According to a new report, Apple is currently developing two foldable iPhone prototypes. Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold5 or OnePlus Open, these devices are flip-style devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 and Oppo Find N3 Flip.
However, Apple isn’t set on releasing foldable itself – the company appears to be simply experimenting with the form factor. We might see one of these phones in the fall of 2026 if the project succeeds. These phones aren’t part of Apple’s mass production plans for this year or in 2025. At least one Asian manufacturer has been approached by Apple to supply parts for the foldable iPhone, but the project can still be canceled if it doesn’t meet Apple’s high standards.
As of now, battery and display tech cannot yet keep up with Apple’s plans for a foldable phone starting in 2018. As it turns out, the company wanted the phone to have the display on the outside of it when it’s folded – like Huawei’s Mate X flip-style phone – which makes no sense to us and also understandably led to problems with the design, since such a phone is easily broken.
After Apple paused development of the foldable iPhone in 2020, it turned its attention to the foldable iPad, which isn’t expected to hit the market until 2026. Currently, they seem to be working on both simultaneously.
Apple engineers are currently working on a hinge that allows the screen to lie flat in use so that the Apple Pencil wouldn’t be negatively affected by the display crease. In addition to LG and Samsung Display, it is unclear which companies will make the screens for the foldable iPhone.
