EXCLUSIVE: Apple iPhone Fold – it’s real, and it’s coming – Dummy models show it

I think we can now agree, Apple is releasing a foldable this year and we’ve got the video proof to show you.

EFTM has obtained metal mock up’s (Dummys) of the next major iPhone release and based off those we’re more than certain it’s coming. When and what it’s called we have no idea.

Will it be the iPhone Fold? we think not. iPhone Ultra? More likely. What we do know is it’s smaller than you’d think, and might be appealing because it’s so different.

The closest thing to the iPhone Ultra (we’ll call it that for simplicity now) is the Microsoft Duo – a tablet/phone device released in 2019 which has the same “Passport” style shape as this Foldable iPhone.

But Apple’s device is much smaller. By our measurement 117.5mm tall, around 84.2mm wide. For perspective, the iPhone Pro Max models are around 78mm wide.

When closed, the iPhone Ultra is 11mm thick, evenly spread across the front and back halves, at 5.5mm each. With the camera plateau is 14mm thick, with the lenses it’s a total of 16.5mm thick.

This early mock up – made so third party case manufacturers can bet on its accuracy and start working on accessories – shows no sign of an in-screen front or centre camera, so we don’t have any sense of what capabilities that might have, however the side “power” button is ever so slightly bigger than that on the other iPhone 18 models, making us wonder if TouchID is back for this iPhone Ultra foldable.

Good news for those who didn’t love the iPhone Air which pioneered this thin format for Apple, these models show two lenses on the camera, likely an Ultra Wide and Standard Telephoto.

Additionally, there are speaker grills top and bottom, so sound performance will be better than iPhone Air too.

Frankly, it’s easy to hold in the hand, but with the shorter total screen, the keyboard is going to take up a lot of screen real estate, same on the inner larger screen. How Apple pitches this new format device will be fascinating!

Alongside this model were two other metal dummies, an iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

They appear identical to the current generation iPhone 17 Pro devices – the Magenta colour as we indicated last week, could be a sign of Apple’s plans for a feature colour this year.

This does seem to substantiate the idea that Apple is also going to shake up their entire iPhone release schedule. September for iPhone Pro and Foldable, and early in the year – likely March, for iPhone e and base models, we expect in March 2027 to see an iPhone 18, iPhone 18e and iPhone Air (2nd Gen).

This spreads Apple’s customer spend across the year, great for lifting the quarterly revenue in different parts of the year, and ensure more new products to compete against other smartphones earlier in the year.

All of this is conjecture until Apple walk out on stage to announce it. If pushed to guess, we’d put that data as September 9, 20 weeks from now!