Apple's first-ever foldable iPhone is as popular as the plague, as it turns out

Apple's upcoming phone series is populated by cool, maxed-out flagships like the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the powerful and compact baseline iPhone 18, but nobody's more popular than the iPhone Ultra, Apple's first-ever foldable iPhone.

Right?

Yeah, not so fast.

Android foldables are maturing fast and have successfully evolved from fragile, problematic phones with deep screen creases to near-perfect bijoux. Apple is years late to the party – it has lots of rivals to fight – and the rumored $2,000+ price for the iPhone Ultra certainly doesn't spark joy.

The votes are in

We recently asked you a very simple but important question: "Which iPhone to be introduced in September will you buy?" and the results could be surprising for some.

• iPhone Ultra – 4.85%
• iPhone 18 Pro – 31.43%
• iPhone 18 Pro Max – 46.84%
• None of them – 16.88%

Not even 5% for Apple's hottest product of the year. Might it be that our poll has attracted only foldable haters? Possibly, but that's not the end of the story.

Does that mean the iPhone Ultra sucks?

No. The results from our poll simply suggest that almost nobody is ready to spend an arm and a leg on a first-gen product.

I think that the iPhone Ultra could take off in December if the September, October and November in-depth reviews and comparisons (which we at PhoneArena will be doing on day one) are favorable enough.

The prospect of the iPhone Ultra to become a hit is on the table; it's going to be a late bloomer, most likely. That's, of course, if the foldable iPhone is cool enough.

Yes, its rumored $2,000+ price is tough to swallow, but Apple fans have deeper pockets than the rest of us, anyway.

Apple's iPhone Ultra game

This bad boy is rumored to use a book-style design with a 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch outer screen, making it smaller than most rival foldables. Apple is reportedly focusing on reducing the display crease by using advanced ultra-thin glass and a redesigned hinge.

Instead of Face ID, the phone is expected to include a side-mounted Touch ID fingerprint sensor. It could pack a large 5,000–5,500 mAh battery, 12 GB of RAM and storage options of up to 1 TB. The rear camera system is expected to include two 48MP cameras, with no dedicated telephoto lens.

Apple is also said to optimize iOS 27 for foldable devices, bringing new multitasking features and AI improvements. This is going to be crucial and I expect Apple's software team to shine brightly come September.

The sure winner

The fact that almost 50% of the respondents have chosen the iPhone 18 Pro Max doesn't surprise me at all. Compact phones are great, but more and more users adopt the large screen experience.

Maybe it's just a coincidence, but more and more people around me (anecdotal evidence, but still) ditch their laptops and rely solely on a smartphone as a gateway to the digital world. And, naturally, many want the biggest screen possible – but right now, they don't trust the Ultra.

Perhaps that'll change in the fall. It's up to Apple!