Today is Apple’s big day to show off its new hardware for 2026. On the phone side of things, the tech world who follows them closely are all expecting the new iPhone 18 Pro with a similar vibe to the iPhone 17 Pro. Since last year’s Pro phones were big design refreshes, this year’s release should bring smaller improvements, like color changes and a camera or chip upgrade with ’em.
And those subtle upgrades are really here because Apple is going to announce their first foldable alongside it, a foldable that has been rumored for several years and could cost $2,000. The foldable is the show, what they will likely spend the most time on, and what you’ll hear the most about after their presentation wraps. It’s all we want to see, that’s for sure.
Rumors for some time have dubbed this device the “iPhone Ultra,” but within the past 24 hours, new reports have switched to calling it “iPhone Duo.” Those two names are, well, the funniest possible options to those of us who have been in the Android space for as long as we have been.
Calling an iPhone the “iPhone Ultra” immediately brings back memories of one of the stupidest times in the history of the Pixel phone from Google.
During the lead-up to the launch of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the internet became bored. Because it was bored by all of the leaks of Google’s new phones in 2018, they invented a grand conspiracy theory around a device they wanted to be called “Pixel Ultra.” There was a trollish slide from Google that fueled it, commercials that brought supposed evidence, and something-something about Ukraine or Russia.
It was all bullshit, and we correctly (and easily) called it out. It was a moment in time that only made sense to fools on the internet who needed more, who refused to believe in evidence and reality, and who made up an audience of idiots for young YouTube channels who could fuel that idiocy as they grew.
The “iPhone Duo” name is similarly hilarious, only because Microsoft already used that name for its first foldable device in the Surface Duo.
The Surface Duo, for those who don’t remember 2020, is one of the worst Android devices ever made. We got our hands on one, put it through a review process, and then dumped on it through 3,000 words. While it had a neat hardware hinge, this device was 15 wrong decisions all wrapped up in $1,400 of marketing nonsense.
This thing had no exterior screen, so you never knew at any time what was going on with your phone unless you fully opened it. It had a single camera on the inside display that was, at least at the time, the worst camera I had ever used. It still probably ranks in the top 3. It lacked an NFC chip, the software was released in Alpha form and was filled with bugs, and the displays had a wild touch responsiveness issue that was never resolved.
It was as big of a mess as I’ve ever seen in a product launch and yet it had plenty of supporters who thought I just didn’t understand it. I didn’t know at the time that Microsoft had fanboys, but they sure showed up to inform me that they existed.
Wild times.
So anyways, as Apple launches the iPhone Duo or Ultra today, just remember that this is yet another example of Android doing it first (I’m kidding), only we’ll hope Apple gets this one right. They probably won’t because it’s a first-gen product, but fingers-crossed, or something.
