iPhone Fold mass production now expected to start in summer 2026

AppleInsider

In the latest chapter of the ongoing saga, the iPhone Fold is now rumored to be entering mass production in 2026, with pre-production steps starting in late 2025.

A render of what the iPhone Fold could look like - Image Credit: AppleInsider

The process to design and manufacture an iPhone is phenomenally long, and it appears to be the same for the iPhone Fold. According to one analyst, it could take close to a year for the manufacturing process to be finalized.

In a Wednesday X post by Ming-Chi Kuo of TF Securities, Foxconn will be kicking off a project to produce Apple's first foldable smartphone in late Q3 or early Q4 of 2025. This puts the start of the project at around the time the iPhone 17 will hit store shelves.

However, the actual design of the iPhone Fold that will be produced is still uncertain. Kuo says that many specifications of components, including the all-important hinge mechanism, have "yet to be finalized."

The folding display has been finalized, though, with Kuo saying Samsung Display is preparing to manufacture between 7 and 8 million foldable panels for the iPhone Fold.

Still on the way

While Kuo has in the past been known for the accuracy of his claims, the iPhone Fold has been an elusive item that he has repeatedly been declared to be in development and heading to manufacturing. Many reports over the years have declared a folding iPhone and other similar hardware were in development, and that a release was just a few short years away.

Back in May 2021, Kuo told investors that he expected manufacturing to start by 2023. Months later in September of the same year, it was revised to 2024.

Modern-day rumors and leaks now have the general opinion that an actual release of the iPhone Fold could happen in 2027. Though there's no guarantee that the schedule won't slip yet again.

The current expectations for the iPhone Fold include a pair of displays, with the internal 7.8-inch folding screen accompanied by a 5.5-inch external screen. An under-display camera system and hole-punch cameras have been speculated, along with the return of Touch ID instead of Face ID.

The price for the iPhone Fold could end up at around $2,300 when it eventually ships.

Rumor Score: Possible

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xed

I bet Trump Mobile will fold before the iPhone Fold comes out.

grizzmick

I’ll believe this when I see it, I can’t see apple producing such a niche product which nobody has been able to make profitable unless they have found a way to make a foldable screen that doesn’t look crap. 

saarek

$2200, for a phone? Insanity.

paisleydisco

saarek said:

$2200, for a phone? Insanity.

suddenly the Vision Pro doesn't sound so crazy! LOL

macgui

The speculated price of $2,300 is a lot of money for a phone, even an iPhone. But there will be buyers whether they're showing off or have the dough for a niche product that works for them. Adopters lead the way.

The first iPhone was $499 for 4G, which would be about $775 now. That would be a lot of money for a what one gets for that money now. iPhones continued to get more expensive as well as feature rich, including performance specs. The Apple Vision Pro starts out as a pricey flagship and may be dropping to a "cheaper, good enough" bar.

If Apple can produce a folder that isn't too bulky when folded, looks to stay like new for a very long time and has good specs, it will probably sell in better numbers than the AVP. That should lead the way to cheaper good enough versions.

If a folder debuts there will be plenty of people to hate on it and hate people who buy it. I see potential in a folder, just not for me. Even folded it will be bigger than I want in a phone. But I'm already happy for those who can appreciate its utility.

geeaye

Please, for the love of dog, summer is not a time of year. It is not even a season in a huge chunk of the populated world.

yours truly, an Australian

xed

GeeAye said:

Please, for the love of dog, summer is not a time of year. It is not even a season in a huge chunk of the populated world.

yours truly, an Australian

Sure it is. It's just not the same everywhere.

I can prove it. Is 5pm a time of day? Of course it is, but it's not 5pm at the same time everywhere. It's not even the same time everywhere in Australia.

PS: I have found plenty of sources that show that Australia absolutely does refer to Spring, Summer, Fall/Autumn, and Winter as seasons of the year.

edited June 18

nubus

Grizzmick said:

I can’t see apple producing such a niche product which nobody has been able to make profitable unless they have found a way to make a foldable screen that doesn’t look crap. 

The iPhone range is in need of a flagship and something screaming "we innovate". You can't increase the display size by much and the Pro is already loaded with buttons. It has to be something spectacular. Make it flip, fold, roll... anything not being a candy bar.

Apple could also decide to go retro and offer "iPhone icon". A statement phone. We have seen this work very well with cars in Europe. 

These would be halo products and benefit the entire range. People might still buy the candy bar, but they would talk about that other phone.

bestkeptsecret

Waiting for Godot iFold.

geekmee

Well at least they came down from $3,500 for Vision Pro to $2,300 for the iFold (…Jeesh).

kiwimachead

Foldable screen phones are rubbish. Everyone I know who bought one regretted it and moved back to a standard screen soon after. Just buy an iPhone max or iPad mini. Hope Apple aren’t actually wasting capital on this. 

massiveattack

Grizzmick said:

I’ll believe this when I see it, I can’t see apple producing such a niche product which nobody has been able to make profitable unless they have found a way to make a foldable screen that doesn’t look crap. 

I work in this field. Samsung Display already got the contract signed for 3 years. 
And it will be surprisingly thin.. iPhone 17 Air is just a "transition" which indirectly highlights that foldable iPhone will be as thick as a regular iPhone available when it is folded. 

pema

I vaguely remember the same kind of staggered predictions with the Apple Car — “It’s coming, it’s coming, next month, it’s coming...” And then bam — the axe falls. Apple pulls the plug. All because they couldn’t see the value in creating a common battery interface for all EVs.

Now they’re wasting time and resources on a product that’ll be overpriced, offer little real value, and — if they bother to look at other foldables (read: Samsung) — they’ll come to the inevitable conclusion: foldables are a dud.

But hey, let's keep on milking to death what we know. 

charlesn

From a long article this morning on CNBC about foldable phones, specifically thinner models from the Chinese, and a thinner foldable in the pipeline from Samsung. The last sentence pretty much says it all... and that's before you consider Apple's alleged $2300 price tag: 

Despite these advances by way of foldables, the market for the devices has not been as exciting as many had hoped.

CCS Insight said that foldables will account for just 2% of the overall smartphone market this year. Thinner phones may be one way to address the sluggish market, but consumer preferences would also need to change.

“However, I would caution foldables do remain problematic because in many cases consumers struggle to see why they need a folding device.”

edited June 19

macgui

“However, I would caution foldables do remain problematic because in many cases consumers struggle to see why [anyone needs] a folding device.”

I haven't paid much attention to foldables as the smallest is much larger than I want in a phone, and my usage of a phone is primarily — a  phone. So I'm not the target market for one. But I think a lot of people would be once a viable device is available. It would still be very much a niche but could be profitable enough for Apple to continue with foldables as an option.

Apple has to actually announce and deliver before I'll make any judgement on viability, and then it will mostly be about me. Because I'm the only one who can really know what's best for me. That's true for more people than some would care to admit.

There were already many phones on the market before 2007. Many "experts", self-proclaimed and otherwise said Apple had no business entering an established market where they had no expertise. Yet Apple has been able to keep their head above water, if only barely. /s Foldables don't seem likely to gain the same popularity as the iPhone, but it did take time for the iPhone to become popular. It did and still does have its detractors.

I'm not the target market, but will be at least interested Apple should announce and deliver a foldable. 

geeaye

Xed said:

GeeAye said:

Please, for the love of dog, summer is not a time of year. It is not even a season in a huge chunk of the populated world.

yours truly, an Australian

Sure it is. It's just not the same everywhere.

I can prove it. Is 5pm a time of day? Of course it is, but it's not 5pm at the same time everywhere. It's not even the same time everywhere in Australia.

PS: I have found plenty of sources that show that Australia absolutely does refer to Spring, Summer, Fall/Autumn, and Winter as seasons of the year.

I think you need to think this through. Summer, in the non tropical parts of Australia/ southern hemisphere is December to February. Your sources would also have noted that in non-temperate climates, the designation of summer is not appropriate or even recognised by the cultures residing there. A huge proportion of the worlds population lives through seasons with other names, often centred around a wet monsoon and dry season.

According to you, if this product is released in January the headline writers can claim it was correct. 

xed

GeeAye said:

Xed said:

GeeAye said:

Please, for the love of dog, summer is not a time of year. It is not even a season in a huge chunk of the populated world.

yours truly, an Australian

Sure it is. It's just not the same everywhere.

I can prove it. Is 5pm a time of day? Of course it is, but it's not 5pm at the same time everywhere. It's not even the same time everywhere in Australia.

PS: I have found plenty of sources that show that Australia absolutely does refer to Spring, Summer, Fall/Autumn, and Winter as seasons of the year.

I think you need to think this through. Summer, in the non tropical parts of Australia/ southern hemisphere is December to February. Your sources would also have noted that in non-temperate climates, the designation of summer is not appropriate or even recognised by the cultures residing there. A huge proportion of the worlds population lives through seasons with other names, often centred around a wet monsoon and dry season.

According to you, if this product is released in January the headline writers can claim it was correct. 

If Apple Insider wants to write about a January release of an Apple product in North America and reference it as a winter release taht would be fine. If an Australian rag wants to makes a mention a summer release if Apple releases something in Australia in January then that would also be fine.

Are you really going to the LA Times and complaining about any mention of the summer solstice for 2025 being tomorrow (which is my tomorrow BTW, not yours), June 20th 2025, and then you complain that it's really winter solstice tomorrow (your tomorrow) June 21st 2025? Of course you're not, because that would be fuckin stupid.

geeaye

Xed said:

GeeAye said:

Xed said:

GeeAye said:

Please, for the love of dog, summer is not a time of year. It is not even a season in a huge chunk of the populated world.

yours truly, an Australian

Sure it is. It's just not the same everywhere.

I can prove it. Is 5pm a time of day? Of course it is, but it's not 5pm at the same time everywhere. It's not even the same time everywhere in Australia.

PS: I have found plenty of sources that show that Australia absolutely does refer to Spring, Summer, Fall/Autumn, and Winter as seasons of the year.

I think you need to think this through. Summer, in the non tropical parts of Australia/ southern hemisphere is December to February. Your sources would also have noted that in non-temperate climates, the designation of summer is not appropriate or even recognised by the cultures residing there. A huge proportion of the worlds population lives through seasons with other names, often centred around a wet monsoon and dry season.

According to you, if this product is released in January the headline writers can claim it was correct. 

If Apple Insider wants to write about a January release of an Apple product in North America and reference it as a winter release taht would be fine. If an Australian rag wants to makes a mention a summer release if Apple releases something in Australia in January then that would also be fine.

Are you really going to the LA Times and complaining about any mention of the summer solstice for 2025 being tomorrow (which is my tomorrow BTW, not yours), June 20th 2025, and then you complain that it's really winter solstice tomorrow (your tomorrow) June 21st 2025? Of course you're not, because that would be fuckin stupid.

This is not the LA times, it is an online magazine without a geographic base about Apple, and writes about not US matters and matters that are country neutral. Summer is a misnomer for an internationally focused magazine.

xed

GeeAye said:

Xed said:

GeeAye said:

Xed said:

GeeAye said:

Please, for the love of dog, summer is not a time of year. It is not even a season in a huge chunk of the populated world.

yours truly, an Australian

Sure it is. It's just not the same everywhere.

I can prove it. Is 5pm a time of day? Of course it is, but it's not 5pm at the same time everywhere. It's not even the same time everywhere in Australia.

PS: I have found plenty of sources that show that Australia absolutely does refer to Spring, Summer, Fall/Autumn, and Winter as seasons of the year.

I think you need to think this through. Summer, in the non tropical parts of Australia/ southern hemisphere is December to February. Your sources would also have noted that in non-temperate climates, the designation of summer is not appropriate or even recognised by the cultures residing there. A huge proportion of the worlds population lives through seasons with other names, often centred around a wet monsoon and dry season.

According to you, if this product is released in January the headline writers can claim it was correct. 

If Apple Insider wants to write about a January release of an Apple product in North America and reference it as a winter release taht would be fine. If an Australian rag wants to makes a mention a summer release if Apple releases something in Australia in January then that would also be fine.

Are you really going to the LA Times and complaining about any mention of the summer solstice for 2025 being tomorrow (which is my tomorrow BTW, not yours), June 20th 2025, and then you complain that it's really winter solstice tomorrow (your tomorrow) June 21st 2025? Of course you're not, because that would be fuckin stupid.

This is not the LA times, it is an online magazine without a geographic base about Apple, and writes about not US matters and matters that are country neutral. Summer is a misnomer for an internationally focused magazine.

"This in not the LA Times does not equate to it not being a US-baed company. Everything I can find about this company shows that it's out of the US and I only see one person who isn't even from the US, but since they show as being from the UK the tilt of the Earth relative to seasons still applies.

https://appleinsider.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/company/appleinsider
https://who.is/whois/appleinsider.com

Personally, I think it's beyond silly to get butt hurt that Bing Crosby sings about a white Christmas for an event taking place on December 25th without any consideration for it being summer for Australia (or really anyone that is between the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn where it will rarely snow unless at a higher altitude), but you do you. If you want to keep tilting at windmills because AI doesn't list Sydney time for the time of day that the WWDC keynote didn't start this year or note that some locales barely get two seasons in erms of how weather patterns change then you go right ahead.

edited 2:11PM