Apple has reportedly abandoned plans for a foldable "iPad Ultra" following years of disappointing sales performance for the iPad Pro.
The claim predominantly comes from the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital," who posted the remark in response to a question about whether the iPad would join a rumored "Ultra" series of Apple devices. Instant Digital listed the Apple Watch Ultra, M-series Ultra chips, "iPhone Ultra," and "MacBook Ultra" with an OLED display as products in the pipeline, but explicitly excluded the iPad from that group, citing weak market performance for the iPad Pro. They added that Apple now has "no plans" to release an iPad Ultra.
The iPad Pro's sales struggles are well documented. In October 2024, it was reported that shipment projections for the M4 iPad Pro had been significantly cut after weaker-than-expected demand following its launch earlier that year. DSCC analyst Ross Young lowered his full-year 2024 forecast from up to 10 million units to just 6.7 million, with shipments of the 13-inch model projected to fall by more than 50% and 90% in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
Young attributed the sluggish reception in part to the high price point, with the 11-inch model starting at $999 and the 13-inch at $1,299, levels that deter buyers who view tablets as secondary devices alongside a smartphone or laptop. iPad revenue has declined for three consecutive years, and the category accounted for just 6.73% of Apple's total revenue in 2025.
In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple has been developing a 20-inch foldable iPad, describing the project as a priority for Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering and future Apple CEO John Ternus. Gurman noted, however, that the device "may end up being a wacky experiment that doesn't see the light of day, according to several people who have worked on it."
The rumored foldable iPad has a long and troubled development history. Last October, it emerged that engineering challenges tied to weight, features, and display technology had pushed Apple's target launch from 2028 to 2029 or later. The device was reportedly being developed with a large Samsung OLED display, with Apple focused on minimizing the visible crease, just like the upcoming foldable iPhone.
Prototype units reportedly weighed around 3.5 pounds, making them heavier than a 14-inch MacBook Pro and nearly three times the weight of a 13-inch iPad Pro. The device could have been priced as high as $3,900, roughly triple the $1,299 starting price of the 13-inch iPad Pro.
There has also been uncertainty about how the product would be categorized. In March, Gurman noted that a "gigantic" foldable iPad would challenge Apple's tradition of keeping the Mac and iPad as separate product lines, with some internally describing it as a foldable iPad and others as an all-display MacBook. When closed, the device reportedly resembles a Mac, with an aluminum shell and no exterior display. The design is said to be similar to Huawei's MateBook Fold, an 18-inch foldable tablet currently priced at $3,400.
The reports come against a backdrop of Apple's rumored plans to expand its "Ultra" branding across multiple product lines. At least three Ultra devices are believed to be in the pipeline for this year alone: a foldable iPhone Ultra priced at around $2,000, AirPods Ultra with cameras for Visual Intelligence, and a MacBook Ultra featuring a touch-enabled OLED display priced up to 20% above the current MacBook Pro lineup. A source speaking to Macworld subsequently corroborated the iPhone Ultra and MacBook Ultra names.
Apple already applies the "Ultra" moniker to Apple Watch Ultra, M-series Ultra chips, and CarPlay Ultra. An iPad Ultra might seem like a natural fit for a family of higher-end, more experimental hardware at the top of each lineup, but with the iPad Pro already struggling to find buyers at its current price point, the question of whether sufficient demand exists for an even more expensive iPad may be answering itself.
