New iPhone Fold leak details screen resolutions & under-display camera

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AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in Future Apple Hardware

The iPhone Fold is rumored to get two high-resolution screens, with Apple also reportedly installing an under-screen camera for the bigger display.

Foldable smartphone with colorful screen showing time 19:32, date Wednesday, 7 June. Background features gradient from orange to blue. Device is partially open in a V shape.
A render of what the iPhone Fold could look like - Image Credit: AppleInsider



The iPhone Fold has been long in development, with Apple keen to make the display as perfect as possible for the release. If a leaker is to be believed, the end result could be an iPhone with a very large screen.

According to Weibo leaker "Digital Chat Station," the iPhone Fold will have two displays. The main one is the internal screen, which is claimed to measure 7.76 inches diagonally.

This seems to match a March forecast from Ming-Chi Kuo, which outlined the folded inner screen as being 7.8 inches.

The new leak adds that the inner display will have a resolution of 2,713 by 1,920. This would give the display a pixel density of 428 pixels per inch.

In comparison to the current iPhone 16 generation, the inner folding screen isn't that big, as the iPhone 16 Pro Max is 6.9 inches. The existing biggest current-gen iPhone also has a relatively comparable display resolution at 2,868 by 1,320, and a higher pixel density of 460 pixels per inch.

The size and resolution of the internal display of the iPhone Fold don't seem as impressive in direct comparison. However, it's best to remember that the iPhone Fold may have a much smaller footprint when folded up.

Digital Chat Station says the external-facing display will measure 5.49 inches and have a resolution of 2,088 by 1,422. This is a pixel density of 460ppi, matching that of Apple's typical iPhone displays.

When it comes to the physical size of the display, 5.49 inches is a lot smaller than the 6.1-inch smallest iPhone 16. To get smaller in a flagship device, you have to go back to the 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini.

Camera concealment



While displays are one thing, Digital Chat Station also mentions another display element. There are apparent details about the styles of camera being used.

The external display will continue to have a hole in the screen, presumably similar to the Dynamic Island feature of current-gen iPhones.

For the internal display, the leaker claims Apple will use under-screen camera technology. This buries the imaging component under the display, hiding it from view but still keeping it usable.

The concept is an attractive idea, as it removes any aberration from the large folded-out display. It is n idea that Digital Chat Station has previously referred to in March in relation to a folding iPad, but it's also an evergreen rumor that crops up from time to time.

Digital Chat Station posts mainly to Weibo, and as a fairly good track record when it comes to accuracy about Apple products. This, and the maturity of the technology, makes it seem quite plausible for a product that's still probably a year away from introduction.

Rumor Score: Possible

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    AppleZuluapplezulu Posts: 2,399member
    So now it’s a folding screen that’s not even that much bigger than an existing iPhone? This rumor is really doubling down on the unlikely scenario that Apple would release an iPhone that’s more fragile, will have an inferior camera due to reduced thickness, adds bloat to iOS, and costs a lot more just to deliver the brief novelty of “hey, look, it folds!” Add to that a significant chance of a hefty tariff by the time of the alleged release, and you can really figure this will never see the light of day. 
    pulseimagesbluefire1radarthekat
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  • Reply 2 of 13
    Xedxed Posts: 3,124member
    AppleZulu said:
    So now it’s a folding screen that’s not even that much bigger than an existing iPhone? This rumor is really doubling down on the unlikely scenario that Apple would release an iPhone that’s more fragile, will have an inferior camera due to reduced thickness, adds bloat to iOS, and costs a lot more just to deliver the brief novelty of “hey, look, it folds!” Add to that a significant chance of a hefty tariff by the time of the alleged release, and you can really figure this will never see the light of day. 

    I'm still waiting to see a viable use case. I feel like this is the Netbook all over again, except at least with those they were cheap so everyone was producing them in droves... except Apple.
    edited April 14
    radarthekatmac_doghypoluxa
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  • Reply 3 of 13
    brianusbrianus Posts: 189member
    Still waiting for any of these articles, any of them at all, to point out that the math does not add up. You can't fold a 7.8" display and get a 5.5" one on the other side. Doesn't work, unless the smaller display is surrounded by embarrassingly massive bezels. A 7.8" Display folded once would get you around a 6.1" display, same as the current "smaller" iPhones.
    thtwilliamlondon
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  • Reply 4 of 13
    Xedxed Posts: 3,124member
    brianus said:
    Still waiting for any of these articles, any of them at all, to point out that the math does not add up. You can't fold a 7.8" display and get a 5.5" one on the other side. Doesn't work, unless the smaller display is surrounded by embarrassingly massive bezels. A 7.8" Display folded once would get you around a 6.1" display, same as the current "smaller" iPhones.
    Are you accounting for the curve of the display in your calculations? That would make the folded display have a smaller footprint, but I don't know by how much.
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  • Reply 5 of 13
    sloth77sloth77 Posts: 55member
    "For the internal display, the leaker claims Apple will use under-screen camera technology. This buries the imaging component under the display, hiding it from view but still keeping it usable."

    What about FaceID though?  I'm guessing that can't be underscreen, which would imply the folding phone won't use FaceID?
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  • Reply 6 of 13
    thttht Posts: 5,905member
    sloth77 said:
    "For the internal display, the leaker claims Apple will use under-screen camera technology. This buries the imaging component under the display, hiding it from view but still keeping it usable."

    What about FaceID though?  I'm guessing that can't be underscreen, which would imply the folding phone won't use FaceID?
    Yeah. I am thinking it will have an iPad like Touch ID button. 

    It’s a folding device with an outer display. So, if it has Face ID, it needs to work for both the outer display and the inner display, right? Doubtful that Apple would put in 2 Face ID sensor clusters, or only have Face ID work on one display. 

    The Face ID sensor cluster could stick out the top edge? That seems inelegant and not-Apple. 

    Rumors were that the IR camera could be under the display for a future iPhone. A FaceTime camera could be under display too as front camera performance on this device isn’t that important. But Face ID dot projector and IR light?
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  • Reply 7 of 13
    thttht Posts: 5,905member
    You can compute the dimensions of these displays with the rumored info.

    Inner display: 6.34 x 4.49 inches, aspect ratio of 1.41:1
    Outer display: 4.54 x 3.09 inches, aspect ratio of 1.47:1

    So, aspect ratio is actually quite similar to modern iPads, except for the 13" models. Rumor was that the internal display would be 4:3, or 1.33:1, but these resolutions say different, and basically are 11" iPad aspect ratios.

    The dimensions of the inner and outer displays, to me, means that in will unfold in a landscape orientation. When folded, it will be rather wide for a phone at around 3.2 to 3.3 inches, maybe more. The iP16PM is 3.06 inches wide. It will also be a short device when closed: about 4.7 to 4.8 inches. The iP16P is 6.42 inches. The iP13m is 5.18 inches. When used as phone next to your ear, it's going to harken back to the PDA phone days.

    The iPad mini is 5.3 inches wide. If this iPhone Fold has some thin bezels, 4.7 inches wide, the thumb typing experience when unfolded might be passable.

    Camera bumps? Well, hopefully, it's more like the iPad Pro than the upcoming iPhone 17 models. Not sure what can be done. It hasn't to have some nice cameras, right? That means some big bumps.
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  • Reply 8 of 13
    croffordcrofford Posts: 101member
    AppleZulu said:
    So now it’s a folding screen that’s not even that much bigger than an existing iPhone? This rumor is really doubling down on the unlikely scenario that Apple would release an iPhone that’s more fragile, will have an inferior camera due to reduced thickness, adds bloat to iOS, and costs a lot more just to deliver the brief novelty of “hey, look, it folds!” Add to that a significant chance of a hefty tariff by the time of the alleged release, and you can really figure this will never see the light of day. 
    Actually, the diagonal measurement is very misleading. if you put two iPhones side-by-side, the display is twice as big  But if you measure diagonally of one iPhone, and then measure diagonally from the bottom right of one phone to the top left of the other phone, there’s not a huge increase  
    williamlondonJavert24601
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  • Reply 9 of 13
    Grizzmickgrizzmick Posts: 10member
    I’m sure Apple is prototyping a foldable phone as well as other devices that might never become an actual product. But as others have pointed out where’s the demand for this sort of thing.  Samsung and other android manufacturers have produced several models but who’s buying them? I’ve only seen one, a Galaxy Flip which was pretty useless as the two screens were too small to be used easily and it was over $2000 ! Can’t see Apple actually bringing a folding anything in the future unless the technology improves a lot. 


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  • Reply 10 of 13
    M68000m68000 Posts: 936member
    Xed said:
    AppleZulu said:
    So now it’s a folding screen that’s not even that much bigger than an existing iPhone? This rumor is really doubling down on the unlikely scenario that Apple would release an iPhone that’s more fragile, will have an inferior camera due to reduced thickness, adds bloat to iOS, and costs a lot more just to deliver the brief novelty of “hey, look, it folds!” Add to that a significant chance of a hefty tariff by the time of the alleged release, and you can really figure this will never see the light of day. 

    I'm still waiting to see a viable use case. I feel like this is the Netbook all over again, except at least with those they were cheap so everyone was producing them in droves... except Apple.
    I did search on google asking what advantages a folding phone has.  Bottom line, it sounds like a load of nonsense and maybe questionable unwanted things.   I mean, really, are most people going to put up with having to fold and unfold phones?  It reminds me of pouch style phone cases.  They have advantages, but yet most people won’t use them because of the extra work involved with putting it on and off.   
    Grizzmick
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  • Reply 11 of 13
    SiTimesitime Posts: 53member
    Xed said:
    AppleZulu said:
    So now it’s a folding screen that’s not even that much bigger than an existing iPhone? This rumor is really doubling down on the unlikely scenario that Apple would release an iPhone that’s more fragile, will have an inferior camera due to reduced thickness, adds bloat to iOS, and costs a lot more just to deliver the brief novelty of “hey, look, it folds!” Add to that a significant chance of a hefty tariff by the time of the alleged release, and you can really figure this will never see the light of day. 

    I'm still waiting to see a viable use case. I feel like this is the Netbook all over again, except at least with those they were cheap so everyone was producing them in droves... except Apple.
    Apple did produce a netbook. I owned one. Many people owned one. It was called the “MacBook Air 11-Inch”

    I don’t think Apple itself ever referred to it as a “netbook”. If I recall correctly, Steve Jobs seemed to go out of his way to avoid calling it a netbook. But that’s what it was. And it was an amazing netbook. It’s the best device ever produced of that netbook category (at least that’s how I feel about it). I loved that little thing. So much productivity in such a small form factor. I still sing its praises even to this day (as I’m doing now). I would love it if Apple were to release a MacBook that tiny again in this Apple Silicon-era. 
    edited April 15
    dewmewilliamlondon
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  • Reply 12 of 13
    Javert24601javert24601 Posts: 9member
    crofford said:
    AppleZulu said:
    So now it’s a folding screen that’s not even that much bigger than an existing iPhone? This rumor is really doubling down on the unlikely scenario that Apple would release an iPhone that’s more fragile, will have an inferior camera due to reduced thickness, adds bloat to iOS, and costs a lot more just to deliver the brief novelty of “hey, look, it folds!” Add to that a significant chance of a hefty tariff by the time of the alleged release, and you can really figure this will never see the light of day. 
    Actually, the diagonal measurement is very misleading. if you put two iPhones side-by-side, the display is twice as big  But if you measure diagonally of one iPhone, and then measure diagonally from the bottom right of one phone to the top left of the other phone, there’s not a huge increase  
    I was questioning the dimensions until you made this valid, important observation.  Thanks!
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 13 of 13
    Xedxed Posts: 3,124member
    SiTime said:
    Xed said:
    AppleZulu said:
    So now it’s a folding screen that’s not even that much bigger than an existing iPhone? This rumor is really doubling down on the unlikely scenario that Apple would release an iPhone that’s more fragile, will have an inferior camera due to reduced thickness, adds bloat to iOS, and costs a lot more just to deliver the brief novelty of “hey, look, it folds!” Add to that a significant chance of a hefty tariff by the time of the alleged release, and you can really figure this will never see the light of day. 

    I'm still waiting to see a viable use case. I feel like this is the Netbook all over again, except at least with those they were cheap so everyone was producing them in droves... except Apple.
    Apple did produce a netbook. I owned one. Many people owned one. It was called the “MacBook Air 11-Inch”

    I don’t think Apple itself ever referred to it as a “netbook”. If I recall correctly, Steve Jobs seemed to go out of his way to avoid calling it a netbook. But that’s what it was. And it was an amazing netbook. It’s the best device ever produced of that netbook category (at least that’s how I feel about it). I loved that little thing. So much productivity in such a small form factor. I still sing its praises even to this day (as I’m doing now). I would love it if Apple were to release a MacBook that tiny again in this Apple Silicon-era. 
    A 11" display does not a netbook make. It was a small notebook, just like the original 12" MacBook, but they were proper notebooks in a diminutive size.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
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