Years of rumors about Apple’s efforts to develop a foldable iPhone have begun to coalesce right into a extra concrete kind in current months, as analysts and leakers have shared extra constant details about each the shape issue and timeline for the seemingly legendary machine.
When Samsung took its first daring step into foldable smartphones in 2019, many assumed that Apple wouldn’t be far behind. Samsung’s authentic Galaxy Fold turned out to be little greater than a public prototype that wasn’t in any respect prepared for prime time. Nevertheless, it whet folks’s appetites for the expertise and obtained many dreaming of an iPhone in an analogous kind issue.
It didn’t take lengthy for Samsung to work out its design flaws. It launched a viable successor to the Galaxy Fold and, by 2021, it had expanded its lineup into two kind components: the Galaxy Z Fold retained the unique vertical design, whereas joined by the clamshell Galaxy Z Flip. There was one thing for everybody right here, and it’s truthful to say that Samsung had hit its stride by the discharge of its 2022 fashions. A 12 months later, Google and OnePlus entered the fray, and Motorola revived its iconic Razr lineup with a extra trendy take.
There’s by no means been a purpose to imagine that Apple had given up on the concept of a folding iPhone, but it surely’s additionally clear the corporate wasn’t fairly certain what course it wished to go in or the appropriate time to enter the market. Some executives believed folding telephones had been a fad that will finally die off.
They had been partly proper, as foldables haven’t taken the world by storm the way in which some thought they’d 5 years in the past, but it surely’s nonetheless a sufficiently big marketplace for Apple to noticeably think about.
By early 2024, reviews prompt that Apple was prototyping two clamshell fashions for what would have successfully turn out to be the “iPhone Flip.” Apple had reportedly even approached suppliers in Asia about offering the required parts for these. By mid-summer 2024, The Data reported that Apple had moved it past the idea stage right into a tangible product, codenamed V68. It appeared like Apple was transferring full pace forward into an iPhone Flip, however then issues instantly took a pointy left flip.
By early 2025, a number of dependable sources, together with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, analysts Ming-Chi Kuo and Jeff Pu, and show business analyst Ross Younger, had been all reporting that Apple’s first folding iPhone would concentrate on a book-style design just like the Galaxy Z Fold, OnePlus Open, and Pixel Fold.
Design
These rumors have additionally been remarkably constant. They level to a tool that will measure round 9 mm thick when folded however lower than 4.8 mm when open. That may make it thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and it’s seemingly Apple would lean on among the work it’s placing into the rumored iPhone 17 Air this 12 months, which is already anticipated to be the thinnest iPhone ever at round 5.5–6.25 mm, based mostly on the reviews we’ve heard up to now.
Whereas folding smartphones aren’t a brand new idea at this level, Apple hopes to distinguish the iPhone Fold by setting a brand new benchmark for sturdiness. Stories counsel the corporate has been rigorously testing hinge mechanisms over the previous seven years. Initially, Apple focused a hinge able to withstanding as much as 100,000 folds — greater than double the endurance of most laptop computer hinges. Nonetheless, Samsung has already raised the bar with hinges that may endure over 200,000 folds, so Apple has its work reduce out for it.
Stories from Kuo counsel the hinge design will combine each stainless-steel and a titanium alloy, whereas different sources have hinted on the inclusion of liquid steel — additionally known as amorphous steel or metallic glass — inside the hinge construction. This could not solely improve sturdiness but in addition present a smoother folding expertise.
Show
Apple has additionally been actively testing foldable OLED shows since at the least 2020, with the aim of eliminating the ugly crease that’s discovered on most foldable smartphones as we speak. If there’s one factor that’s held again Apple’s foldable plans, that is in all probability it, as it will be very in contrast to the aesthetically aware Apple to place out one thing so inelegant.
Most sources additionally agree that the folding iPhone will characteristic a 7.8-inch show when it’s open, with a 5.5-inch cowl display screen on the skin. That’s just about according to different foldables available on the market. For comparability, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 options 7.6-inch inside and 6.3-inch cowl screens. The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold makes use of an 8.0-inch and 6.3-inch mixture, and the OnePlus Open measures 7.82 inches open and 6.31 inches when closed. Nevertheless, there’s no phrase on the side ratio. Each folding smartphone available on the market is a bit completely different right here, so it’s onerous to foretell which method Apple will go. Some leakers have prompt 2713 x 1920 for the internal show and 2088 x 1422 for the duvet display screen, which might end in an odd 7:5 side ratio.
Cameras and Different Specs
Though we’ve heard lots in regards to the bodily features of the iPhone Fold, most of the internals stay a thriller. It would undoubtedly get the identical A-series chip that arrives in the remainder of the iPhone lineup throughout no matter 12 months it launches, so we’re in all probability taking a look at an A20 Professional or A21 Professional, assuming Apple sticks to its chip naming requirements.
The cameras are a a lot larger query mark. Kuo believes the primary iPhone Fold will characteristic a dual-lens digicam system that roughly matches that of a normal iPhone, slightly than the triple-lens system of the iPhone Professional. This wouldn’t be totally shocking, as that’s the technique utilized by most Android foldables. It additionally helps distinguish the iPhone Professional fashions, and would nearly definitely be needed if the iPhone Fold goes to be as skinny because the reviews declare.
The iPhone Fold might also skip Face ID, as that will be a bit awkward for a foldable machine, except Apple is prepared to incorporate two True Depth cameras for authentication when each open and closed. A single Contact ID button on the facet would serve each functions extra simply. This could additionally permit Apple to maneuver to an under-screen digicam on at the least one of many shows, however that’s on no account a certainty but.
When’s It Coming?
In terms of Apple’s plans for a foldable iPhone, we’ve had quite a lot of false begins through the years. It’s quaint now to assume that Ming-Chi Kuo as soon as predicted that Apple was on the right track to promote hundreds of thousands of foldable iPhones by the tip of 2023.
Nonetheless, there’s considerably extra smoke across the hearth this time. Along with all the most dependable leakers agreeing on each the what and a tough estimate of the when, it’s a protected guess that it’s nearer than ever. The consensus is late 2026 or early 2027. Whereas that might nonetheless be pushed again a bit additional, it’s clear that there’s one thing lastly coming down the pike.
We hold listening to reviews that Apple is inching nearer. Earlier as we speak, DigiTimes reported that the iPhone Fold reached the “Prototype 1” stage final month. That’s nonetheless very preliminary, but it surely does point out that Apple is actively transferring forward with the challenge.
“If all the things stays on observe, the machine may full prototype testing by the tip of 2025 and proceed to the Engineering Verification Take a look at (EVT) stage,” DigiTimes notes, “setting the stage for a potential launch within the second half of 2026.”
To place that in perspective, Apple’s mainstream iPhones sometimes attain the EVT stage round April or Could every year. That’s the purpose at which Apple and its provide chain companions verify they’ll really manufacture the machine. Issues can nonetheless go fallacious at this level, as we noticed with Apple’s choice to desert solid-state buttons two years in the past, which got here when it realized that these had been too complicated for its manufacturing processes.
In different phrases, we nonetheless wouldn’t counsel getting your hopes up. Whereas Apple’s normal iPhones normally breeze by way of the EVT phases, every year additionally brings comparatively minor design adjustments, so each is constructing on prior successes. An iPhone Fold can be one thing totally completely different, and will require a number of phases of Engineering Verification Exams earlier than it’s deemed prepared to maneuver on to the design and manufacturing validation phases.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]