iPhone Ultra, iPhone 18 Pro, and More: Apple's September 9 Event Preview

Apple’s September event will take place on Wednesday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m. Apple will announce its 2026 iPhone lineup, and this year is a big one. Along with the slab-style iPhones we’ve been using for years, Apple is going to debut its first foldable device.

We’ll also get new Apple Watches, a new set of AirPods, and possibly some other surprises. Everything we expect to see at the "Surprise and Shine" event is below. Foldable iPhone Apple’s 2026 iPhone lineup will include its first foldable device.

We don’t know what Apple will call it, but reportedly it might be named the iPhone Ultra. Apple has designed a book-style foldable that has an iPad-like layout when it’s opened up. It will have a ~5.5-inch OLED outer display, which is what you’ll use when the iPhone is closed.

Leaked sketches hint at a wide foldable that could directly rival Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 design. Motorola could soon complete its Samsung foldable-design-stealing trifecta.

Motorola may be cooking up a rival to the Galaxy Z Fold 8. The sketches reveal a wide horizontal camera bar similar to the Xiaomi 18 Fold, an easy-open profile, a creaseless display, 3D glass, and ultra-slim housing.

Motorola’s wide foldable reportedly launch in the “coming months,” though concrete details are not yet available. Apple’s imminent entry into the market with the iPhone Ultra foldable prompted Android brands to pivot to this wide foldable form factor.

That’s been a good move so far, with the wide Galaxy Z Fold 8 actually selling better than even Samsung expected. Now, it seems Motorola is also gearing up to dip its toes into the wide foldable form factor.

AndroidHeadlines reports, citing an anonymous source, that Motorola is working on a wide foldable that could sit alongside the company’s existing book-style and flip foldables.

It will unfold into a larger ‌OLED‌ display that’s about 7.8 inches. The design is wider than it is tall when it’s open, and you can picture it as something like an iPad mini that folds in half.

Samsung’s recent Galaxy Z Fold8 matches the foldable iPhone rumors, so it may be the best look at the size and layout of Apple’s device. Apple wanted a crease-free design, but that doesn’t seem to be possible with a foldable yet.

The ‌iPhone Ultra‌ will instead have a minimal crease and a durable liquid metal hinge. Foldables are delicate and hinges can be a weak point, so Apple focused on durability.

Rumors indicate Apple could have some tricks to keep the crease less visible over time, such as optically clear adhesive that will fill in any micro-cracks caused by repeated folding. When unfolded, the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ could be as thin as 4.5mm, making it Apple’s thinnest iPhone to date.

That would make it 9mm when folded, which is close to the thickness of the 8.75mm iPhone 17 Pro Max. With a chassis that thin, Apple had to make design compromises.

There is reportedly no space for the TrueDepth camera system for Face ID, so it’s going to use Touch ID instead. There will be a ‌Touch ID‌ side button, similar to the iPad Air and ‌iPad mini‌.