Apple's new CEO will debut the foldable iPhone Ultra — at $2,000
Apple is getting a new CEO and a foldable iPhone in the same month. John Ternus, currently SVP of Hardware Engineering, officially takes over from Tim Cook on September 1, 2026 — confirmed by an Apple official press release. Cook moves to executive chairman. Within weeks of that handover, Ternus is expected to walk onstage and announce the iPhone Ultra, Apple's first foldable smartphone, at its annual fall hardware event.
The phone
The iPhone Ultra is a book-style foldable with a 7.7–7.8-inch inner display and a 5.3–5.5-inch outer screen, unfolding to a 4:3 aspect ratio — closer to an iPad mini than a widescreen video display. Starting price is $1,999, with higher storage configurations potentially pushing toward $2,399, per Macworld. That puts it directly alongside the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 on price, so Apple is betting brand pull over value.
The trade-offs are real. According to MacRumors, the Ultra drops Face ID in favor of Touch ID, removes MagSafe charging, loses the Action Button, and skips a telephoto lens — two 48MP cameras instead. These cuts are framed as necessary for thinness, but they're meaningful regressions for anyone moving from a current Pro model.
The bet
Ternus isn't just presenting the Ultra — he's the reason it exists. As SVP of Hardware Engineering, he oversaw the device's development, according to 9to5Mac. That framing matters: he arrives as architect, not caretaker. Apple is reportedly drawing a deliberate contrast with the Vision Pro reveal, which opened a product category that hasn't found a mass audience. Foldables are a different story — Samsung and Huawei have spent years normalizing the $2,000 price tag, and consumers already understand what a folding phone is.
Supply will be tight at launch. Manufacturing was reportedly pushed to August 2026, meaning initial stock could be limited through the end of the year. Analysts still project record Apple revenue of around $150 billion for the third fiscal quarter of 2026, with the Ultra expected to drive meaningful margin expansion.
The bigger question investors are asking isn't about the fold — it's about AI. The foldable is a hardware story; Wall Street wants to know Apple's software answer to the current AI wave. Ternus inherits that pressure on day one.