For many months, tech blogs like ours used the name iPhone Ultra to refer to Apple’s foldable iPhone, but the device ended up being called the iPhone Duo.
The name iPhone Duo wasn’t a complete surprise. Bold FireballJohn Gruber’s John Gruber accurately guessed that the device would be called iPhone Duo back in April, and the name made the rounds on social media again last week.
iPhone Ultra has become the most common name in rumor coverage after BloombergMark Gurman of , floated it as a potentially appropriate name for the device in March, and he later reported that many Apple employees were calling the device the iPhone Ultra. Furthermore, the former Macmonde Journalist Filipe Espósito cited a source close to Apple’s plans who said the foldable iPhone would be called iPhone Ultra. Obviously, this source was wrong.
To his credit, Gurman ended up confirming the iPhone Duo name in a breaking report released shortly before Apple announced the device.
Apple avoiding the iPhone Ultra name makes sense, as the device now known as the iPhone Duo is not the most “ultra” version of the iPhone available. Yes, the iPhone Duo has a large 7.6-inch interior display when opened, but on the other hand, the device lacks features like a dedicated telephoto camera, Face ID, and an action button.
Apple has used the Duo brand in the past for its PowerBook Duo line of laptops in the 1990s and for the MagSafe Duo charger in the early 2020s. In the case of the iPhone Duo, the word Duo obviously refers to the device’s two screens.
Apple offers certain Ultra-branded products and services, including the Apple Watch Ultra, CarPlay Ultra, and M1 Ultra through M5 Ultra chip lines. And with Apple rumored to be planning a special 20th anniversary iPhone, there may still be an opportunity for the company to use the iPhone Ultra name in the future.
For now, the iPhone Ultra rumor is dead.
