Apple's First Ternus-Era Event Arrives Wednesday: Foldable iPhone Ultra Priced Above $2,000, No Cheap Model Until 2027

Apple's iPhone Event Arrives Wednesday: Foldable iPhone Ultra Priced Above $2,000, No Cheap Model Until 2027

Apple's product calendar hasn't slowed down heading into fall. The company's next event, dubbed "Surprise and Shine," is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9, at 10 a.m. Pacific Time at Apple Park, and it's shaping up to be one of the most expensive iPhone lineups the company has ever put on stage, according to MacRumors and Times of India.

Three devices are expected: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and Apple's first-ever foldable, widely reported as the iPhone Ultra. There is no cheaper option this time. The standard iPhone 18 and a second-generation iPhone Air have reportedly been pushed to spring 2027, according to Times of India and 91mobiles, which both cite an industry-wide memory chip shortage as the reason Apple is concentrating limited component supply on its highest-margin devices.

The Foldable's Price Tag

Newsy Today and 91mobiles both put the iPhone Ultra's 256GB base configuration between $1,999 and $2,299, while Tom's Guide's spec estimate runs slightly higher, $2,000 to $2,500. Either way, it would be the most expensive iPhone Apple has ever sold, well above the iPhone 18 Pro Max's expected starting price of roughly $1,399, per Newsy Today.

The device is described across multiple reports as a book-style foldable that opens wider than it is tall, closer to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 in profile than the taller foldables sold by Google and Motorola, according to CNET. Specs converge on a 5.4 to 5.5-inch outer display, a 7.8-inch inner OLED screen, a titanium frame, and a liquid metal hinge engineered to keep the crease below 0.15mm deep, per Newsy Today's supply chain sourcing.

Apple reportedly dropped Face ID from the foldable in favor of a Touch ID power button, similar to the iPad Air, according to Newsy Today and Tom's Guide. The rear camera setup is two lenses, 48-megapixel main and 48-megapixel ultra-wide, with no telephoto option, and there are two front-facing cameras, one for each screen.

Pro Models Get the Usual Upgrades, Plus a Price Bump

The iPhone 18 Pro keeps its 6.3-inch size but moves to a 2nm A20 Pro chip that Newsy Today describes as up to 18% faster, along with a variable-aperture main camera and a three-layer stacked sensor for low light. The Dynamic Island shrinks about 35% to 13.5mm. The Pro Max reportedly gets a 5,567mAh battery, roughly 10% bigger than last year's, though Chinese-market units carry a smaller 5,391mAh cell to fit a physical SIM slot.

Pricing across the Pro line is expected to rise $100 to $300 over the iPhone 17 Pro, according to 91mobiles, which notes Apple already raised prices on Macs, iPads, Apple TV, and HomePod earlier this year. Times of India frames the increase in rupee terms at roughly Rs 9,000 to Rs 26,000 over last year's equivalents. Both outlets tie the hikes to the same cause: rising memory costs through 2026, which had until now spared the iPhone line specifically.

Preorders Delayed for 9/11

Preorders would normally fall on the first Friday after the event, but that's September 11 this year, the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. MacRumors notes Apple has historically avoided that date, pointing to the 2015 iPhone 6s launch, when preorders shifted from a Friday to Saturday for the same reason. Reports now converge on Saturday, September 12, for iPhone 18 Pro preorders, with retail sales beginning Friday, September 18.

Will the Foldable Actually Ship on Day One?

Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, cited by MacRumors and CNET, says manufacturing challenges have limited early foldable production and believes Apple may announce the iPhone Ultra on stage but delay its actual sale, similar to how the iPhone X was unveiled alongside the iPhone 8 in 2017 but didn't reach stores until roughly six weeks later. Kuo reportedly believes preorders for the foldable might not open until the fourth quarter of 2026.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, in comments relayed by both CNET and Tom's Guide, has taken the opposite position, saying he expects the foldable to release simultaneously with the Pro models. Neither claim has been confirmed by Apple, which per 91mobiles citing Australian outlet ChannelNews may not even detail the Ultra's price or exact availability date during Wednesday's event itself.

One concern raised across the sourcing: pushing the standard iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2 out to 2027 means shoppers who don't want to spend $1,199 or more this fall have no new entry point until next spring. Apple's own framing, per 91mobiles, is that the memory shortage forced the company to prioritize supply for higher-margin devices rather than spread it across a full lineup. Whether that's a supply-chain necessity or a deliberate margin play is something Apple has not addressed directly in any of the current reporting.

What happens Wednesday will settle some of this. Whether the iPhone Ultra gets a concrete ship date on stage, and whether Tim Cook addresses the pricing jump directly in his keynote, remains to be seen.