For years, Apple has set the naming conventions for the smartphone industry, and now, it has decided that ‘Pro’ no longer cuts it at the very top.
An exclusive report from Macworld claims that the company is expanding its Ultra branding beyond the Apple Watch and Mac chips: an iPhone Ultra and a MacBook Ultra are apparently on the cards.
What exactly is the iPhone Ultra?
Rumors about the iPhone Ultra or the company’s first foldable have been circulating online for quite some time. The report simply adds more weight to the name. But this also means that Apple won’t position the foldable iPhone as part of the iPhone 18 lineup, making it a separate lineup (similar to the iPhone Air).
When Apple releases the iPhone Ultra, most likely at its September 2026 launch event, it will sit at the top of the iPhone lineup, resetting the hierarchy that has held so far.
While the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max will hold the title of the best conventional handsets, the iPhone Ultra will be the only foldable iPhone that costs more.
What about the MacBook Ultra?
The MacBook Ultra, on the other hand, is a first-of-its-kind touchscreen OLED MacBook, which would sit above the existing MacBook Pro models, both in terms of features and price. It could be powered by the M6 Pro and the M6 Max chips built on TSMC’s 2nm fabrication technology.
Rumors also suggest a Dynamic Island on the screen, a thinner chassis than the current MacBook Pro models, and a more durable hinge designed to handle regular touch input.
Originally, the MacBook Ultra was planned for late 2026; however, the global memory crisis has reportedly pushed its launch by a few months to early 2027.
How far does Apple’s Ultra ambition actually go?
Apart from the iPhone Ultra and the MacBook Ultra, the new branding could also apply to a rumored high-end AirPods model. We’ve already heard so many rumors about an AirPods model with built-in cameras, and the Ultra branding could suit those better rather than an incrementally improved version of the current AirPods Pro 3.
An iPad Ultra could also have a larger, potentially foldable screen, which, according to a recent Bloomberg newsletter, has been a priority of the incoming Apple CEO, John Ternus.
While I’m excited about Apple’s Ultra strategy, as the Apple Watch Ultra and the M Ultra chips have both featured important technological innovations, I’m also worried about what the Ultra tag could do to the iPhone, MacBook, AirPods, and iPad, particularly in terms of retail price.
I’m a bit concerned about… the pricing
By creating another tier above the Pro, which, for now, represents the best in technology across most of Apple’s lineups, the company could charge a significantly higher price. The foldable iPhone is already rumored to start at $2,000 for the baseline variant, which, if you ask me, is quite expensive, even for a Pro buyer.
Take the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Apple Watch Ultra 3 as examples. While the former starts from $399, the latter costs $799, which is twice the price of the latest non-Ultra version. Of course, there’s no Pro Apple Watch for a direct comparison, but you get the idea.