Nobody knows what Apple will call its first foldable iPhone. We’ll get the official name at the company’s “Surprise and Shine” event tomorrow. But since I’m in an antsy mood, let’s debate about it.
The one name leading the pack is iPhone Ultra. “Everyone calls it the Ultra internally,” reported Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Of course, an internal name does not necessarily mean that’s the final name that will be printed on the foldable iPhone’s box. As Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach noted last month, iPhone Ultra seems off. What about the foldable, besides the screen, would be ultra? It’s not expected to have a telephoto lens, so it wouldn’t even meet the definition of “Pro” compared to the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. It won’t have the longest-lasting battery of any iPhone. It’s also going to be missing Face ID and the Action button. It probably won’t even have the same vapor cooling chamber in the Pro iPhones to keep performance from throttling under heavy loads.
Everyone calls it the Ultra internally. We’ll see what happens.
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 11, 2026
iPhone Duo and iPhone Folio are also names that have been thrown around. Before today, I felt iPhone Duo could be a strong possibility, even if Microsoft already used it for its failed own dual-screen, folding phone and poor sequel. iPhone Folio or iBook has never passed the sniff test for me. It implies the main use for the device is for reading, which I don’t think is how Apple will market it. Apple will likely tout the benefit of the inner widescreen for watching videos, playing games, and running multiple apps simultaneously. Besides, Apple already used iBook for a previous laptop line, and then reused it for its digital books app, before renaming it to Apple Books.
iFold, iPhold, iPhone Fold. Not a chance. I can’t see Apple using a name that’s so synonymous with Android foldables, like Samsung’s Galaxy Fold series.
So, what then will Apple call the foldable iPhone? I’m going to just throw this out there. I see two paths Apple could take. The first is to just call it iPhone Plus or iPhone Max. Apple has ascribed both descriptors to iPhones before to emphasize a larger screen size. Apple first used Plus for the iPhone 6 Plus through the iPhone 8 Plus. Then, switched over to iPhone Max to describe the bigger model with the iPhone XS Max. When Apple introduced the first “Pro” iPhone, the iPhone 11 Pro, the bigger screen model was christened iPhone 11 Pro Max. Since then, the larger Pro iPhone has always been called “Pro Max.” Apple also brought back “Plus” for the iPhone 14 through iPhone 16 series. The iPhone 16 Plus was replaced with an iPhone Air last year.
What if foldable iPhone is called: iPhone Max
It’s not a “Pro” because it doesn’t have telephoto or the longest battery or Face ID or action button
Just the biggest iPhone screen ever
Just iPhone Max
— Ray Wong (@raywongy) September 8, 2026
Which brings me to the next possibility: what if the foldable iPhone is actually viewed as part of the iPhone Air family? It’s supposed to measure around 4mm when open, which would make it thinner than the 5.6mm iPhone Air. It’d definitely qualify to be an “Air” device. If that’s how Apple sees it—as an iPhone Air with a huge screen—then I think it could be called the iPhone Air Max, iPhone Air Pro, or iPhone Air Plus. Nike would probably not be okay with Apple using “Air Max” branding. As some of my followers have astutely pointed out, Tim Cook may be on the Nike board and use every chance to wear Nike sneakers in public, but that may be a line too far. That leaves us with iPhone Air Pro or iPhone Air Plus. Or iPhone Air Duo, even.
So here are my final name bets:
- iPhone Max
- iPhone Plus
- iPhone Air Pro
- iPhone Air Duo
Who wants to take bets? Fight me in the comments 😛
