Foldable iPhone May Skip Telephoto Lens Despite Up to $2,500 Price Tag
Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · Aug 23
Foldable iPhone May Skip Telephoto Lens Despite Up to $2,500 Price Tag
3 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · Aug 23
Summary
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said Apple’s rumored foldable iPhone will likely ship without a telephoto camera, leaving it with only wide and ultrawide lenses.
That would force zoomed-in shots to rely on sensor cropping rather than optical zoom, a notable trade-off for a device expected to sit at the top of Apple’s lineup.
Apple’s current iPhone 17 Pro models offer 4x optical zoom, while the 16 Pro series reached 5x, underscoring the gap between the foldable and Apple’s recent premium camera hardware.
Earlier reports on the foldable — priced above $2,000 and possibly as high as $2,500 — also pointed to a 5.5-inch outer screen, 7.8-inch inner display and a focus on portability and hinge durability.
With its imminent September 2026 launch, will Apple's $2,000 foldable iPhone Ultra revolutionize the market or flop due to missing premium features?
Could the highly anticipated iPhone Ultra's extreme thinness and liquid metal hinge finally solve the durability issues plaguing the foldable industry?
Why is Apple sacrificing staple features like Face ID and telephoto lenses for its most expensive iPhone ever?