by Apple is likely to feature a book-style design, making it a direct competitor of premium foldables available from Samsung, Google, OPPO, Huawei, and Honor.

According to the leaks, the foldable iPhone is going to have a 5.5 inches display on its exterior and a 7.8 inches interior foldable display with the 4:3 aspect ratio. After unfolding, the display can provide users with the experience similar to that offered by the iPad mini, which makes it suitable for multitasking and productivity.

Moreover, according to the leaks, Apple focuses a lot on making the device thin. Therefore, the foldable iPhone may be less than 5 mm thick after being unfolded.

Touch ID Could Return Instead of Face ID

One of the largest shocks in regard to the alleged iPhone Ultra is the way that Apple's biometric recognition technology works.

Unlike its predecessor, Face ID, there have been claims that Apple would go back to Touch ID in its new product line. This choice was said to be made because of the extremely thin nature of the device that might not allow enough room inside for the TrueDepth camera of Apple.

Even though none of the information has been officially confirmed, such an addition to the power button would keep the design slim.

Apple's Most Expensive iPhone Yet

The folding version of iPhone will also bring an entire new price segment in iPhones from Apple. As per current estimates, iPhone Ultra may have a price range of anywhere from $2,299 to $2,499 in the USA. In Indian currency terms, that translates into roughly INR 2.19 lakh to INR 2.38 lakh, which is easily the highest-priced iPhone ever launched by Apple. This type of pricing is evident of its positioning as a premium flagship iPhone.

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, production of foldable iPhones by Apple suppliers will only amount to about 7 to 8 million units in the year 2026. In contrast, sales of iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will total between 20 and 22 million units.

Equally significant, the availability of a small number of these units is anticipated at launch time.

Consequently, potential buyers placing orders during the sales period will have delivery periods of four to six weeks or longer. Shortage of these units may also compel resellers to mark up the price considerably, making the device even more costly.

Apple Enters an Already Competitive Foldable Market

Apple will likely join the race for foldable smartphones quite a bit later than its competitors do. Such brands as Samsung, Google, OPPO, Huawei, and Honor have already offered several generations of foldable phones that have improved not only in terms of hardware but also in terms of software.

It looks like Apple is going to compete with other companies on the quality of the phone and on creating something special rather than on the cost and amount of produced foldables.

If all the rumors about the new iPhone Ultra turn out to be true, then this phone may become one of the best smartphones of the year.

The debut of a foldable iPhone by Apple is one of the most exciting releases from the firm in recent years. The phone comes with an elegant book design, a display of tablet dimensions, an extremely thin frame, and is likely to have some high-end specs in place of the iPhone Ultra.

But prospective customers should be ready for possible delays. Due to limited production capabilities, after the pre-orders start being accepted, shipments will still take several weeks, particularly at the very beginning. In case purchasing the first ever foldable iPhone by Apple immediately is not essential, then it might be more reasonable to wait a bit.