Apple's late arrival to the folding market puts huge pressure on the iPhone Ultra to finally level up the category — but is that even possible?

I'm currently holding the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 in my hands, only putting it down now to type this and tell you that, as I see it, it's the nearest thing we have at the moment to an iPhone Ultra, the folding iPhone we expect to meet in person on September 9.

And what I wonder is not just if the real iPhone Ultra will be good enough to glow up the foldable category so that it eventually rivals standard flagship phones, but whether if it can rise above the foldable bar set by Samsung and, to a lesser extent, its rivals.

The iPhone Ultra will arrive on the tiny island that is foldable phones amid a group of well-established competitors.

Apple's slow walk into this category has allowed Samsung, Google, Huawei, Motorola, and Oppo to hone their skills in creating thin, light, and powerful folding phones, often featuring excellent screens, battery life, and cameras.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is not the best of them.

Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent foldable phone, but it's not the thinnest, doesn't have the longest battery life, and has just two rear cameras.

On the other hand, the passport shape (when folded) makes it compelling in a way that's hard to quantify and temporarily unique among current foldable options.

When opened, it has a screen size that is nearly as large as those found on other foldables, but in an oddball 4:3 screen aspect ratio.

The Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8 Lance Ulanoff / Future The Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8 Lance Ulanoff / Future The Galay Z Fold 8 Lance Ulanoff / Future The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Lance Ulanoff / Future The design is intentional, with Samsung hoping to bridge the gap between the clamshell-style and fashion-forward Galaxy Z Flip and the far more powerful, productivity-first Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra .

Samsung is filling the gap in the hope of vastly expanding what remains a very tiny market.

I know there are reports that Samsung is selling out the Z Fold 8, with one report claiming that it sold out and is now rushing out a million more units.

Overall sales for the Z8 line (Fold, Flip, and Ultra) might be in the 4-to-5M unit range .

That sounds pretty good, but a look at typical iPhone sales after launch quickly puts those numbers in perspective.

In 2024, iPhone 16 preorder sales reportedly reached 37 million units .