Apple Stockpiling Parts for Foldable iPhone Ahead of 2026 Launch

[Mr_Ed]

Not attractive to me but it obviously works for some. I own multiple devices precisely because I want the right tool for the job at hand” while dealing with design compromises as little as possible. I would make do with just a phone otherwise.

If I’m out and about, I’m not spending much time web browsing or using apps aside from phone calls/texts so I have the phone. At home I generally browse or use apps on an iPad. If doing something more substantial or that requires more capable tools, I use a computer. Lugging around extra heft on the off chance that I might do “tablet functions” on a nerfed device (compared to my actual iPad) just wouldn’t work for me.

 

[UltimaKilo]

First Gen Apple product? Beware. It usually takes 3-4 years for them to get a new product right.

 

[tyranne201]

Something tell me iPhone fold will be. flop like the air. people want the pro.

 

[tyranne201]

Not attractive to me but it obviously works for some. I own multiple devices precisely because I want the right tool for the job at hand” while dealing with design compromises as little as possible. I would make do with just a phone otherwise.

If I’m out and about, I’m not spending much time web browsing or using apps aside from phone calls/texts so I have the phone. At home I generally browse or use apps on an iPad. If doing something more substantial or that requires more capable tools, I use a computer. Lugging around extra heft on the off chance that I might do “tablet functions” on a nerfed device (compared to my actual iPad) just wouldn’t work for me.

if it doesn't have the best pro chip and other stuff, then its not worth it.

 

[Eminemdrdre00]

5.5 inches? The iPhone Mini is back!

 

[Alfonson]

they will probably just glue all those unsold Airs together

 

[Icehawk]

I'll admit there's potential here. an iPhone that's also an iPad. Or an iPad that's also a iPhone. It gonna take them a few gens to figure out, but by then, watch us be back to flip phones.

 

[Davelfc]

I like the concept of foldables but can't get past the plastic screens. Also no chance I'm buying a gen 1 Apple product given there past track record.

I’m with you but at the same time they’ve undoubtedly taken apart every foldable phone ever released and hopefully learned. But yeah, I’d be wary of the first version, dont want to get told I’m folding it wrong.

 

[fuchsdh]

Just as interesting as a first gen iPhone Fold will be the tech trickling down to cheaper iPhones over the coming years. The iPhone Fold will be a good choice starting in 2028 when you can get a second gen device from September 2027 for a somewhat lower price of perhaps roughly what a Pro Max costs now.

The iPhone Fold unfortunately has the problem that it won’t be able to do more than a Pro Max. If you can do without the inner screen there isn’t much left. Of course that screen is the entire point of it so for the niche of people that really need this and can’t bring an iPad Pro along it will be their main choice.

For me it’s cheaper and more versatile to bring my M4 iPad Pro along in the same bag with my iPhone. Having two separate devices makes it easier to for example be on a call and still watch a video on the iPad without FaceTime inevitably lowering the volume intermittently.

So you really gotta weigh the pros and cons of having an iPhone and iPad in one device. There certainly won’t be a cost benefit with the iPad Fold seemingly starting at 2 grand before tax.

I think the biggest arguments against folding phones remains on the software side. Personally, as someone who likes small phones the idea of having a bigger one on-demand is appealing, but everyone's phones are starting from "what if you had a big phone and made it larger," so that's not going to appeal to myself and people like me, but leaving aside that. Apple still hasn't shipped any pro versions of its apps for the phones, and is only starting to improve the situation of software support on the iPad. What could people do with a folding iPhone they couldn't with any other phone? If the answer is just "you can watch larger movies" that might appeal to some as a more portable consumption device but I don't think people broadly will be fine paying such an extra price for it. It's basically the same problem as the iPhone Air apparently has—people apparently think their phones are thin enough that the prospect of paying more for it isn't generally an attractive proposition.

 

[diego.caraballo]

They don't have plastic screens, the inner screens are made of ultra-thin glass. They put a plastic screen protector on the inner display, which I promptly remove as soon as I buy one.

But Samsung says that you shouldn't do that:

 

[DrRadon]

any camera specs?

The best cameras they ever put in an iPhone of cause.

 

[DrRadon]

But Samsung says that you shouldn't do that:

View attachment 2574412

If it works just fine without it they probably first need to get sued into allowing people removing what looks like packaging.

 

[okkibs]

You’re framing it wrong. A foldable isn’t about adding new features

Developing the iPhone Fold is inherently about researching and advancing tech. This is what got us the extra thin iPhone Air. On its own that thin housing isn't so impressive (as the tech specs suffer due to it) but trying out something new is how we get more useful tech into all Apple products.

For example: The 12" Macbook was a very slow Intel Macbook but Apple redesigned the 2 biggest main components under the hood to make it work at all. Having a big battery and smaller logic board is how all Macbooks and iPads are designed now. When I look at my M4 iPad Pro that's way more powerful than my old Intel Macbook yet has only a thin slice of a logic board surrounded by battery then that's living in the future right now.

And in a couple years we'll have tech in our baseline iPhones that came out of the iPhone Fold development no matter how mediocre the first gen Apple foldable might turn out.

A foldable gives you pocketable tablet space for multitasking, media, docs, gaming, and travel without carrying a bag or a second device.

That would be true if we ignored software entirely. I already see the state of multitasking on my iPad Pro and I am not amused. Can't do a Facetime call without audio ducking (yes that's what it's really called), media playing in PiP keeps pausing for no good reason, all these restrictions and many more already exist on today's high-end iPads that are on paper much more multitasking capable than iPhones.

Not to mention the fragmented state of iPad OS 26 and its various UI options. Stage Manager still feels like it was abandoned and is merely a legacy option, Slide Over was removed only to return later this year when Apple finally decides to stop holding it hostage, the traffic lights are still weird with how they "minimize" or close apps, and users altogether just aren't too happy with the mess that's iPadOS right now.

So what kind of multitasking do you expect on an even smaller display on a device that rings for every phone call? It's not going to be as good as you make it out to be. I'm imagining my iPad Pro with a smaller screen and incoming call popups that interrupt whatever I'm working on. Not that I'm going to do any work with the Apple Pencil as that might not be supported in the first place. Although I can't rule out Apple might release a physically smaller pencil just for the iPhone Fold's inner screen.

Before you say that I am just making the iPhone Fold out to be worse than it's really going to be, I am actually the kind of Apple customer who should be preordering a brand new iPhone on day 1 counting down the seconds after the keynote ends until the store opens up to make sure I get the delivery on launch day. I have been waiting for the iPhone Fold ever since I had a Pixel Fold first gen that ended up being the best Pixel I ever had but also the worst smartphone overall I ever had and I abandoned it in favor of the good old iPhone.

But iPadOS 26 and the stagnant state of iPad multitasking that I experience every day makes me 100% convinced that actual multitasking is going to be a tragedy on the iPhone Fold. I need something real like how on macOS I can start a task in an app and switch to another app and absolutely nothing is going to interfere with the first app running its task. Even just turning off the display can break it on iPadOS as the OS aggressively power saves and pauses (rather, interrupts) whatever is going on. So I don't need an iPhone Fold that tries to do even more with less (since it's an actual phone too).

Foldables don’t need more specs than a Pro Max they just need to be more usable in more situations. That’s the value.

If you can get the latest iPhone Fold for the price of a Pro Max then sure it will be more usable and a better deal than a Pro Max. But you'll probably pay somewhat more even if you get last year's model cheaper.

 

[diego.caraballo]

Would be funny to watch the MR forum when the foldable iPhone launches.
People here sometimes complains about 2 micron stains in the iPhone chasis, let's wait until they touch the screen:

 

[ab2c4]

Not a product for me. If I wanted a folding tablet to carry around I would have already bought one (Android), but I'm happy for those that want one to finally be able to get one.

 

[nfl46]

I’m ready. I’ll be preorder as soon as it’s available.

 

[dannys1]

I'm happy for the people that want to own an Apple-made folding phone - but honestly, for me personally, I’ve never been less interested in an Apple device. The Vision Pro and the iPhone Air are more interesting to me.

I feel we're now firmly into the era of things Jobs wouldn't ever concede to. Potential touch screen Macs, silly folding devices, compromises on ports.

I've no idea what he'd make of Liquid Glass (I do love it tbh), but I know if the decision was to go with something, he’d be all in, no compromises; you use it because we've decided it's the best thing. Instead of trying to be all things to all people and worrying like today’s Apple.

 

[jdawgnoonan]

Solution in search of a problem before anyone else says it. And I'm just kidding. Saying such things is foolish. I love foldables! I currently own the Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 FE.

I had a Z Fold 3 and loved it other than it being a bit fragile and the lack of dust ingression prevention. I worried about breaking it enough that I went back to an iPhone brick (also partially because I am partial to iOS over android).

 

[dannys1]

No faceId is a no sale for me. Major PIA to have to touch side button. Big mistake if true.

I agree that FaceID is a biggie - but you know what, i'd love if the power button the iPhone XX Pro had a touch ID built in my like the iPad mini just for times i'm not looking directly at my phone, like when my face is half on the pillow etc. I find mself entering the pin more times than is resonable.

 

[spazzcat]

Solution in search of a problem before anyone else says it. And I'm just kidding. Saying such things is foolish. I love foldables! I currently own the Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 FE.

It is a very niche market. We will see if Apple can make any in roads in such a small market.

 

[jlc1978]

I can see this as a very niche product at first:

1. People for whom the larger screen is needed in the field but want portability. This will let them ditch the iPad but still have the extra screen space for when they need it.
2. Those who want the status of the 'latest and greatest' that not everyone can afford.

For the first, cost will likely not be a big issue, especially if te marginal cost of teh phone is not that big when compared to phone + iPad. For the second, higher cost translate to exclusivity and status, at least to them.

i'd love if the power button the iPhone XX Pro had a touch ID built in my like the iPad mini just for times i'm not looking directly at my phone, like when my face is half on the pillow etc

Same here. Why not both?

 

[dannys1]

My guess is that of Apple is doing a bendable device, my guess it's going to have a solid use case behind it. It's going to have a better answer for the “But why?” question.

I've felt like since OLED tech came out and the screen was bendable, folderable, flexible etc - all manufacturers have been trying to take advantage of what is really a by product of a screen technology. It wasn't designed so that was a feature, it is just "is" - unliked LCD.

Since then, which is over 15 years now, they've been thinking "it's really cool that this display tech is flexible" and trying to figure out a way they can make a device that makes use of that - but as you said, there's no solution it solves.

I feel like Apple made the best use of it since the iPhone X where they bent the bottom of the OLED screen around to get rid of the bottom lip of the device to give the same bezels all round. It wasn't a visible screen element but it improved the device. Every other implementation like the Samsung Edge, or foldable devices have just been gimmicks.

Not just foldables either - we had the curved TV craze for a few years just because screens could now be curved. The manufacturers tried to gaslight us into thinking this was the way the eye saw the TV all along - and now we're back to flat TVs again. There's some merit for them with monitors where you sit closer - and perhaps the best implementation is the LG screen that has a motor to make the screen flat to curved and anywhere in between - but if I owned it i'd probably set it to one and leave it there, never changing it again, so.

 

[Godspeed8230]

Two iPhone Airs = one iPhone Fold.

 

[IIGS User]

I agree that FaceID is a biggie - but you know what, i'd love if the power button the iPhone XX Pro had a touch ID built in my like the iPad mini just for times i'm not looking directly at my phone, like when my face is half on the pillow etc. I find mself entering the pin more times than is resonable.

I would prefer a Touch ID on the side of the phone to Face ID. A folding phone isn't for me, but I see where some people would want it. Same way some people (like me) would prefer Touch ID to Face ID.

If they can put Touch ID in this thing, they can put it in the "flagship" phone".

 

[McScooby]

I like the concept of foldables but can't get past the plastic screens. Also no chance I'm buying a gen 1 Apple product given there past track record.

It’s not plastic, it’s Liquid Glass.

On the earnings call yesterday, Tc referred to Liquid Glass as material, why would’ve he said that?