It's been a wild week for folding iPhone rumors, with battles about what it will be called, release timing, when orders will ship, and more. On Friday, one prolific leaker jumped in and claims the device will ship in October at the latest.
This comes following numerous back-and-forth reports that foldable iPhone buyers would have to wait until as late as December for their new devices. Writing in a post on the Weibo social network, leaker Instant Digital says that the most likely outcome is that Apple will be able to debut the foldable iPhone in September.
However, if Apple does choose to split the releases, the leaker doesn't anticipate a long wait. They say the iPhone Fold will ship a month after the iPhone 18 Pro.
Release confusion
There have been conflicting reports around exactly when the foldable iPhone will be available to buy. Nikkei Asia recently claimed that Apple's supply chain has been warned of a delay in shipments, possibly beyond the end of the year.
At the time, Nikkei reported that Apple intended to have 7 million to 8 million foldable iPhones ready for launch.
However, in a separate post, Instant Digital hinted that Apple has increased its folding display stock by 20%. That figure takes the first batch of foldable displays to 11 million units, considerably more than Nikkei's figures.
Following Nikkei's report of a delay, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman sought to pour cold water on the claim. Rather than a delay, Gurman believed that the foldable iPhone was still set for a September launch.
This latest Instant Digital post seems to put the launch debate to bed. If the production line is finalized, as they claim, Apple's plans are surely now more concrete than ever.
It's unclear how much demand there will be for the foldable iPhone, but Apple seems bullish if the 11-million-unit report is accurate. Estimated figures have Apple shipping less than 83 million iPhones in Q1 2025 as a whole.
iPhone Fold demand is still an unknown at this point
It's also important to remember that the foldable iPhone is likely to be bought by previous Pro iPhone customers. That would surely lead to lower-than-usual iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max sales as a whole.
That alone makes Apple's late-2026 iPhone sales particularly interesting. Its Pro iPhones are usually its most popular models during the initial post-release months.
The name game
Beyond when it will go on sale, there is also confusion over what the foldable iPhone will actually be called. Reports have recently suggested that Apple may debut the iPhone Ultra moniker rather than the iPhone Fold name that had been expected.
The use of the Ultra name could certainly make sense. The Apple Watch Ultra already sits atop Apple's wearable lineup, for example.
Leaker Instant Digital has also weighed in on that front. In another Weibo post, the leaker also used the iPhone Ultra name when outlining Apple's fall releases.
