Two software engineers, M1Astra and Sam Henri Gold, found traces of iPhone Ultra in the released iOS 27 beta source code. Of course, the strings don’t contain the name “iPhone Ultra”, but the references of a foldable smartphone are strong.
The iOS 27 beta framework code contains strings such as “foldState,” “angleDegrees,” “mechanicalAngleDegrees,” and “isanglevalid.” Clearly, the “foldState” term references the iOS 27’s ability to detect the iPhone Ultra’s folded and unfolded states. The other three strings suggest that the system can detect how much you’ve opened the device.
Having said that, we won’t be surprised if the iPhone Ultra supports something like Android’s Flex Mode. You can partially close the device and use it as a “laptop” to watch videos hands-free or type on a larger keyboard while viewing the content on the other half of the screen.
According to Bloomberg’s M1Astra, there are already some publicly available features on iOS 27 that will work a lot better on the Ultra. For instance, iOS 27 now allows full-screen widgets. They occupy the whole screen, but on a foldable, they will take up only half of the display.
The updated iPhone Mirroring feature that allows you to cast your iPhone’s screen on a Mac can now be viewed in an iPad-sized window.
If there are so many lines of code in iOS 27 referencing the iPhone Ultra, it’s safe to assume that the rumors so far are correct – Apple’s long-awaited foldable phone will be announced this fall. Probably alongside the iPhone 18 series.