iPhone Fold could be thinner than an iPad Pro when opened
The iPhone Fold is expected to be very thin, with a Chinese leaker claiming the flexible smartphone could have a frame that's just 4.8mm thick.
Render of a possible iPhone Fold - Source AppleInsider
The iPhone Fold is an engineering challenge for Apple, but one that it seems to be meeting. One of those challenges is making it thin, without being too thick while folded up, something a leaker believes Apple has solved.
In a Wednesday post to Weibo, serial leaker Instant Digital said that the frame for the folding iPhone is measured at 4.8mm. For comparison, the iPhone 16 is 7.8mm thick, while the M4 iPad Pro is 5.1mm thick.
While this would theoretically mean the iPhone Fold could be as slim as 9.6mm thick when folded up, Instant Digital warns against this. They say that the actual thickness of the "inner screen frame pad" but also be taken into account, but they don't say how much that would be.
In the right ballpark
While 4.8mm sounds like an extremely thin smartphone when unfolded, this is actually a measurement that has cropped up in the past. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued various specifications in March, including that the unfolded iPhone Fold would measure between 4.5mm and 4.8mm.
Kuo also added that the folded thickness for the device would be between 9mm and 9.5mm, which isn't much thicker than a current-gen iPhone.
Instant Digital doesn't have the best reputation, in part due to the generally poor accuracy of Weibo-based leaker accounts. Instant Digital did manage to be correct about the camera control button on the iPhone 16, but they have also claimed that an all-glass Apple Watch is on the way.
Aside from the thickness, there's also some agreement between leakers in terms of the overall screen size.
In June, Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station said the screen size was 7.58 inches, smaller than their April 2025 claim of 7.76 inches and their March 2025 claim of 7.74 inches.
Kuo, meanwhile, went for 7.8 inches in March 2025.
Resolution-wise, the rumors are more consistent, with expectations of the internal display reaching 2,713 pixels by 1,920 pixels.
On the back, there are expectations of a dual camera system, though Digital Chat Station said in June that Apple will use 48MP sensors.
Rumor Score: Possible
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Comments
They are expensive so many won't be able to justify the cost but some will be able and willing to.
It's for them.
4.8mm seems a little 'thick' for this rumoured device when you take into account that last year's Mate XT was already at 3.6mm unfolded.
There are ribbon cables that once had a comparatively limited flex life compared to today's cables. Technology marches on. Who's to say that Apple hasn't worked with someone to develop a screen that has hundreds of thousands of flexes without crease. Wait we've got an expert in that field right here who knows what Apple can and can't do.
A folding phone is a niche product. News flash: water is wet. Unless it's dehydrated Instant Water crystals. There are other manufacturers selling folding phones. They're niche products. Whodda thunk it. Apple make a niche product? Never. Well, there is the Apple Vision Pro. It's a thing. Pricy, heavy, still needs some work. But a very niche product. Apple is said to be working on other models. They will probably sell better than the AVP, but they'll still be a niche product. So Apple shipping a folding phone which could sell better than the AVP doesn't seem like a huge stretch.
It will be pricey. Some will own one to show off. Forum experts will spin that any say anyone who owns one is just showing off. But if someone can afford to buy one in the first place, maybe they might get on some new phone every year or two years plan. That's not me. Not for any phone at any price. I buy outright. But that's just one datapoint and use case. There are a lot of people who get a new phone every one or two years.
There are customers who will benefit from a phone with a screen smaller than an iPad mini and bigger than any non-folding phone to date. That would necessitate a folding phone. Some people lack the vision to see such a simple niche market.
Apple wouldn't have to make a folding screen that lasts forever without creasing. Just make it last one or two model years. Trade the phone in for a new one with a perfect screen. Done, till next time.
Only a fool takes a picture with an iPad? WTF, Einstein. You have an iPad, you see something you want to capture, you click. An iPad to be used primarily as a camera isn't the best choice for most people. But I don't doubt it is for some. Others, you shoot with what you got. Taking an iPad to venues to use as a camera does annoy me if it blocks my view.
Were you one of those who said all the people with AirPods will look like dorks? Because they had 'buds in their ears that didn't have a cord attached? Now no one gives it a second thought. Not that they should.
To that end we don't yet know how Apple will handle using the phone as a camera. They might have an 'external' screen visible with the phone closed. In that case a pic could be taken without ever opening the phone. Your fears of an iPad as camera world neatly averted. The same would go for checking date or time, texts and any other alerts, all without opening the phone. Or maybe not. Maybe they'll think anyone who can afford their folder will have a Watch for the light lifting. Who knows. Not anyone here.
The original iPhone was $499 and $599. Not cheap compared to some phones, and only that 'cheap' because ATT subsidized the cost to consumer. It was a niche product for a few years, though probably selling in greater numbers in its early years than a folding iPhone, if there is such a product.
All of this is speculation based on rumors. I won't be getting one but I'm excited to see Apple's take, you know, if they making a folder.
That said, unless Apple can totally get rid of the crease, I am not interested.