Apple's iPhone Fold could now launch in 2026
A new industry report claims that Apple's iPhone Fold is now set to arrive sooner than expected, with the iPhone 18 range.
A render of an iPhone Fold
Reports of Apple producing a foldable iPhone have persisted for years, and for at least as long as its rivals have had ones. Most recently, there have been reports of two different designs of a folding iPhone being considered, and that a launch won't be until 2027.
According to Digitimes, however, Apple may have chosen its design, and that overall timescale may be accelerating. Based on various Korean media outlets, the report claims that Apple formally began research in 2004, which is when it also signed a contract with Samsung.
Presuming Apple has a typical two-year product development cycle, the report predicts that the iPhone fold will launch in 2026.
Note, though, that while Digitimes has a strong track record for information from the supply chain, it did not get this detail from its own sources. Furthermore, the publication has a substantially poorer record in the conclusions it makes from its information.
However, a second report from The Information corroborates the detail in the Digitimes account. It adds that Apple has given the folding iPhone a codename of "v68," but otherwise supports the two-year timeframe, and the iPhone's basic design.
That design is said to be a top-down one, like the Samsung Galaxy Flip. So when held in portrait, the top half will fold down over the bottom half.
Rather than being like a book that opens out into a wider screen, then, it will be a regular-size iPhone that folds in half. The report also specifies that the dimensions will be approximately the same as for current iPhones.
There's no indication of whether the exterior of the iPhone fold will also have a screen, as has been previously predicted. It's also been previously reported that Apple will try out its folding design with an iPad mini, but the new report claims that Apple now wants to produce the iPhone fold first.
The Information also speculates that the rumored slimmer iPhone design may be a factor in Apple's plans. That's based on the idea that a regular iPhone folded over in the middle would present a chassis twice the width, so being able to make a slimmer one would be a benefit.
This rumor is getting a possible score if only because it has remained possible for Apple to introduce an iPhone Fold at any point in the past five years. A foldable iPhone is clearly in development at the company, but whether it will be released in 2026 if ever, is anyone's guess, but it is possible.
Rumor Score: Possible
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Comments
It did eventually kill the hinge on my friend’s star-tec after a couple months though.
Main use case (and most obvious) is having double the screen space on demand while retaining a compact form factor when not using that extra space.
If you're editing photos, reading, writing emails or whatever on your regular phone, and I said you could do it on the same device but with double the screen space, would you turn that option down?
You can use the main cameras for selfies. For portrait shots, the the subjects can see themselves for posing, hair tweaks etc.
True multiscreen multitasking.
There’s no way I go back to a flip phone. I had one of those trendy at the time Motorola units. Talk about inconvenient.
Did you ever have a flip phone? A pain to use.
This is not going to happen.
I have some coworkers who have the Galaxy Fold, and one who has the Google Pixel Fold. The people with the Galaxy Fold talk about a variety of longevity issues, including screen cracking at the fold, or the sound not working when the phone is flipped open. And when I watch them use the device, much of the time they don't open it up and just use the outside screen.
It is interesting that the smartphone market has matured to the point where it is no longer necessary to replace the device annually because the new smartphone has such incredible leaps in technology and features. So now they need to come up with new and quirky form factors to diversify the device selection and cater to a few more niche buyers? I don't know what the stats are for folding smartphone sales, but based on the numbers of them I see in the wild, I imagine the numbers are quite low compared to traditional smartphones.
So if Apple finally succumbs to having a "me too" folding iPhone, it will likely be too expensive, will not sell in sufficient quantities, and will be cancelled after a year.