Apple is already making a big mistake with the iPhone Ultra

"Any man who must say 'I am the king' is no true king" is one of those quotes that fits almost all Apple-related conversations like a glove.

Every company pats itself on the back and announces the best "this" or the best "that" once or twice per year; but Apple goes further down the road and constantly strives to demonstrate that every little thing it does is special, premium and royal.

But the Cupertino giant has been extra successful recently, especially with the iPhone 17 series. Per the latest stats, 5% of all smartphone sales in the October–December 2025 period were of the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

You know what was the second best-selling phone in the world for that period? The iPhone 17. In third place was the iPhone 17 Pro, then came the iPhone 16, because why not?

So, there's someone at Cupertino who knows their stuff and the company is indeed "king".

Yet, I can't wash off the bad taste that the latest Apple-related piece of news left.

The new iPhone name

Word on the street is that the upcoming first-ever foldable by Apple won't be titled "iPhone Fold", as many of us call it for convenience in advance, but "iPhone Ultra". There were scarce rumors about such a possibility in the past months, but this time, the leak comes from the (usually) highly reliable Digital Chat Station tipster.

Sure, nothing is official right now, but we're one inch closer to the Ultra moniker right now.

I don't think it's the right one for the upcoming Apple foldable.

Too many Ultras already

It's not just the super-popular Galaxy S Ultra models that I have in mind when I say that there are already too many Ultra phones out there.

Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo have also adopted this flashy moniker for years now. And I can't blame them at all. Their maxed-out flagships always bring something extraordinary to the table, be it mind-blowing battery capacities, extra bright displays or camera setups that pack massive sensors and bright apertures.

It's a matter of general perception: when one stumbles upon an Ultra phone, it's always a safe bet to imagine a top-tier slab phone, not a novel folding handset.

The reverse Uno card

Furthermore, it's a bit ironic to see Apple adopt the Ultra moniker for a folding phone months after Xiaomi blatantly appropriated the "Pro" and "Pro Max" monikers for its Xiaomi 17 lineup.

At least the Xiaomi 17 Pro and the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max arrived with a secondary mini display on their back panels. Hey, it's something.

Maybe someone at Apple headquarters thought it's going to be a nice comeback if the company "steals" the Ultra moniker for a phone that's not a typical Ultra at all.

It's too early to call it Ultra

My main concern has to do with the fact that Apple's upcoming foldable is a first-gen device. It's too early and too risky to call it Ultra.

First-generation devices almost always come with their share of hiccups, no matter how much engineering goes into them. Early adopters end up dealing with quirks, durability questions and software that still needs time to fully mature.

That's been the pattern across the entire foldable category so far (early Galaxy Z Fold phones were problematic in many ways) and there's no real reason to believe Apple will magically skip that phase.

Calling something "Ultra" right out of the gate leaves little room for those growing pains.

Monikers to consider

While I still regard the iPhone Fold to be the most natural-sounding moniker, I'd go further than that and suggest the iFold name, too.

True, you're losing the whole "iPhone" ring, but so what? First, you're signaling you're making an entirely new product, not yet another iPhone. Second, it'll go hand in hand with the iFlip, if you ever decide to go for a clamshell foldable iPhone in the future.

Maybe some will find those monikers too frivolous and humorous, but a bit of humor never hurt anybody.

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