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Apple Now Testing Flip-Style Foldable iPhone

This is the kind of foldable I want. Maybe it's nostalgia for me. I miss the days when I pocketed a small compact flip phone. Funny back in 2008 I couldn't wait to get rid of my flip phone for a glass slab.
 
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Because a flip is different than a fold 🙄

Surely the majority under 40 have no clue what a flip phone is, or at least its origins
 
EugW said:
In early 2022, iPhone 13 mini represented 3% of global iPhone sales. The iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max represented the 68% of global iPhone sales. IOW, out of the four models of the iPhone 13 series, the mini represented only 4% of total sales.

The foldable iPhones likely won't have high unit sales either, but they will cost more and may generate more revenue and profit. Furthermore, foldable sales have gradually been increasing in the last several years. In late 2025, there was a 14% increase in global foldable phone sales YoY.
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Maybe instead of pushing people into a bell curve of middle options through advertising and gate keeping performance, Apple could give us actual options to suit preferences.

What they did is hamstring the smaller phone to retain loyal customers walking away from huge phones while maximizing profit making you climb the ladder. If you wanted telephoto, you had to skip up to the Pro. As a mini user, there was no other alternative.

I'm not saying Tim Cook is bad and Steve Jobs is good, they were both good in their own right, but Steve had it right by putting customer experience first. For the first time in 9 years I'm considering whether I will even purchase another phone because my 15 Pro that replaced my dead 13 mini is simply annoying to use one handed.

Why can't we adopt this model again?


Current Lineup:Proposed Lineup:
  • iPhone Pro
  • iPhone Pro Max
  • iPhone Air
  • iPhone
  • iPhone Plus
  • iPhone 16
  • iPhone 16e
  • Gadget Phones
    • iPhone Foldables
  • iPhone is just premium like it was designed as
    • iPhone Max (6.9")
    • iPhone (6.3")
    • iPhone S (5.4")
  • iPhone LE (Previous year 6.3" equivalent)
    • If you need another budget tier you add the 5.4"
 
I don’t have any problem fitting a normal iPhone into my pocket. I don’t understand what this is supposed to solve. In fact, thickness might be a bigger issue for pocketability than overall size. A thin slab phone is easy to slip into a pocket.

Can someone explain what this is actually for, if not just folding for the sake of folding?

It would be nice to hear examples of real use cases.
 
Apple_Jacks said:
Maybe instead of pushing people into a bell curve of middle options through advertising and gate keeping performance, Apple could give us actual options to suit preferences.

What they did is hamstring the smaller phone to retain loyal customers walking away from huge phones while maximizing profit making you climb the ladder. If you wanted telephoto, you had to skip up to the Pro. As a mini user, there was no other alternative.

I'm not saying Tim Cook is bad and Steve Jobs is good, they were both good in their own right, but Steve had it right by putting customer experience first. For the first time in 9 years I'm considering whether I will even purchase another phone because my 15 Pro that replaced my dead 13 mini is simply annoying to use one handed.

Why can't we adopt this model again?
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Uh wut? That’s revisionist history.

Steve Jobs was the king of hamstringing products.

For example, because of Jobs, iBooks could not span the desktop to an external monitor. (The hardware was fully capable of it, and it could be achieved with an unsupported software hack.) Because of Jobs, Apple released a no-button iPod shuffle. Because of Jobs, Apple refused to release a G4 Cube with a fan (even though it actually had a fan mount inside).
 
BeatsByTim said:
Foldable phones are something that nobody really wants or needs, so I'm sure Tim Cook is working on it.
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Kudos to Apple for being open minded and exploring the two current form factors that comprise the folding phone market circa 2026.

While it’s obvious that folding phones are not for everyone, they do fill an important role in the market place.

My first hand experience with my Z Fold7 proved my initial skepticism wrong, now after several months of ownership I find that it suits my business workflow ideally.

I kept my iPhone 16 Pro Max as my primary personal phone and enjoy having choices.
 
I’ve been hoping Apple would make an iPhone Flip for years. A smaller phone that folds into something compact just makes sense to me. I have zero interest in an iPhone Fold. If I want a larger screen, I already have a laptop or tablet. I care way more about portability, simplicity, and everyday convenience than turning my phone into a mini iPad.
 
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That wide foldable looks like the worst product possible.

“We’ve designed complete two handed only functionality at last”.
 
code-m said:
This comment is comical in a retrospect way. Motorola released the flip phone as to solve the butt dial issue that the candy bar design Nokia had.

Apple and specifically Jobs didn’t want to enter the mobile phone market but saw that devices by BlackBerry, Windows CE, Palm Pilot just had to implement music capabilities and it’s hit product the iPod would be less capable.

It’s been show time and again that mobility and portability is what people want hence the laptop, portable radio, Walkman, discman, etc. sometimes people don’t know what their want because their don’t know what is possible hence the iPhone with Multi-Touch.

While many here are claiming no one wants this or that it’s up to the consumer consensus that eventually matters. People have been leaning towards larger screen and Jobs had to concede defeat in this regard to Samsung with its Phablets.

While it’s possible that two separate devices iPhone and iPad could be had for less it would not be seen as the next must have product which is a combined device. Sometimes I wonder if MR forum members forget about the common person psyche. iPhones are still seen as status symbols; why?, because you can get an entry level Android device for cheap or free while this is only possible with heavy subsidies and long term contract for even the entry level iPhone.

I also forgot to mention that there is nothing quite satisfying then hearing the snap sound when one shuts the flip phone. People use to flip those phones open and close similar to clicking a pen.
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Everyone wants mobility so we keep increasing the phone size every year
 
EugW said:
This flip type is the only the type of foldable I’m interested in. But I don’t want big camera compromises.
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Yes. Minimal phone function user, but big time camera user. Put the best camera in this form factor. Show me message summaries on a small screen. The other major use is for maps when traveling, so I would flip it open for a larger view.
 
Eventually Apple will release a Flip type foldable. However I am interested only in the Z Fold type foldable. Have the Z Flip. Other than portability aspect, the flip offers no other benefit. Looking forward to Apple's first foldable.
 
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contacos said:
Unfortunately no Foldable this far has been released with top notch cameras and it doesn't seem like Apple will be either which is a shame cuz this could have been their stand out feature
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in fairness still waiting on the pro max to produce these great cameras as well. currently iphone cameras are way behind many others
 
BeatsByTim said:
Foldable phones are something that nobody really wants or needs, so I'm sure Tim Cook is working on it.
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people have been asking for years for apple to release a foldable. foldable phones aren't for masses due to cost but they still sell millions and millions year on year and are growing so saying nobody wants them is false. Cameras aside foldables offer far more than slab phones do. You can do so many different tasks on them where slab phones you are morel limited due to the size
 
Not for me, but I can see why it might appeal to some people. My brother-in-law has a Samsung equivalent and likes it. It fits easily in the pocket and has built in protection for the display.

What I do worry about with Apple is the diversity of the phone offering (screen size, memory, colour, cameras, budget offerings, US-specific versions etc and now flip/fold as well perhaps). It must make managing supply almost impossible. It helps explain why slow movers get dropped fairly quickly. I’m amazed they manage to pull it off so well!
 
FlyingTexan said:
Everyone wants mobility so we keep increasing the phone size every year
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These two things are not mutually exclusive.
People don’t necessarily want the biggest *device* possible, they want the biggest *screen* possible, the thing that you actually consume the content on.
Remember this commercial?
“How can something get bigger, and yet, smaller?”

I’m not even necessarily saying that a flip will be a huge seller but surely the logic is there, if you want the same Pro Max sized 6.9 inch screen you have it but when you’re not in need of it it’s a little tiny square with like a diagonally measured 3.3 or so inch outer display.
They’re clearly seems to be some sort of demand for smaller more portable devices, but people *do not* want to sacrifice the screen size.
And by the way, this is not even a new concept, I remember when the first iPad mini came out in 2012 and one of the first reviews I saw on it had a guy trying as hard as he could to get it to fit in his pocket and being disappointed that, because it was slightly bigger than the Nexus 7, it wasn’t quite possible.
 
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