Apple iPhone Ultra: No Face ID, no telephoto camera, and limited production

The first foldable Apple iPhone Ultra is expected to lack at least four features that will be present in the iPhone 18 Pro models, despite a price tag of at least €2,000/US$2,000. The limited space within the ultra-thin casing will have presented the manufacturer with similar challenges to those encountered with the iPhone Air.

The iPhone Air lacks ultra-wide and telephoto cameras, a SIM card slot, and stereo speakers. With its super-thin design, titanium frame, and glass back, the Apple iPhone Ultra is likely to be very similar to the iPhone Air in design, so similar compromises are quite probable. While there has been no official confirmation, various reports and rumors suggest that the iPhone Ultra will lack the following features:

• Face ID / TrueDepth camera arrangement
• Telephoto camera
• Action button
• Physical SIM card slot
• mmWave 5G

Face ID

The Apple iPhone Ultra is presumably too thin to accommodate Apple’s TrueDepth camera array, which is required for Face ID authentication. Therefore, Apple is expected to revert to a side-mounted Touch ID button instead.

There will still be a front camera for both displays, with the inner camera rumored to be a 24-megapixel under-display sensor, but biometric authentication will be done via the fingerprint reader.

The last flagship iPhone with Touch ID was the iPhone 7 from 2016. The iPhone 18 Pro models take the opposite approach, apparently moving the Face ID sensor below the screen to reduce the size of the Dynamic Island.

Telephoto camera

As seen in dummy models from Sonny Dickson, Vadim Yuryev, and others, the Apple iPhone Ultra is expected to have only two rear cameras. These are said to be 48-megapixel wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lenses, without the telephoto camera found on the Pro models.

Mark Gurman of Bloomberg said last month that people who have used the Apple iPhone Ultra are impressed with it, but highlighted the camera system as the most likely disappointment for buyers.

Action button

Dummy models continue to suggest the absence of an action button. A power button and volume buttons are clearly visible, with the volume buttons located on the upper right edge of the Apple iPhone Ultra, similar to the iPad mini. The left edge, however, appears to be completely clear. This would make the Ultra the first iPhone without an action button or mute switch, roughly three years after Apple introduced the action button on the iPhone 15 Pro as a replacement for the mute switch.

The unusual button layout was first suggested by Weibo leaker Instant Digital. He claimed that the motherboard is located on the right side of the Apple iPhone Ultra. Instead of routing the cables across the display to the left side, where the volume buttons are located, as with all other iPhones, Apple supposedly chose to route them directly upwards to optimize internal space.

SIM card slot

Rumors suggest that the Apple iPhone Ultra, just like the iPhone Air, will not have a SIM card slot and will be exclusively compatible with eSIM. Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo both expect the device to be available only with eSIM in all markets where it is released.

mmWave 5G connectivity

The Apple iPhone Ultra is not expected to support mmWave 5G. This is because it will most likely use Apple’s own C2 modem, which reportedly does not yet support mmWave. iPhone 18 Pro models sold in the US are expected to continue using Qualcomm hardware, as it supports the mmWave frequencies used by American mobile carriers. Apple does not sell mmWave-enabled iPhones outside the US.

The C2-chip-based configuration of the iPhone Ultra would therefore, just like the iPhone Air, advance Apple’s modem transition, but could limit the device to 5G below 6 GHz.

MagSafe

Gurman recently hinted that MagSafe might still be included in the Apple iPhone Ultra. In an interview with Tom’s Guide, Gurman said: “Everything I’ve heard indicates that MagSafe will also be used in this foldable smartphone.” He pointed to the fact that Apple had already integrated the magnetic system into the iPhone Air.

The uncertainty stemmed from the dummy models of the device that surfaced at the beginning of the year. The models presented by Dickson and Yuryev lacked cutouts for the internal MagSafe magnets, while the dummy iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max shown alongside them clearly had them. Leaked cases for the Apple iPhone Ultra, however, featured a magnetic ring, leaving the question unanswered until recently.

Price

The rumored starting price for the Apple iPhone Ultra varies, but reports indicate it will not be below $1,999. Kuo anticipates a price between $2,000 and $2,500. For Europe, we can most likely translate these prices directly into euros or even increase them by another 10%. The iPhone 17 Pro, which starts at $1,099, offers all the aforementioned features.

Apple iPhone Ultra production reaches only a few hundred units per day

Furthermore, a new report from Nikkei Asia has emerged, outlining yet another problem with the Apple iPhone Ultra. Based on supply chain sources, the report claims that Apple was only able to produce “a few hundred units per day” of its upcoming foldable iPhone last month due to the company’s extremely high quality control standards.

“Production is starting slowly; currently, at the end of August, output is only a few hundred units per day. This initial volume could be difficult to meet market demand.”

Supply Chain Manager to Nikkei Asia

Several reports indicate that production of the Apple iPhone Ultra faced difficulties due to the device’s complex manufacturing process. The hinge design and display durability testing posed the biggest challenges. These issues were reportedly resolved during test production at Foxconn, prompting Apple to increase its order from an initial 7-8 million units to approximately 10 million, as previously reported by Nikkei.

According to sources at the magazine, Apple introduced an additional testing process for the foldable iPhone in August to ensure it could be mass-produced according to specifications. “Surface flatness and hinge functionality are among the details where Apple is aiming for higher production yields,” a person familiar with the matter told Nikkei.

All of this has apparently delayed commercial production by weeks, suggesting that Apple could miss its production target unless it can ramp up production more quickly. Apple and its suppliers are reportedly working around the clock to increase production and avoid bottlenecks in distribution centers.

The release date for the Apple iPhone Ultra seems extremely short. According to a previous report, the device could even be launched in stages and initially only be available in the USA.

Apple is expected to unveil the new Ultra on Wednesday, September 9, at its “Surprise and Shine” event, along with the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

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