iPhone 18 Fold CONFIRMED! First Look!

The foldable iPhone is happening, and it's said to be the first ever iPhone Ultra. This device is part of Phase 2 in Apple's plan to reinvent the iPhone. Phase 1 started with the iPhone Air in 2025, and now Phase 2 will feature this device. Phase 3 will come in 2027 with the iPhone 20, Apple's all-screen 20th anniversary iPhone, but that's for another video. For now, let's talk about Phase 2, iPhone Ultra. Believe it or not, we've heard rumors of the foldable iPhone since 2016. That's right, when the iPhone 7 was the latest phone, the 2016 MacBook Pro just came out, and AirPods just came out. We've heard about this device for nearly 10 years now. From around 2016 to 2021, this device was nothing more than just a concept internally at Apple. But in 2021, Apple had officially started early work on this device. And by 2024, it became very clear that this product was officially happening, and it'll be released in 2026. But what will it be like? What will it look like? How much will it cost? Well, I'm here to give you the best and most accurate look yet at this device. Be warned, you might be shocked at what you're about to see. Yeah, I know, this thing looks wild. We have so much to dive into here. Let's start with the obvious, the displays. On the outside, you're greeted with a 5.5-inch OLED display, the smallest display on an iPhone since the iPhone 13 mini. But what's interesting is that this 5.5-inch display is so wide. At a 1.47 by 1 aspect ratio, this is the widest iPhone display ever. In fact, when folded, this phone is wider than an iPhone 17 Pro Max, but shorter than even an iPhone 5. It's a very interesting display that is sure to draw some controversy. But the reason why this display is in this aspect ratio is for a more optimal aspect ratio for the inner display. When unfolded, the inner display of iPhone Ultra is 7.8 inches, the largest display of any iPhone, but still smaller than even the smallest iPad mini. But as I was alluding to earlier, this aspect ratio of the 7.8-inch display is the exact same aspect ratio as an 11-inch iPad, which is the most popular iPad size. And we'll get into why it needs that aspect ratio in a little bit. But the displays are the main reason why you want this device in the first place, and it seems that these displays will be very eye-catching. Next, the design. Being a foldable, this device needs things that no other iPhone has ever had before. For one, the thickness. The iPhone Air already broke the record of being the thinnest iPhone ever at 5.6mm thin, but it's still not quite the thinnest Apple product ever. That still goes to the 13-inch iPad Pro at 5.1mm thin. However, the iPhone Ultra will be thinner than both of those. When unfolded, iPhone Ultra will be a staggering 4.8mm thin, the new thinnest Apple product ever made. Though it kind of has to be. It needs this crazy thinness as it's two layers. If the phone was a typical phone thickness when unfolded, it would be ridiculously thick when folded. Already, when this device is folded, it'll be over 9.6mm thick, which is definitely not the thinnest Apple product ever. However, if it were the same thickness as an iPhone 17 Pro when unfolded, this thing would be over 18mm thick, which is absolutely not practical. In order to achieve this crazy thinness, the iPhone Ultra is made out of titanium and glass, just like the iPhone Air, not the aluminum unibody of the iPhone 17 Pro. This is also combined with a new liquid metal hinge, which is designed to improve durability and help with one other thing, which we'll get into in a second. And this device will only come in two colors, Space Black and Cloud White. Nothing too special on that front. But with this foldable, Apple is doing something very ambitious. Something that no other foldable device has been able to achieve. A zero crease design. Every single foldable released has had a crease. It's not surprising as that's kind of expected for a plastic display that's constantly folding. But it's a key design trait with every foldable display. And Apple has been working really hard to minimize or completely remove the crease with this foldable device. That's why it's taken so long to come out. That new liquid metal hinge is expected to be part of this reduction in the crease. And Apple has even been developing a new material property to remove this crease. And apparently, Apple is going to try to remove this crease no matter how much it costs. And you'll see that reflected in the price once we get into that. Apparently, the crease has been described as being nearly invisible once the device is unfolded. It's very clear and apparent that Apple will not release a foldable device until the crease is gone. And it looks like that'll be the case with this device. In addition, despite the crazy thinness, the iPhone Ultra will have the largest battery of any iPhone ever. This is likely thanks to high-density battery design. The battery capacity is expected to be around 5,400 to 5,800 mAh, compared to the current largest battery in an iPhone with the eSIM-only iPhone 17 Pro Max at 5,088 mAh. And yeah, this is a pretty big jump. Though it kind of needs it. Since this device is powering two displays, it needs this huge battery capacity to work well with both displays. While 5,400 mAh is a lot for a phone, it's barely enough for a tablet. Though to be fair, it's actually larger than the mAh and likely the watt-hours of the current A17 Pro iPad Mini. But when it's switching between folded and unfolded states, it's hard to estimate the battery length. But we'll try our best. Unfolded, the iPhone Ultra should last about 22 to 26 hours of offline video playback. That's similar to the iPhone 16 or iPhone 16e. But keep in mind that this is a much larger display than those two phones. But when folded up, iPhone Ultra should be able to last up to 42 to 45 hours of offline video playback. That's up to six hours longer than the eSIM-only iPhone 17 Pro Max, thanks to the larger battery and smaller display. But again, those numbers are only applicable to those specific modes for this device. Now, with this new design, there are a ton of compromises needed. For one, the cameras. This device will only feature two rear cameras, a 48 megapixel wide and a 48 megapixel ultra wide. Now that isn't a huge deal, as that wide camera can replicate a 2x telephoto, similar to the iPhone 15 and later. But it's definitely no 8x telephoto like on the Pro iPhones. On the outer display, there will be a new 24 megapixel center stage camera, up from the current 18 megapixel one. And on the inner display, there's another 24 megapixel center stage camera. But wait, where is it? Well, it's under the display. That's right, the iPhone Ultra will feature Apple's first under-display camera. This first implementation is to give the inner display a very good full-screen aesthetic. But this will also be paving the way towards 2027 with the iPhone 20, with a fully bezel-less, cut-out-less, waterfall-like display. And the iPhone Ultra will be paving the way towards that. But there's another very huge compromise with this device. No Face ID. That's right, Apple will be going back to Touch ID with the iPhone Ultra. Except, just like the iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Mini, Touch ID is implemented into the side button. This is due to the ultra-thin design not having enough room for the TrueDepth camera system. Now, there's two sides you may take with this. On the one hand, Face ID is amazing. We've had it on the iPhone for over 8 years now. And just this year in 2025, Apple has brought Face ID to the entire iPhone lineup, removing it on this very expensive, foldable device seems like a huge step backwards. But on the other hand, some people may actually prefer Touch ID. Maybe if you work in a medical space and you constantly have to wear a mask, Face ID simply isn't viable in that environment. Now, for the first time in 9 years, a flagship iPhone will feature Touch ID again for those who prefer it. In addition, the iPhone Ultra, to no surprise, will be eSIM only worldwide, just like the iPhone Air. The ultra-thin design literally won't have enough space to fit in a physical SIM card slot. Now, this may seem like a pretty big compromise in places that absolutely depend on physical SIMs, like China. In fact, the iPhone Air launch in China was delayed by over a month due to eSIM regulation issues. But when the iPhone Air did launch in China, the initial sales numbers were actually record-breaking, with the device selling out in only 5 minutes after pre-orders opened. So, despite the eSIM compromise, it's clear that the target demographic, which is largely enthusiasts, wouldn't really care. Inside the iPhone Ultra is the A20 Pro chip from the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. Which will actually be a pretty big deal, as the A20 Pro will be the first 2nm chip from Apple. 2nm will allow for significantly greater efficiency as the transistors become even smaller. But the even bigger change is TSMC's new WMCM technology, or wafer-level multi-chip modules. This is a little hard to explain, so bear with me here. But basically, every single current Apple Silicon chip uses the Info integrated fan-out technology, where every part of the chip is very tightly packed together. The CPU, GPU, neural engine, USB 3 controller, everything is densely packed onto a single die. With WMCM, it allows these components to be built on separate dies in the same chip package. This isn't like how old Intel Max used to be, where the CPU and GPU and the respective pools of memory are connected with a chipset. It's still all going to be integrated into a compact package. But this could allow for some interesting configurations, like vertically stacking the chips to become more condensed. Now, what does this mean for you? Well, it boils down to a much greater thermal efficiency. This new WMCM chip technology, combined with a 2nm process node, will allow for much greater performance than the A19 Pro, whilst also delivering much greater efficiency. Which, for a super thin and dense device like the iPhone Ultra, is really important. But what about the software? You can have all this impressive hardware you want, but it's nothing without great software. Well, iOS 27 will be built from the ground up for this device, with new features optimized for this form factor. And I think it's very clever for Apple to choose this size and aspect ratio, as it enables something pretty amazing. When folded, I think the device will run normal iOS, but when unfolded, I think this device will run full-fledged iPadOS. Even right now, as it is, at its very core, iPadOS is still based on iOS. In fact, some clever developers were recently able to run iPadOS on the iPhone. So what would iPadOS enable that iOS can't run right now? Well, for one, multitasking. iOS, since its inception in 2007, has only been able to display one app at a time. Meanwhile, the iPad, since 2015, has been able to display multiple apps at a time. And recently, with iPadOS 26, the iPad has been able to display up to 12 apps at a time in desktop-like windows. Now, with the iPhone Ultra, you'll be able to do that exact same thing on a device that folds up into your pocket. In addition, iPadOS since 2020 has had cursor support, something the iPhone still lacks. With iPadOS running on the iPhone Ultra, cursor support would be possible now. But what's even more exciting to think of is Pro apps. Right now, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro run exclusively on the iPad and Mac. Despite the iPad and iPad Mini running A-series chips, iPhones with that exact same A-series chip can't run Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro due to the smaller screen. But now, with a 7.8-inch display, you'll be able to run Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on a phone, which is pretty crazy. Plus, you may even be able to plug in your iPhone to an external monitor and use it as a desktop computer. This one device could become your smartphone, tablet, and computer all in one. And some of you watching this video right now are using the software experience that will run on the iPhone Ultra. Those of you using an iPad Mini on iPadOS 26 are experiencing this exact software experience you'll use on the iPhone Ultra in 2026. Just to think of everything possible on a device that can fold up into a tiny smartphone on the go is pretty exciting. But there's a hefty cost to pay for this experience. With everything this device will feature, a 5.5-inch outer display, a 7.8-inch inner display with zero crease, and an under-display camera, four cameras total on the device, Touch ID on the side button, liquid metal hinge, A20 Pro chip with a 2nm process, a high-density 45-hour battery, and iOS and iPadOS running on one device. How much would you pay for that device? Would you be okay with paying upwards of $2,399? Because that's the latest price estimate for the iPhone Ultra. That's twice the price of the current iPhone 17 Pro Max. Now, there are some rumors pointing towards a slightly more reasonable $1,800 to $2,000 price, but either way, this will become the most expensive iPhone ever made. I've seen some people suggest that the iPhone Ultra could replace the iPad Mini, but that makes absolutely no sense seeing this price. This device isn't replacing anything. This is for those who simply want the most advanced Apple mobile device experience possible. While it's almost certain that this device won't sell in super high volume, for the people it is catering towards, this device will be perfect for them. And either way, given that this is Apple we're talking about, no matter the price, this device will absolutely help boost market share for foldable phones as a whole. The iPhone Ultra will be announced in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Though, there is a non-zero percent chance that Apple delays the official launch of this device. While it's very likely that Apple will at least announce the iPhone Ultra in September, the official release may be pushed to later in 2026, or maybe even early 2027 due to some tough decisions with the hinge. This wouldn't be the first time. The iPhone X was announced in September 2017 but released in November. The iPhone XR was announced in September 2018 but released in October. The iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max were announced in October 2020 but released in November. And most recently, the iPhone 14 Plus was announced in September 2022 but released in October. Plus, delaying the release could give some developers time to optimize for this crazy new form factor. Similar to what Apple did with the Apple Vision Pro, Apple Watch, Apple Silicon for the Mac, and tvOS. We don't know yet, but I wouldn't be surprised. So seeing this form factor in mockups is one thing to see, but it's a whole other thing to see real in-person mockups. Now someone did make a 3D CAD file of the iPhone Ultra that you could print out with a 3D printer, but I don't have a 3D printer. So instead, I'm going to unleash my inner arts and crafts and make my own iPhone Ultra using some paper and a foam board. And here it is. Honestly, when it's folded up, it's kind of adorable. Here's it next to my iPhone 16, iPhone SE 2, and iPhone SE 1. It's smaller than all of them in terms of height, but in terms of width though, it's significantly wider than all of them. And when unfolded, here's it next to my A16 iPad and iPhone 16. I don't have a Pro Max, iPhone, or an iPad mini to compare it to, but some of you might. Which is why I've linked printable PDF files in the description so you can make your own iPhone Ultra without a 3D printer. Make sure you print them at 100%, and I've included a little sizing guide where you can put a credit card on it to confirm the 100% scale. Compare it with any one of your own devices and get a good idea of what the phone will look like and feel like before spending $2,400 on it. If you do use this, tweet at me showing it next to your devices. I'd really appreciate it. These files are completely free to download, so go nuts with them. So there you go. That's the iPhone Ultra. One of the most ambitious Apple products ever. What do you think about this new device? Let me know in the comments. Also, thanks for all the support this year. I'm really looking forward to 2026 and beyond for this channel. See you guys next year.