MacRumors previews Apple's September 9 "Surprise and shine" event in eight and a half minutes, ordered by interest rather than keynote sequence, and the interest is the foldable. The iPhone Ultra, if that's the final name (the video isn't sure), is a book-style fold with a 5.5-inch cover screen and a 7.8-inch inner display at roughly 4:3, so opened it reads as a small iPad. Apple has confirmed only the date.
Thin is the organizing number. MacRumors puts the open Ultra at about 4.5 mm and reads every cut as service to it: no Face ID (Touch ID moves to the side button), two cameras instead of three, a crease minimized rather than gone. MagSafe survives, on the evidence of leaked cases. For the iPhone 18 Pro, expectations run to a Dynamic Island about 35 percent narrower, the A20 Pro on a 2 nm process, a variable-aperture wide camera, and a Camera Control reduced to a plain pressure button.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 get an under-the-hood year in the Bloomberg reporting the video relays, with a new chip as the headline.
If you have an Ultra 2 or Ultra 3, this is probably yet again another year where you don't need to upgrade.
The launch splits in two this year, per MacRumors: Pro models and the foldable now, the standard iPhone 18 and a second-generation iPhone Air in spring 2027. Pre-orders are expected Saturday, September 12, with a release on the 18th and a later schedule for the Ultra, where DRAM supply drives the sellout warning. iPhoners set on the fold should be at the pre-order page when it opens. Fold-first is the right order for a preview and the wrong one for most buyers; the Pro's smaller Dynamic Island is what more people will hold.
