Apple appears to be betting bigger on its first foldable iPhone, even as it prepares customers for a far uglier bill. Nikkei Asia says the company has asked suppliers to plan for around 10 million units of iPhone Ultra production this year, up from an earlier target of 7 to 8 million. At the same time, IDC is pegging the foldable iPhone Ultra’s average price at about $2,500, with higher-storage versions potentially reaching $3,000.
That pairing is strange even by Apple standards. Higher output usually signals a product that is getting cheaper to build, or at least more predictable to sell. Here, the price estimate is heading the other way, which suggests Apple is trying to balance early demand against the reality that foldables still cost a small fortune to make.
iPhone Ultra production is rising before launch
The latest production target is the clearest sign yet that Apple is no longer treating the foldable as a tiny experiment. A jump from 7 or 8 million units to 10 million is a meaningful shift for a first-generation device that has not been officially introduced. It also lines up with the broader pattern in foldables: the category is no longer niche, but it is still expensive enough that every supplier hiccup can move the schedule.
Apple’s foldable has spent months in rumor limbo, bouncing between reports of hinge noise, manufacturing defects, and supplier fixes that supposedly brought the project back on track. That back-and-forth matters because foldables live or die on mechanical confidence; Samsung and other rivals learned that the hard way before the category stabilized. Apple tends to arrive late, but usually with a tighter manufacturing story than everyone else.
Price estimates keep moving higher
IDC’s estimate is a sharp reset from earlier chatter, which mostly put the phone closer to $2,000 to $2,300. Now the average price is seen at around $2,500, while upgraded storage configurations could push the total to $3,000. That puts the device firmly in ”luxury hobby” territory, not mainstream flagship territory, and Apple seems perfectly happy to test how much pain its fans will tolerate.
- Production target: around 10 million units
- Earlier target: 7 to 8 million units
- Average price: around $2,500
- Higher-storage versions: potentially $3,000
Apple is trying to launch into a crowded foldable race
The timing also says something about the market Apple is walking into. Samsung has already built a multigeneration foldable lineup, while rivals in China have used thinner designs and sharper pricing to keep pressure on the category. Apple does not need to be first, but it does need to look justified, and that gets harder when the entry ticket rises instead of falls.
If the rumored September launch holds, the real test will be whether Apple can turn a premium price into a premium event. The company has a habit of making expensive products feel inevitable. This one may need that trick more than most.