Apple is planning a significant portfolio expansion in 2026 that upends conventional wisdom about how it structures its product lines. The company will introduce a new class of 'Ultra' devices positioned above its current flagship offerings, according to reporting from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
For investors and consumers watching Apple's direction, the signal is clear: the company is stretching almost every major product category from unprecedented budget prices to ultra-premium tiers in a single year. This isn't accidental; it's a calculated bet on market fragmentation.
The foldable moment arrives
Apple plans to push deeper into the high end with more Ultra devices, with Mark Gurman providing overviews of five upcoming products in his Power On newsletter. The most anticipated is the long-rumoured foldable iPhone.The foldable iPhone is expected to debut in September 2026 alongside the iPhone 18 Pro series, marking Apple's entry into a market Samsung has dominated for seven years.
Gurman says the $2,000+ smartphone will pack a large inner display and under-display sensors. The specs read like a premium tablet compressed into a phone:when the display is open, it will be around 7.6 inches, and when it's closed, it will be around 5.3 inches.The 2026 foldable iPhone reportedly has no visible crease, with the crease described as 'nearly invisible' when the iPhone is unfolded.
The pricing tells you everything about Apple's confidence.Multiple reports have suggested the foldable iPhone will be priced between $2,000 and $2,500 in the United States, which could make it the most expensive iPhone ever. This isn't a mass-market product; it's a halo device designed to showcase engineering prowess while establishing a new premium tier.
The MacBook goes premium
Equally significant is the MacBook Ultra.While Apple has been widely expected to launch new M6-series MacBook Pro models with OLED displays and touchscreen functionality, Gurman suggests this is an all-new kind of MacBook rather than a MacBook Pro, and it will be a new, top-tier Apple laptop.
The device is likely to sit above the current M5 MacBook Pros, rather than replace them, suggesting that they will remain on sale, which would enable a markedly higher price point for the new machines. This is not how Apple traditionally structures its Mac lineup. Rather than generations replacing one another, Apple would maintain multiple tiers simultaneously, a departure that reflects confidence in market segmentation.
Touch integration will be added to the Mac's screen for the first time, and Apple plans to adopt a reinforced hinge that stays stationary when the display is touched. Neither touchscreens nor OLED displays have appeared on MacBooks before, making this a genuine hardware milestone.
When Apple brought OLED displays to the iPhone X in 2017 and the iPad Pro in 2024, it simultaneously raised price by around 20 per cent. A similar increase on a MacBook would position the Ultra model at the highest price ever for an Apple laptop.
Ultra across the ecosystem
AirPods Ultra will be the upcoming, and pricier, version of the current AirPods Pro and will feature computer-vision cameras to feed Visual Intelligence data to Siri. The integration is designed to extend Apple's ecosystem advantage rather than deliver purely standalone features.
What emerges from these announcements is a portfolio strategy that contradicts Apple's traditional minimalism. The company launched the MacBook Neo at $599 in early 2026, directly targeting budget-conscious consumers and students. Now, at the opposite extreme, it's building devices for customers willing to spend $2,000 or more on a single item.
The strategic question
Apple is seeking to offer more models at more price points, such as the new MacBook Neo at an unprecedented $599 price point to rival low-cost Windows and Chromebook devices, with more premium options available at the high-end than ever before. This represents a fundamental shift from the company's historical approach, which minimised product variants and relied on simplicity as a marketing advantage.
The strategy carries risks. Managing supply chains for ultra-premium products whilst defending market share in budget segments requires operational discipline. There's also a question of brand coherence: does a $599 MacBook and a $3,000-plus MacBook Ultra under the same brand confuse consumers or serve them?
Yet there's logic in the approach.Many analysts have predicted that the foldable market would remain niche until Apple releases a foldable iPhone, and that's the exact market condition where Apple has historically excelled: established technology with clear limitations that they can solve and scale. The company isn't inventing foldables or touchscreen laptops; it's refining technologies competitors have already pioneered and packaging them with Apple's ecosystem integration.
For 2026, Apple is betting that the market is large enough to support both extreme budget and extreme premium tiers simultaneously. Whether that bet pays off will tell us a great deal about the future of product segmentation in consumer technology.