For years, rumors have swirled that Apple has been toiling away on a foldable iPhone, nicknamed the iPhone Fold. During the last 12 months, quite a few leaks have instructed that it might really be launched in 2026. The most recent rumor, from a leaker on Weibo, means that Apple’s first foldable may have a 5,500-mAh battery, which might make it the most important on any iPhone, surpassing the 5,088-mAh capability on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. 

However many of the curiosity has been round how Apple’s thriller foldable will look. Just lately, an Apple fan made a 3D-printed mock-up for an Apple book-style foldable’s doable design, trying extra like a Microsoft Surface Duo merged with an iPhone 17 Pro than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or Pixel 10 Pro Fold. In different phrases, a imaginative and prescient of two separate iPhone screens linked collectively relatively than a steady, folding show.

That is an attention-grabbing proposition contemplating rumors have spoken of Apple’s efforts to scale back the seam the place a foldable display screen bends. The one on the iPhone Fold is rumored to have little or no crease, in accordance with a latest report by the Chinese language publication UDN. Display creases, particularly on early foldable telephones, have lengthy irritated some customers and critics. And whereas the crease on more moderen foldables seems to be loads much less deep, it is nonetheless there. Samsung’s new Galaxy Z TriFold has two display screen creases, one for every of its hinges. It could be a significant breakthrough if Apple has certainly discovered a approach to fold a display screen in half with out leaving a crease.

We have but to listen to any official phrase on a foldable iPhone from Apple.

Foldable telephones characterize a tiny fraction of all telephones bought globally. CNET found that 64% of individuals surveyed mentioned they do not desire a foldable telephone. However these numbers might change if Apple have been to promote a foldable iPhone. Analysts at IDC forecast a 30% year-over-year development if Apple have been to launch a foldable iPhone in 2026.

Apple launched the iPhone 17 sequence together with the brand new super-thin iPhone Air in September. Given all of the engineering it took to cram cameras and parts into the highest half of the Air, some have theorized that the machine is a stepping stone to a foldable, which might benefit from the Air’s inner design.

Plenty of hope and expectation has been positioned on Apple to launch one, and if rumors are appropriate, we can’t have to attend for much longer for the corporate to take action.

iPhone Fold historical past

Rumors counsel Apple is creating a book-style foldable just like the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Years in the past, in 2017, people predicted {that a} foldable iPhone might launch within the then-near way forward for 2020 — which did not occur. Analysts and leakers have been kicking the discharge date down the street ever since, and rumors and want lists have lingered as telephone followers hold their hopes alive. Absent any confirmed particulars from Apple, this is every thing we all know up to now in regards to the firm’s future foray into foldables.

A brand new patent granted to Apple in July 2024, which was utilized for years in the past, reveals how lengthy the corporate has been engaged on a folding iPhone. Kuo’s report in early March mentioned that an Apple foldable might launch on the finish of 2026, with a 7.8-inch crease-free internal show and a 5.5-inch outer show.

Accordingly, Kuo believes the worth would match that of different comparable folding units, at $2,000 to $2,500. Regardless of the excessive price ticket, he says projected shipments are 3 to five million units, which is a assured estimate given solely 19.3 foldables have been bought in 2024, market analysis agency IDC reported. 

Though many stories have centered on the corporate’s struggles to eradicate the crease inside the inner folding show, Apple’s patent signifies that the event has been ongoing for a while. Creases have plagued foldable telephones since their introduction in 2020, and though the latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 have decreased the crease, it’s nonetheless seen and noticeable. 

By mid-2024, market analysts at TrendForce estimated that show crease points may push again an Apple foldable till 2027, in accordance with 9to5Mac. Prior rumors mentioned Apple could not launch its personal versatile display screen machine till 2025, and Samsung hasn’t let telephone followers neglect it by releasing an app that can let Apple telephone homeowners expertise a Z Fold-esque expertise by placing two iPhones side-by-side. 

Learn extra: I Visited Samsung’s Home Turf to See if Foldable Phones Are Really the Future

iPhone 2026 lineup

There is no assure about which telephones Apple will launch throughout its standard September window, however the most secure wager is on one other sequence of flat telephones, which we anticipate to be the iPhone 18 sequence. However what else might be coming alongside the same old lineup?

There might be an iPhone Air 2, although rumors battle on whether or not to anticipate one subsequent 12 months or not. There’s been much more proof for an iPhone Fold, although whether or not it comes out in 2026 or in later years remains to be unsure. If the iPhone Fold does launch subsequent 12 months, extra rumors have instructed a clamshell machine has been prioritized and will come first — given stories of Apple researching a book-style foldable, we might get a type of as effectively. 

In mid-January, MacRumors reportedly noticed a analysis observe from analyst Jeff Pu suggesting that the iPhone Fold will pack 12GB of reminiscence — as will all the iPhone 18 line. Apple by no means discloses how a lot RAM is included in its telephones, however specs websites like GSMArena have reported that the usual iPhone 17 has 8GB of RAM, whereas the remainder of the sequence (iPhone Air, 17 Professional and Professional Max) all have 12GB. If appropriate, which means Apple does not assume its foldable will want extra reminiscence than its commonplace flat telephones — it’s going to have extra display screen space, however doubtlessly no higher {hardware} than its iPhone 18 siblings.

It is also attention-grabbing to see the usual iPhone 18 packing 12GB of reminiscence, because the RAM shortage is predicted to hike costs on telephones launched in 2026. Apple could also be prepared to pay the worth for a extra succesful fundamental mannequin of iPhone 18, or maybe it’s going to cross these prices on to the patron with a worth hike. 

iPhone Fold or iPhone Air 2?

There’s the possibility that we get an iPhone Fold subsequent 12 months, which rumors have mentioned might launch in 2026 on the earliest, although it might additionally come out in 2027 or later. It needs to be famous that analysts and rumors had predicted a foldable iPhone launch from way back to 2022, so the rolling potential launch home windows do not lend confidence that we’ll essentially see the machine come out subsequent 12 months. Given Samsung’s six-year head begin on making foldables, Apple appears to be in no rush to get one out.

Whereas the iPhone Air got here out with the iPhone 17 handsets, there are conflicting rumors on whether or not we’ll see an iPhone Air 2 in 2026. A latest report from The Information says that Apple is delaying the discharge of the subsequent model of the iPhone, citing folks aware of the matter. This follows rumors that disappointing iPhone Air gross sales after launch led Apple to dial again manufacturing, although even that declare was denounced by TD Cowen, in accordance with a observe from the funding analysis agency that was seen by AppleInsider that asserted the corporate would proceed producing the skinny telephone. The Data’s story was amended to say that the delay might be brought on by engineers who’re re-considering the Air’s design in order that it might help a second rear digital camera.

All of which casts doubt on whether or not we’ll get an iPhone Air 2 subsequent 12 months, however there’s not sufficient proof but to roundly dismiss the chance. 

iPhone Fold specs

There aren’t any confirmed specs for the iPhone Fold, as a result of Apple hasn’t even confirmed one exists or is popping out. Given we do not have a 12 months of anticipated launch, we will not a lot predict what sort of inner specs the iPhone Fold may have — presumably, Apple will need its strongest A-series chip to run it, together with sufficient RAM to deal with two or three shows (relying on whether or not it folds inward or outward and wishes a devoted outer display screen). 

We do have some predictions for different specs, although just for the book-style Fold (not the clamshell). In March, analyst Kuo predicted the bigger Fold might have a 5.5-inch outer display screen and seven.8-inch internal show. When folded up, it is going to be 9-9.5mm thick and 4.5-4.8mm when unfolded. A front-facing digital camera might be accessible whether or not the telephone is folded or unfolded, whereas it’s going to even have two rear cameras. 

Kuo predicted that the machine will use the identical high-density battery cells as utilized in what he referred to then because the “ultra-thin iPhone 17” which is presumably the iPhone Air. However that trim thickness means the foldable could forgo Face ID, so the machine could use Contact ID in a aspect button. 

Some rumors about {hardware} have emerged. In January, an analyst observe seen by MacRumors suggests Apple’s foldable might launch with 12GB of RAM, the identical quantity within the Galaxy Z Fold 7‘s beginning configuration. That might imply Apple does not want loads of reminiscence to deal with a number of screens or that it’s not banking on massive AI options that may take up loads of RAM.

We lastly have a prediction on the iPhone Fold’s battery, with Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital posting that it’ll have a 5,500-mAh capability, as 9to5Mac first reported. That is considerably bigger than batteries on another foldables — for instance, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a 4,400-mAh capability — however Samsung has been within the foldable sport for therefore a few years that it is sure to have elevated effectivity, seemingly in an effort to slim down the thickness of its units. But if the Weibo leak is true, this would be the largest battery ever on an Apple handset. The iPhone 17 Professional Max has a 5,088-mAh battery.

iPhone Fold launch date

Apple has neither confirmed the iPhone Fold nor introduced a correct launch date. Analysts and rumors have predicted that the foldable might come out in 2026 or be pushed till subsequent 12 months.

As for timing, because the iPhone Air was launched alongside the iPhone 17 fashions, the Fold might come alongside the iPhone 18 sequence. However since Apple launched the iPhone 16E early this 12 months, far earlier than the September window for its essential iPhone launch, the corporate might do the identical with the iPhone 17E in 2026. Apple might even delay the launch of the usual iPhone 18 to the spring of 2027 to make room for the iPhone Fold in Apple’s Sept. 2026 launch, in accordance with an ET Information report. Provided that Samsung offsets its commonplace and foldable telephone releases at Unpacked occasions months aside from one another, Apple might do the identical.

What Apple’s new patent says in regards to the iPhone Flip

After years of rumors that Apple was engaged on foldable telephones, a patent was lastly granted to the corporate, confirming that it has been working towards a folding iPhone. The 22-page patent (PDF), merely titled “Digital Units With Sturdy Folding Shows,” was filed in November 2021 and granted on July 16, 2024.

Sadly for folding iPhone hopefuls, the patent does not supply a lot illumination of what an iPhone Flip may appear to be. Many of the pages present figures depicting cross-sections of potential shows that fold a couple of hinge however not the machine they’re folding round. 

There are some tidbits deeper into the textual content of the patent that trace at potential design decisions Apple may make, like a hinge that holds the show flat when unfolded however which might let the show “barely fold in regards to the bend axis when the digital machine is jolted in the course of the drop occasion” — in different phrases, if dropped, the machine would fold inward barely in order that it lands on its edges to guard the internal show. 

It is necessary to notice that each one proof reveals Apple engaged on a foldable iPhone, however the patent broadly applies to folding shows generally — to wit, some determine schematics describe a tool that “could also be a mobile phone, pill pc, laptop computer pc, wristwatch machine or different wearable machine, a tv, a stand-alone pc show or different monitor” or screens as far-ranging as on automobiles, in kiosks, in media gamers or different digital tools. 

The remainder of the patent describes what an Apple machine with a folding show could have and categorically lists issues like batteries and wi-fi charging, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, LED or LCD shows, microphones and capacitive sensors, haptics and so forth. There’s specific point out of a show folding 180 levels, or absolutely flat, which follows most different foldables — presumably, Apple is not going to leapfrog the competitors in following Samsung’s concept displays we saw at CES that unfold nearly 360 degrees. 

Two foldable iPhone Flips?

Foldable iPhone hopefuls will at the very least be inspired that Apple seemingly continues to tinker with an iPhone Flip design. The corporate is alleged to be engaged on two sizes of folding iPhones: a book-style and a clamshell-style, in accordance with an older report by The Information, though this can be contradicted by a more moderen report by the same site suggesting Apple had settled on the latter for a smaller machine. This aligns with prior rumors hinting the iPhone Flip might be within the clamshell format just like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip sequence or Motorola Razr Extremely. 

It feels like Apple’s been struggling to satisfy its excessive expectations: The corporate’s design group needs the iPhone Flip to be half as skinny as present iPhone fashions and to have shows on the surface which are seen when the machine is folded shut, in accordance with the report.

Growth on the iPhone Flip was halted round 2020, the older report famous, in an effort to deal with a brand new mission, a folding iPad. This machine would have an 8-inch show, across the dimension of the iPad Mini. The foldable pill supposedly had much less strict sturdiness and thickness necessities, because it would not want to slot in pockets like an iPhone Flip. Apple was nonetheless engaged on methods to scale back the crease in the course of the folding show and get the iPad to lie absolutely flat. 

Launch date: The iPhone Flip might launch in 2027

The most recent indications of an iPhone Flip launch date got here again in June, when analyst Kuo suggested manufacturing might kick off in 2026 with telephones popping out that 12 months. This follows Kuo’s earlier prediction in March that the corporate might launch a crease-free foldable by the top of 2026. Moreover, this is able to seemingly be a book-style foldable with a 7.8-inch inner show and 5.5-inch exterior display screen, which is counter to different predictions anticipating a clamshell-style foldable. 

It is doable that these timeline predictions apply to at least one or the opposite or, as a result of obscure nature of rumors, even each — that’s, Apple might be engaged on each a book-style and clamshell fashion foldable, although it is much less clear if launch date expectations could be interchangeable or if Apple would stagger their launch.

It has been an open secret for years that Apple is working towards a foldable iPhone. The corporate has been registering patents for foldable applied sciences for nearly a decade, and whereas there is not any assure that one will come out even in spite of everything that analysis (keep in mind AirPower?), there’s nonetheless been buzz and doable launch dates floated for years — although nonetheless not one strong sufficient to get enthusiastic about. 

Early rumors pointed way back to 2021 as a possible goal date, however the 12 months handed with no foldable iPhone in sight. A March 2021 report from longtime analyst Kuo (via MacRumors) instructed 2023 could be extra reasonable (although that 12 months has come and gone). In line with Kuo, Apple nonetheless wants to determine expertise and mass manufacturing points earlier than bringing a tool like this to market, therefore the wait. Hypothesis later in 2021 from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman aligned with Kuo’s predictions: In his Power On Newsletter, Gurman mentioned that the foldable iPhone could not arrive for one more two to 3 years.

Since then, new rumors have pointed to a good later launch. Dependable show analyst Ross Younger mentioned in February 2024 that the foldable iPhone had been pushed again to 2025, and Kuo reaffirmed his predicted launch window in a tweet in April 2022.

“Apple could launch its first foldable product in 2025 on the earliest, which can be a foldable iPad or a hybrid of iPad and iPhone,” Kuo wrote within the tweet.

One other rumor, first seen by MacRumors in February of 2024 by Weibo-based blogger Fixed Focus Digital, instructed that the foldable iPhone mission is delayed for the foreseeable future. The issue? Apple, which is rumored to be utilizing Samsung folding panels for its iPhone Flip’s show, was dissatisfied with the screens’ efficiency after they broke down a couple of days into testing.

That is echoed by the latest estimate by TrendForce market analysts, reported in 9to5Mac, which predicted that an Apple foldable won’t be launched till 2027 on the earliest. Why? Apple’s strict necessities for reliability and the telephone show’s crease. However Kuo’s more moderen March 2025 predictions explicitly famous a crease-free foldable show, suggesting Apple might need moved previous this roadblock — if all these rumors are to be believed, in fact.

Learn extra: Top Foldable Phones for 2025

Design: What is going to the foldable iPhone appear to be?

A 2021 report from Bloomberg indicated Apple already had a working prototype of a foldable iPhone show. Whereas it wasn’t a working mannequin, it was a step up from a patent — which, till then, was all we had seen. 

Apple appears to have taken out each patent beneath the solar in terms of foldable shows, together with an origami-style folding show, a flip-up show and even a wraparound show. We do not know which one will make the ultimate reduce, however each Kuo and Bloomberg appear to agree that the present prototype is extra of a conventional fold-out design.

Not like Microsoft’s Floor Duo, which has hinges on the outside, Apple’s would have one steady show with a hidden hinge mechanism just like the Galaxy Fold. 

Apple leaker Jon Prosser reported in early 2021 that the iPhone Flip will likely use a clamshell design and come in several “fun colors.” Between the bright pastels of the iPhone 15 and Plus and the sleeker deep blue of the iPhone 15 Professional and Professional Max, an array of enjoyable colours for Apple’s first foldable machine is certainly a risk.

YouTuber ConceptsiPhone additionally gave us a glimpse into what the iPhone Flip might look with idea artwork of the foldable iPhone within the colours blue, purple, gold and inexperienced.

In March 2025, analyst Kuo had some very particular however non-clamshell predictions: that Apple would launch a book-style foldable with a 5.5-inch outer display screen that unfolded to have a 7.8-inch inner display screen, and be 4.5-4.8mm when unfolded however 9-9.5mm thick. It could have the identical high-density battery cells because the “ultra-thin iPhone 17” and a hinge with chrome steel and titanium alloy (a favourite materials of Apple’s iPhone 16 Professional and Professional Max in addition to the Apple Watch Extremely 2). 

Per Kuo’s predictions, the foldable may have two rear cameras and a front-facing digital camera on each the exterior and inner shows. Most curiously, Kuo additionally expects that Apple’s book-style foldable will see the return of Contact ID as a aspect button, as Face ID could be omitted because of area constraints — presumably for the array of depth-of-field sensors and cameras wanted for the tech. 

Roadblocks: What nonetheless stands in Apple’s approach? 

Samsung and others have been testing the waters, however Apple has been studying from the ache factors of their foldable units and determining how they’d be used.

One in all these ache factors is the crease. Plenty of the present cowl supplies, together with the glass and plastic combine that Samsung makes use of for the Z Fold and Z Flip, present a visual crease when folded out to full display screen. To keep away from it, Apple would seemingly have to attend for Corning, Apple’s glass supplier, to create some form of bendable model of its Ceramic Protect display screen. The corporate is already engaged on a bendable glass however hasn’t introduced a launch date for it. 

Kuo tweeted in April 2022 that Apple was testing a foldable OLED display screen. Korean tech news site The Elec also reported that Apple was working with LG to develop a foldable OLED panel. 

Value: Foldable telephones do not come low cost

Value is one other main downside for a lot of these units. Though Samsung nonetheless has essentially the most inexpensive folding telephone with the clamshell Motorola Razr at $700, most others within the class are book-style foldables just like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Pixel 9 Professional Fold, that are round twice the worth of most flagship telephones. We would not anticipate a foldable iPhone to be cheaper than its rivals. Apple’s foldable must be in keeping with present foldable and nonfoldable fashions to have the ability to compete in opposition to different manufacturers and entice iPhone customers to ditch their single-screen units and pay extra for a foldable.

Analyst Kuo predicted {that a} book-style iPhone foldable coming in 2026 might be priced wherever from $2,000 to $2,500 because it’s “anticipated to generate robust substitute demand-despite the premium price-provided high quality meets expectations.”

A report final 12 months discovered that half of American customers are desirous about shopping for a foldable telephone, although Apple prospects are barely much less prepared to make the leap than Samsung or LG customers. Maybe the “Apple impact” will change these stats if and when a foldable iPhone ever turns into a actuality.