Apple is set to hold its fall hardware event this week, and for the first time the lineup includes a foldable iPhone alongside the usual round of Pro upgrades. Three new models are expected: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a foldable device widely referred to as the iPhone Ultra, which unfolds into a 7.8-inch inner display roughly the size of a small tablet. The standard iPhone 18 is not part of this launch, with Apple reportedly holding it back for a spring release alongside other lower-cost models. The foldable arrives roughly seven years after Samsung introduced the first mainstream folding smartphone, making Apple one of the last major phone makers to enter a product category that has taken years to mature.
Three phones, one launch event
Apple’s event, previewed under the tagline “Surprise and shine,” is scheduled for September 9 at Apple Park, with the keynote expected to begin at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Rather than refreshing the entire iPhone lineup at once, Apple is reportedly narrowing this fall’s release to its two highest-end conventional models plus the foldable, pushing more affordable options to a separate spring event the following year.
That staggered release pattern marks a shift from Apple’s traditional single-event, full-lineup approach, according to reporting from 9to5Mac, which described the September lineup as intentionally concentrated on Apple’s most premium hardware. Preorders for the two conventional Pro models are expected to open within days of the keynote, following Apple’s usual pattern of a short gap between announcement and availability, while the foldable’s own shipping timeline has drawn more disagreement among analysts, with some suggesting it could ship alongside the Pro models and others expecting a delay into December.
Inside Apple’s first foldable, the iPhone Ultra
The foldable is expected to use a book-style design, closing to reveal an outer display of roughly 5.4 inches for everyday use and unfolding to expose an inner screen of about 7.8 inches for video, multitasking or reading. Reporting ahead of the event points to a titanium frame and an unusually thin profile for a folding device, along with engineering aimed at minimizing the visible crease that has affected folding phones from other manufacturers since the category began. Pricing is expected to start above $2,000, a new tier for the iPhone lineup and roughly double what Apple’s standard models have historically cost.
The device is also expected to carry two front-facing cameras, one on the outer display for use while folded and a second inside for video calls and photos once the phone is opened, alongside a multi-lens camera system on the back similar in concept to the array already found on the current Pro Max. A book-style hinge of this kind, rather than the clamshell design some rival foldables use, keeps the outer screen closer in size to a conventional phone while still allowing the larger inner display to unfold into something closer to a small tablet.
Why the foldable trades Face ID for Touch ID
Rather than Face ID, the foldable is expected to rely on Touch ID built into the power button, a design choice widely attributed to the physical constraints of fitting Face ID’s sensor hardware into a slim folding body without disrupting the crease-minimizing hinge design. That would make the foldable the first current iPhone to drop Face ID as its primary unlock method since the feature debuted, a notable departure for a company that has used facial recognition as its default security approach across the rest of the lineup for years. The tradeoff illustrates a broader pattern in foldable phone engineering generally, where fitting established smartphone features into a thinner, hinged body often means giving up or redesigning a component that works differently on a conventional slab-style phone.
What’s new on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max
The conventional Pro models are expected to carry Apple’s new A20 Pro chip, along with a variable-aperture main camera that can physically adjust how much light reaches the sensor, a feature borrowed from traditional standalone cameras and aimed at improving low-light and portrait photography. Other anticipated changes include a Dynamic Island interface element reduced by roughly 35 percent in size and a newer Apple-designed C2 cellular modem, continuing Apple’s push to bring more of its wireless hardware in-house rather than relying on outside chip suppliers. A smaller Dynamic Island would free up additional screen space at the top of the display without requiring a larger overall phone body, a change more likely to be visible to everyday users than most of the internal chip upgrades.
Pricing climbs across the new lineup
Beyond the foldable’s new price tier, the iPhone 18 Pro itself is expected to carry a higher starting price than last year’s iPhone 17 Pro, according to MacRumors’s preview of the event. Combined with the foldable’s premium positioning, the lineup points to Apple pushing further into higher price brackets at the top of its range rather than competing primarily on cost, a strategy consistent with the company’s recent focus on profit per device over unit volume in its most mature product category. Component costs for foldable displays and hinge mechanisms remain significantly higher than for a conventional flat screen, a gap that has kept every foldable phone on the market, from any manufacturer, priced well above equivalent non-folding flagship devices. Whether that premium narrows over time will likely depend on how quickly Apple’s suppliers can scale production of the folding display and hinge components, a process that typically takes several product generations to bring costs down meaningfully.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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