Apple Is Preparing A Wave Of 'Ultra' Products To Launch In 2026

Following the announcement of the MacBook Neo – the cheapest MacBook that Apple has ever released – Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, in his Power On newsletter, suggests that Apple might be readying a new lineup of "Ultra" products. While the company already offers Apple Watch Ultra and M-series Ultra chips for its high-end Macs, the journalist reports that Apple could bring the naming convention to the iPhone and the MacBook in the near future. Gurman also claims that AirPod Ultra and iPad Ultra could be in the cards as well.

The journalist says that Apple isn't moving away from its popular Pro brand. On the contrary, it's planning to expand to even higher prices. Consumers now have the option to buy a MacBook Neo, Air, or Pro, and they will soon be able to go an spend even more on a MacBook Ultra. The same would be true for the iPhone, as the company currently sells the "e" model, the base model, the Air, and the Pro.

Gurman says that the redesigned MacBook Pro with an OLED display and the foldable iPhone, both set to be released later this year, could end up with "Ultra" names. They'd also start at higher price points and feature technologies that are currently not available in those lineups.

Even though Gurman was careful not to guarantee that Apple will call its foldable phone the iPhone Ultra, he suggests that it will be Ultra in at least one sense: It's $2,000 price tag, in addition to a far bigger inner display and new technologies like in-display sensors. He admits that Apple could be a bit more literal and just call this upcoming device the iPhone Fold. However, it would make sense to tag it with the "Ultra" moniker if it wants to start building on the branding.

After all, besides a price bump over the current iPhone Pro models, Apple has never sold a foldable device, which could highlight all the latest technologies it's been developing. Rumors so far suggest that Apple was able to crack the crease-free look, which is one major issue of most foldables on the market. In addition, the company might add a few features from iPadOS to the iPhone, which could indicate the inclusion of more RAM or a slightly improved processor.

Some of the features that could make the leap from the iPad to the iPhone Ultra include proper multitasking capabilities, Apple Pencil support, and Split View. In my opinion, the only "non-Ultra" feature about the foldable phone is that reports suggest it won't have three main cameras, but two, which means that, in at least one way, the Pro might remain superior.

Gurman also suggests that the next high-end MacBook Pro update could theoretically get the MacBook Ultra label, as it's expected to get an all-new OLED display, a touchscreen, a Dynamic Island, and even cellular capabilities. All those features could justify a higher price point, but it's unclear if that means Apple would phase out the M-series Pro chip in favor of the Max and Ultra options.

After all, an Ultra product should probably have an Ultra chip. That said, with the current memory crisis, and Apple going so far as to reduce the maximum amount of RAM its most powerful computer can ship with, it's unclear if it will release multiple options or focus on ensuring that these high-end devices are at least somewhat affordable.

That said, the MacBook Pro will undoubtedly get a lot more "Ultra" later this year, and macOS 27 is a great indicator of that. After all, Apple already announced it's ditching support for Intel Macs with this new software update. As the company will be free to focus on its proprietary hardware, we might be looking at a big year for the Mac. With the M5 chip now widely available, Gurman also says the Mac mini, Mac Studio, and iMac will get this new processor, while the company still aims to unveil the M6 lineup in 2026.