Apple is betting on a foldable iPhone. The company is expected to unveil the long-rumored device at its September 9, 2026 hardware event in Cupertino, California, where new CEO John Ternus will lead his first major Apple event.
Ternus took over from Tim Cook on September 1, 2026, beginning a new era with a product announcement that could reshape Apple’s smartphone lineup. The rumored foldable may be called the iPhone Ultra, a name linked to reports from Bloomberg, while accessory maker Dbrand is rumored to have leaked specifications.
The device is expected to start at $2,000. When closed, it should be around the size of a passport and use a smaller external display; when opened, it will provide a larger screen. Apple is not exactly sneaking into the foldable market through the bargain aisle.
A Foldable Market Waiting for Apple
Foldable smartphones make up less than 2 percent of global shipments, but Apple could claim 31 percent of foldable demand by the end of 2026 and 40 percent by 2027. Those figures would give the company a powerful position in a category that remains small despite years of hardware launches.
Samsung launched the Galaxy Fold in 2019 and released the Galaxy Z Fold last year with a starting price of $2,000. Apple’s rumored price matches Samsung’s starting point, placing both companies in a segment where the screen folds but the bill does not.
The wider smartphone market faces a less comfortable outlook. Smartphone shipments will decline by more than 16 percent this year, while the average cost of smartphones will jump more than 27 percent. A $2,000 foldable would arrive as customers face higher prices across the category, not as an escape from them.
The rumored iPhone will include two camera lenses: a regular lens and an ultra-wide lens. The available details point to a device built around its foldable display and compact closed form, with the external screen handling use when the larger interior screen remains folded away.
Siri and the Possible Smart Home Expansion
Apple is also expected to integrate an improved AI-powered Siri into many of the new devices announced at the event. That places the assistant alongside the hardware reveal rather than treating it as a separate software feature, giving Siri a role across the wider product lineup.
Apple might also launch a 7-inch device that acts as a smart home hub, possibly later in 2026. The device would add another screen-based product to Apple’s hardware plans, although its timing remains separate from the September 9 event.
The leadership change gives the presentation an extra layer of scrutiny. Ternus, 51, joined Apple’s design team in 2001 and worked his way up to leading the engineering teams behind Apple’s entire product lineup, including the iPhones that generate most of the company’s revenue.
In his first company-wide email as CEO last week, Ternus promised it would be “phenomenal.” That promise now faces a $2,000 test, a shrinking smartphone market, and a foldable category that still represents less than 2 percent of global shipments.
Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford are covering the event, with Brittany Hosea-Small serving as AFP photographer. The central question is simple: can Apple turn a niche device into the next major iPhone business?
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