iPhone Ultra Price: Why Apple’s First Foldable Needs To Be Expensive

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People check the new iPhone 17 lineup at an Apple store in Shanghai on September 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

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As the premium smartphone market approaches saturation levels and typical upgrade cycles stretch out to three years and beyond, Apple is looking beyond simple price rises across the portfolio. Instead, Tim Cook and his team are overhauling its pricing strategy to increase revenue from its more affluent users with the luxury iPhone Ultra foldable while protecting the core iPhone 18 Pro audience.

How The iPhone Ultra Changes Apple’s Portfolio

Apple will establish a premium $1,999 iPhone Ultra price point to test the limit of luxury pricing and absorb escalating next-generation component costs.

Consumers are increasingly disillusioned with the marginal hardware updates smartphone manufacturers offer annually. Apple’s approach with the iPhone’s Class of ’26 is to push much of the cutting-edge engineering into a single $1,999 flagship. The iPhone Ultra is a high-margin smartphone that can serve as a lightning rod to attract the highest and most affluent consumers.

Rather than attempting to drive more adoption across the entire iPhone 18 family, the iPhone Ultra can target the top five percent of Apple’s global user base with an exclusive handset using luxury materials and cutting-edge components. By isolating the iPhone Ultra at the top of the portfolio with its higher margins, Apple can keep the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max at their traditional price points of $1,099 and $1,299.

Keeping The iPhone 18 Pro Price Steady

Apple will maintain the entry-level iPhone 18 Pro at $1,049 to insulate its core ecosystem volume from premium-hardware fatigue.

With the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple raised the base price to $1,049 from the iPhone 16 Pro’s $999, but also increased the base storage from 128GB to 256GB. This adjustment cannot be repeated; $1,049 with 256GB is set in stone. In the face of aggressive…

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