{"id":883611,"date":"2026-09-04T23:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T23:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/883611\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T23:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T23:44:10","slug":"foldable-iphone-ultra-still-likely-to-be-missing-these-five-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/883611\/","title":{"rendered":"Foldable ‘iPhone Ultra’ Still Likely to Be Missing These Five Features"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple’s first foldable iPhone, dubbed the “iPhone Ultra<\/a>,” is expected to launch without at least four features that will be present on the iPhone 18 Pro<\/a> models, despite a price tag of at least $2,000.<\/p>\n

\"Foldable<\/p>\n

The iPhone Air<\/a> lacks Ultra Wide and Telephoto rear cameras, a SIM card slot, and stereo speakers. With a super thin design, a titanium frame, and a glass back, the \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c is expected to be very similar to the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c in terms of design, and it is possible that similar concessions will be present on the device. There are no indications that the \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c will be missing stereo speakers, but it is not out of the question given the other compromises Apple has chosen to make. Based on over a year of reports and rumors, the \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c could be missing the following features:<\/p>\n

Face ID<\/a>\/TrueDepth camera array
\nTelephoto camera\/third rear camera
\nAction button
\nPhysical SIM card slot
\nmmWave 5G<\/p>\n

MagSafe<\/a> was originally in question earlier in the rumor cycle. <\/p>\n

Face ID<\/p>\n

The \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c is believed to be too thin<\/a> to accommodate Apple’s TrueDepth camera array, which is required for \u200cFace ID\u200c authentication, so Apple is expected to revert to a Touch ID side button<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n

There will still be a front-facing camera<\/a> for both displays, with the inner one rumored to be a 24-megapixel under-display sensor<\/a>, but biometric authentication will be handled by the fingerprint reader.<\/p>\n

The last flagship iPhone with Touch ID<\/a> was 2016’s iPhone 7. The \u200ciPhone 18 Pro\u200c models are moving in the opposite direction, apparently relocating \u200cFace ID\u200c’s flood illuminator beneath the screen to shrink the Dynamic Island<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Telephoto Camera<\/p>\n

As visible on dummy models shared by Sonny Dickson<\/a>, Vadim Yuryev<\/a>, and others, the \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c is expected to sport only two rear cameras<\/a>. These are believed to be 48-megapixel Wide and Ultra Wide lenses, with no third Telephoto camera of the kind found on the Pro models. <\/p>\n

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman<\/a> said last month that the people who have used the device are impressed by it, but singled out the camera system as the most likely disappointment<\/a> for buyers.<\/p>\n

Action Button<\/p>\n

Dummy models continue to point to the absence of the Action button. A power button and volume buttons are clearly visible, with the volume buttons located on the top edge of the device and aligned to the right, similar to the iPad mini<\/a>, but the left edge appears to be entirely bare. That would make the \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c the first iPhone with no Action button or silent switch, some three years after Apple introduced the Action button<\/a> on the iPhone 15 Pro as a replacement for the switch.<\/p>\n

The unusual button layout was first rumored by Weibo leaker “Instant Digital<\/a>,” who said that the motherboard sits on the right side of the device. Rather than run cables across the display to the left side, where the volume buttons are located on every other iPhone, Apple is said to have decided to run them directly upwards to maximize internal space.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SIM Card Slot<\/p>\n

Rumors indicate that the \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c will also lack a SIM card slot<\/a>, just like the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c, being compatible with eSIM only. Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo<\/a> both expect the device to be eSIM only in every market where it launches.<\/p>\n

mmWave 5G Connectivity<\/p>\n

The device is likely to miss mmWave 5G if it features Apple’s in-house C2 modem as rumored, since reports indicate the C2 may still lack mmWave capability. \u200ciPhone 18 Pro\u200c models sold in the United States are expected to retain Qualcomm hardware<\/a> because they support the mmWave bands used by American carriers. Apple does not sell mmWave-capable iPhones outside the U.S.<\/p>\n

The \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c’s C2-based configuration would therefore advance Apple’s modem transition, just like the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c, but could limit the device to sub-6GHz 5G.<\/p>\n

MagSafe?<\/p>\n

Bloomberg’s \u200cMark Gurman\u200c has now indicated that \u200cMagSafe\u200c will make it into the device<\/a> after all. Speaking in an interview with Tom’s Guide, Gurman said “all indications that I’ve heard is that \u200cMagSafe\u200c is in for this foldable phone,” pointing to the fact that Apple managed to fit the magnet array into the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c.<\/p>\n

The uncertainty stemmed from the dummy models of the device that emerged earlier this year. Units shared by Dickson and Yuryev showed no indentations for the internal \u200cMagSafe\u200c magnets, while the mock \u200ciPhone 18 Pro\u200c and \u200ciPhone 18 Pro\u200c Max units shown alongside them clearly did. Leaked cases for the foldable, on the other hand, included a magnetic ring, leaving the question open until recently.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Price and Launch<\/p>\n

The rumored starting price for the \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c varies, but reports agree that it will not be below $1,999<\/a>, with Kuo placing it somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500<\/a>. The iPhone 17 Pro<\/a> starts at $1,099 and has all of the above features, and while the \u200ciPhone 18 Pro\u200c is expected to see a price increase of $200 to $300<\/a>, the \u200ciPhone Ultra\u200c’s compromises could still prove controversial.<\/p>\n

Apple will almost certainly unveil the device alongside the \u200ciPhone 18 Pro\u200c and \u200ciPhone 18 Pro\u200c Max at its “Surprise and Shine” event<\/a> on Wednesday, September 9. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apple’s first foldable iPhone, dubbed the “iPhone Ultra,” is expected to launch without at least four features that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,60,2164,16187,235053,61],"class_list":["post-883611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-featured","tag-foldable-iphone","tag-iphone-fold","tag-iphone-ultra","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}