According to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is likely to have very limited supply for iPhone Ultra at its time of announcement in September. This means it’s plausible that the company may delay shipping it for another month or two, similar to iPhone X.

Apple’s long-awaited first foldable iPhone (rumored to be called iPhone Ultra) should finally debut later this year. It should include a 5.5-inch outside display, and a 7.8-inch inside display – making it similar to an iPad mini. It’ll also be under 5mm thick when unfolded, making it even thinner than an iPhone Air. It’s rumored to come in between $2300 and $2500, which Kuo reaffirms.

However, when Apple announces the foldable iPhone this September, it’ll be incredibly hard to get one. From Kuo’s report:

My latest industry survey indicates that assembly shipments for the foldable iPhone in 2H26 will be roughly 7–8 million units, with 3Q26 shipments at 0.5–1 million units, or about 10% of the total. By comparison, estimated 3Q26 shipments of the iPhone 18 Pro / Pro Max total roughly 20–22 million units, significantly higher than the foldable iPhone and already meeting the inventory requirement for an official launch.

Apple will only be building up to 8 million foldable iPhones by years end, with only up to 1 million of those being available in the third quarter. This makes a September release improbable, similar to the iPhone X. Regardless, whenever it does go on sale – it’ll be incredibly hard to get one with these numbers.

Kuo estimates that delivery times could stretch to “4-6 weeks or longer”, and that it’ll be hard to get one until at least December. He even predicts that iPhone Ultras could be scalped for a 50-100% premium to its actual retail price.

Wrap up

All in all, if you want a foldable iPhone, preordering one as soon as possible is going to be the only way you’ll be able to get one near launch. Given the incredibly low number of Q3 shipments, I wouldn’t assume you’ll be able to just walk into a store and buy one freely.

Kuo estimates that the launch buzz and supply constraints should have faded by the first quarter of 2027, and by then we’ll have a much better picture of what foldable iPhone demand looks like.

Source: 9to5mac