When veteran Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo talks, markets pay attention. That is as a result of Kuo, primarily based in Hong Kong, sits in the course of Apple’s Asia-Pacific provide chain; he is aware of all of the distributors, sees the Apple gears in movement when any new iPhone is within the works, and is normally on the cash.

In a brand new interview, Kuo says that the iPhone Fold — Apple’s first smartphone with a folding display screen — is actual, and it is coming subsequent yr. However he additionally warns that the corporate is having a tough time constructing them quick sufficient to fulfill the doubtless huge demand. (Seemingly huge as a result of … c’mon. Foldable. iPhone.)

“Growth of the foldable iPhone is behind earlier expectations, however the product continues to be anticipated to announce” within the second half of 2026, Kuo writes in his summary of the interview. “Attributable to early-stage yield and ramp-up challenges, clean shipments might not happen till 2027. With restricted provide and anticipated robust demand, the foldable iPhone may very well be dealing with shortages till not less than the top of 2026.”

Translation: The iPhone-making machine in Kuo’s a part of the world, the one which the Cupertino firm nonetheless depends on, is not ramping up quick sufficient and would not have sufficient supplies. So, lots of clients are going to search out they cannot get the highest merchandise on their Christmas lists in 2026.

And meaning we’re one other iPhone 14 Professional/Max state of affairs. That was the place — as Kuo predicted at the time — many shoppers discovered them out of inventory on the Apple retailer till 2023, regardless of an October 2022 launch.

That is not the one purpose you is perhaps upset by the iPhone Fold. The opposite purpose: Its price tag.

One other analyst within the area pegged the doubtless value at $2,399, which is on the excessive finish of different analyst estimates. You may get not less than two MacBook Air laptops for that value (and possibly even three with the M4 chip at current prices.)

That could be an excessive amount of for a lot of shoppers, particularly if the economic system takes a post-AI bubble downturn. Which might imply diminished demand, which in flip would imply that when you actually need to shell out all that scratch for an iPhone Fold, you may simply have an opportunity of getting one in time to take candid photographs with its cameras (two on the entrance, two on the again, in response to the rumor mill) on New 12 months’s Eve 2026.