Apple's folding iPhone screen may not be plagued with a crease after use
A new supply chain report claims that Apple has at least significantly improved the crease problem that plagues folding displays, ahead of its expected iPhone Fold release.
Render of a possible iPhone Fold - Source AppleInsider
While most reports still estimate that Apple will not launch a folding iPhone before 2027, it has recently been claimed that it is close to selecting a supplier for the display. Now ETNews backs up that report of a supplier being chosen imminently, but also says claims that the iPhone fold will have no or little crease.
To date, all folding screens ultimately develop creases. While a new folding phone might not display any crease initially, after repeated opening and closing, a clear crease develops.
Ultimately a glass screen is a deformable material, and the crease develops from fatigue failure. That's basically the same materiel failure as when you bend an aluminum can over and over, and it tears on its own.
It isn't certain whether Apple has managed to entirely remove the crease, or wrinkles, but one source claims that it has. "In order to differentiate itself from the existing foldable phone, Apple decided to eliminate wrinkles regardless of price," says the source, in translation. "I understand that wrinkles have disappeared with [the material's] new properties."
Said to be based on information from suppliers, this new report also claims that some production will begin in the second half of 2025. The report believes that Apple will release the iPhone fold a year later in the second half of 2026, presumably alongside the iPhone 18 range.
Despite Apple having seemingly not yet decided on the screen supplier, the report says that Samsung Display is expected to get the order. It says that Samsung Display has been developing folding iPhone screens since some time in 2024.
It's also said that the folding iPhone will utilize a hinge mechanism by US firm Amphenol. The company has previously contributed components for the MacBook Air.
ETNews does not have a great reputation for the accuracy of its information, nor of the conclusions it draws from them. Nonetheless, it is certain that Apple has at least been researching folding screens, as it was granted one of many patents on the technology in 2024.
There have also been rumors of an iPhone fold since at least 2019, when Samsung brought out its first folding device. Most recently, a dubious leak claimed to know that the iPhone would fold out to display a 7.74-inch screen.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
I've only ever seen one seriously degraded folding screen in the last five years and it was a very battered flip phone of someone waiting at a bus stop.
I spend time in Barcelona every week. Less than I used to but, coinciding with the annual MWC, and the place is jammed solid with just about every kind of phone you can imagine. Folding phones are everywhere during that week.
The Honor V2 is rated for 400,000 folds without significant degradation of the fold. Now, the V3 is here and has been out for a while.
On crease visibility the new Oppo Find N5 has already made it virtually invisible.
"Now let’s talk about that crease. OPPO teased ahead of the launch that there was essentially no crease on the Find N5. It is very hard to find. While I’ve been using the phone, I’ve tried to look for the crease, and it’s almost impossible to see, unless the screen is off. Many have wondered how this will hold up after a year, but I don’t think it’ll change much, since the OnePlus Open I’ve used for 16 months looks virtually the same as day one."
https://www.androidheadlines.com/oppo-find-n5-ultimate-review
Folding screen technology is projected to make significant advances in the near future.
We now have a tri-fold option (Huawei Mate XT with two creases on the screen) and the last time I checked, it included a free screen replacement in the first year if anything went awry. That is the very top end with a retail price to match.
At the other end, where efforts are being made to bring prices down (the Pocket 3 from Huawei next month is expected to have an 'affordable' price), we could see less of an improvement as cost cutting would probably mean older screen technology.
Sounds vague and unsubstantiated to me.
While I'd enjoy having a larger iPhone screen some of the time, I love the portability of my current iPhone. Not sure I can have both (or at a price point that is affordable), but Apple has surprised me before (in both good and bad ways). I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with. :-)
I like this rumor of Apple using a glass surface, and one that won't have a crease as well. Apple probably has a desire to have the phone fold flat, like two halves flush on top of each other, which is what all the OEMs are doing. Me? I'm find with have a nice 6, 7, 8 mm radius on the display at the hinge. When folded, it could be 14, 16, 18 mm thick. It would just have a big pie slice shaped gap when folded. Unfolded? A slab that is 5 to 6 mm thick would be nice.
But camera bumps, grr...
There is demand as Android OEMs are on their 3rd, 4th, and 5th generations. They are niche part of the market, but it's a high priced part of the market. People are paying $1500+ for these devices. I don't think Apple wants to have no models in this market. They will want a model for this market, and have just been waiting for the technologyto enable them to make the folding device they want.
Apple's model will likely cost $2000 to $3000 though. It will have 2 displays: a typical 6" OLED for the front, and an 8" flexible OLED for the interior. Probably closer to $3000 than $2000. Take the price of the iPhone Pro 6.3", add the cost of the 8" flexible OLED, a hinge, 512 GB storage (?) and new assembly processes, other new components, and such. Sounds over $2000 pricey.
Now personally, I think the iPhone 16 Pro Max is way too big, lol. I wouldn’t want to carry around the 16 Pro Max nor the Oppo Find N5. But for those who disagree with me (and there are many that disagree with me), there is a foldable phone that is as portable as the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Another hardware fail is the Microsoft Surface touchscreen computer, which has been on the market for over 10 years, but that doesn’t stop a constant cry, from the peanut Gallery that Apple should introduce their version of a failed hardware product, it’s like the rest of the market (geeks) need validation for their boondoggle product…..
All that being said, I have no doubt that some time down the road decades in the future there will be material/screens that can bend and fold anyway you want, but now isn’t even close to that time and until that time, what is the point to introducing a failed product with defects the Me-too companies Samsung, Google, and Microsoft feel the need in desperation however.