Apple’s Foldable iPhone: What Name Will It Wear?

Apple is about to pull the curtain back on its first foldable iPhone, and as usual the company’s naming game is already a hot topic among fans and analysts. The “Surprise and Shine” event tomorrow promises to finally settle the question, but until then we’re left juggling a handful of plausible monikers.

One name that keeps popping up in leaks is iPhone Ultra. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman even tweeted that “everyone calls it the Ultra internally.” Still, an internal codename doesn’t automatically become the product’s retail badge. As Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach pointed out, “Ultra” feels a bit off – the foldable won’t sport a telephoto lens, it won’t have the longest‑lasting battery, and it’s missing Face ID and the Action button that define Apple’s current Pro line. In short, it doesn’t quite live up to the Ultra hype.

Other contenders have floated around, too. “iPhone Duo” has been mentioned, though Microsoft already burned that label on its ill‑fated dual‑screen phone. “iPhone Folio” and even “iPhone iBook” have been tossed into the mix, but both sound more like reading‑focused gadgets than the multimedia powerhouse Apple will likely tout. And let’s be honest, a name that mirrors Android’s “Fold” series (iFold, iPhone Fold) would feel too derivative for Apple’s brand.

Looking at Apple’s own naming legacy might give us clues. The company has used “Plus” for larger screens (iPhone 6 Plus through iPhone 8 Plus) and later switched to “Max” for its biggest Pro models (iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11 Pro Max). If the foldable is simply the biggest iPhone ever, a straight‑forward iPhone Max could make sense – it would signal size without implying Pro‑level camera specs.

There’s also a chance Apple will slot the new device into the “Air” family. Rumors suggest the folded thickness could be around 4 mm, slimmer than the current 5.6 mm iPhone Air, which would qualify it as an Air‑type product. In that scenario we might see something like iPhone Air Max, iPhone Air Pro, or iPhone Air Plus. (Side note: “Air Max” could raise eyebrows at Nike, but Apple isn’t exactly shy about pushing branding boundaries.)

So, after chewing over the evidence, here are the four names that feel most credible to me:

• iPhone Max
• iPhone Plus
• iPhone Air Pro
• iPhone Air Duo

What do you think? Put your money where your mouth is in the comments, and let’s see which moniker survives the Apple reveal.