Apple accidentally confirms iPhone Ultra during WWDC – you just had to look hard for it
Apple could have dropped a couple of hints to what's coming next
Quick Summary
Apple didn't tease any future devices during WWDC 2026, but there are a few pointers found in new code the could relate to the iPhone Ultra.
These crop up in the iOS 27 beta – released during WWDC – but there are additional hints that Apple could be working on a folding phone.
The iPhone Ultra is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro in September 2026. That will see Apple with its first foldable phone, but thanks to WWDC 2026 a number of references to the forthcoming device might have surfaced.
The first of these cropped up in the iOS 27 developer beta, which was released immediately after the keynote. That's given some users time to dive through the code and find new references.
Highlighted by 9to5Mac, X user @samhenrigold pointed out that within the code were references to "foldState" and "angleDegrees", as well as a new MobileGestalt key to highlight the number of displays on a device.
MobileGestalt is a system library in iOS that the device can refer to – and in the past, all iPhones have had one display, so there's been no need to find out how many displays there are. In a folding phone, you'd need that information, because there are two.
also a new MG key to get the total count of built-in displays pic.twitter.com/0uhik5DWROJune 8, 2026
That perhaps hints that iOS 27 is ready to support a new format of device.
Elsewhere, some users have spotted that iPhone mirroring on macOS can be resized to look like an iPad, with many suggesting this is preparation to support the iPhone Ultra's unfolded display.
While there might not be a need to mirror the iPhone Ultra's main display, it perhaps gives an insight into how apps might shift from the external display to the main internal display.
That's not the only place where this happens: with the introduction of Xcode's Device Hub, apps can quickly be resized, again giving us a good look at how developers might adapt apps for a different display. Of course, this could just be about making apps work better across iPhone and iPad.
Although digging through the details of code and minor references for a hint of iPhone Ultra might seem a little desperate, there's another Easter egg that some are pointing to. I wouldn't go as far as saying this is a smoking gun, but definitely looks like it's designed to get people talking.
Part of the presentation by Stacey Ford takes place in mock workshop environment, with tables filled with tools and devices in pieces.
On a quick pan we pass some of the usual suspects, like an Apple Watch in bits, there's the latest iPhone and then a tray with some thicker devices on them. Some are pointing to these as folding device prototypes.
As I said, it's hardly a smoking gun. The tray in question has a blower brush (common in photography) and what looks like a pocket magnifying glass of some type, so there's sort of a photography theme happening there and very little that looks like an iPhone Ultra.
Still, if you're looking for it, you'll find it, even if it's not actually there.
