(Image credit: Apple Track)
How excited should you be for the iPhone Ultra? Very, if the latest report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is anything to go by, with the reporter declaring the foldable to be "the company's most exciting new product in several years." And it seems that opinion is shared by others — though there is one notable catch.Gurman has spoken to several people that have already used the foldable iPhone. Those early users praised the phone's pocketability, the durability of the hinge and the iPad-style app layout on the larger foldable screen. However, Gurman notes the lack of a telephoto camera lens could end up costing Apple some sales.After all, this is a phone that is expected to cost more than $2,000 — possibly as high as $2,500 if some reports are to be believed. As Gurman points out, people who spend that kind of money on a phone are also the kind who want top-of-the-range camera capabilities. In fact, the Venn diagram of those two groups of people "is probably pretty close to a circle."Sadly, Gurman predicts that the foldable iPhone's camera won't be considered "the best camera system Apple can offer" for at least a couple of years. Which is obviously going to be a sore point for a lot of people, considering Apple's reputation for developing some of the best camera phones.I have no doubt that the iPhone Ultra's main and ultrawide cameras will be able to produce excellent photos, but the lack of a telephoto lens could potentially be an issue. Apple and other phone makers may offer "optical quality" digital zoom, as well as the software to enhance photos after the fact, but those only go so far.The Galaxy Z Fold 8 series is a good example of this in action. As we noted in our Z Fold 8 vs Z Fold 8 Ultra photo face-off, the zoomed shots on the Z Fold 8 pale in comparison to the Ultra's dedicated zooming lens. Considering how weak the Z Fold 8 Ultra's zoomed performance is compared to the more powerful Galaxy S26 Ultra, that's hardly a ringing endorsement of a telephoto-free smartphone.It's not all bad news
