Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Could Reinvigorate Stalling Market

[steve09090]

Ummm why not 2025????

Because no one has made a foldable glass yet. All the foldables are plastic and super easy to destroy. For double the price.

It will bomb just as bad as the Apple Vision Pro, maybe even worse. Very niche for people that want it and it’s far from the masses.

Good to see the anti Apple crowd with factless, pointless posts are still rife on Macrumors…

 

[Baseiseough]

I would prefer a three sided phone. A phone on the front, a click wheel iPod on the back and a retractable bottle opener on the side! Now we are talking!

 

[icanhazmac]

Absolutely gross, I cannot think of a single reason to carry that. Apple should just stay out of this.

 

[rymc02]

I can’t wait!! Folding iPads too! Make it fold diagonally. CANT INNOVATE MY A$$

 

[firewood]

Foldable phones are the answer to a question nobody was asking.

Lots of customers who were extremely happy with the iPhone 5s and 13 mini are asking where is an up-to-date iPhone that fits in a smaller hand or pocket. Take a 16 Pro Max, thin it down to less than next years SE, then fold it in half, and it might be small enough for lots of people asking.

 

[rymc02]

Foldable phones are the answer to a question nobody was asking.

Honestly seems like Apple's MO right now. Vision Pro, 90% of the Apple Intelligence features, house robots, HomePods with screens on them? Really seems like Tim is just slinging poos at the wall right now.

 

[Sully]

Excited to see what they come up with. I’d love to see the folded front be as functional as today’s iPhone and then fold out to something which functions like an iPad.

 

[JohnC1959]

View attachment 2458237

Absolutely gross, I cannot think of a single reason to carry that. Apple should just stay out of this.

I may not want it either. But LOTS of people have been asking for this including right here on this forum. So as long as they still make the pro (very very likely) then who cares if they also try their hand at a foldable.

 

[goobot]

I think in part because they still aren't 100% ready for prime time. Good enough for many but not for others. I suspect (hope) Apple won't release one until they can do it right. I know one complaint for many has been the seam in the display. I'm hoping Apple's slim iPhone 17 is testing out some tech that will help keep a folding phone thin when folded. Then they just need to have someone make a better foldable display.

I was playing with a fold 6 in the store today and my only real complaint with it is the seam, you could feel where it was in the screen and see it to some extent. They really improved on the quality of the inner screen over the years. My only other issue was how thick it was when folded

 

[dominiongamma]

My gosh, can the MR design team not come up with anything more creative than that hideous rendering of a current design iPhone broken in half? They have used it a few times in the past now, and it gets more cringe with each posting.

If you can do better, always feel free show us

 

[mecloud]

I don’t see the real-world utility. The dimension that most matters to me when carrying my iPhone (16 Pro Max) in a pocket is thinness. Folding it in half would make the phone more of a “lump”. That plus all the obvious screen durability/mechanical-integrity issues that a folding design would necessarily entail.

Maybe foldability would make more sense for an iPad (?).

 

[Realityck]

The foldable smartphone market has stalled with customer interest in foldables waning, but that could change when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, according to display analyst Ross Young.

That same rationale by the press was also thought about Apple jumping into the VR/AR headset marketplace. But Apple should do it only when they have something great to offer, not because of prodding by others.

 

[JohnC1959]

I don’t see the real-world utility. The dimension that most matters to me when carrying my iPhone (16 Pro Max) in a pocket is thinness. Folding it in half would make the phone more of a “lump”. That plus all the obvious screen durability/mechanical-integrity issues that a folding design would necessarily entail.

Maybe foldability would make more sense for an iPad (?).

I'm not sure I want a foldable either (will have to wait and see what it is when real). But a foldable can fit better in certain places like a front pant pocket. I figure that since they'll continue to make phones like the pro as well then I don't care if they also make a foldable and maybe, just maybe, I'll eventually see something compelling about a foldable . And if I don't they I simply don't buy one. Options always sound good to me.

 

[JohnC1959]

That same rationale by the press was also thought about Apple jumping into the VR/AR headset marketplace. But Apple should do it only when they have something great to offer, not because of prodding by others.

I somewhat agree. But there's a chicken and egg problem with any new design. You can only get just so far with in-house protoype testing. You eventually need to get it into the hands of real users, get feedback then refine the design.

 

[rp2011]

So much highly doubtful stuff on this post

 

[Marty80]

It wouldn't surprise me if the FIRST foldable left out some pro features. They'll target it at a different segment than the pro market. Then if all goes well it may gain pro features in later years. New designs often require some compromise until tech advances allow big features in smaller packages. Gotta start somewhere.

 

[zachdog]

Apple already tried a foldable/bendable version with the iPhone 6.
Hahahaha

 

[redbeard331]

I thought going back to aluminum was their plan for a folding phone? Sit on it once and boom instant folding phone.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

This will not work. There is no new market—it's saturated.

Some folks thought that about smartphones, Nokia, etc. then came the iPhone...

Personally I am just curious to see what Apple might bring us.

 

[Hogswarts]

Is the foldable market stalling? Good thing Apple isn't in it then.

 

[Digital Dude]

There are few things I truly hate in life, but carrying a cell phone is definitely one of them. If Apple ever releases a folding/flip device, I’d be interested, just to avoid the bulky slabs we have now. I’d be surprised if Apple comes out with something like that before 2030—it’s just the way they operate. 🤷‍♂️

 

[3304614]

Instead of folding a big phone to make it smaller, how about just make a small phone from the start? Apple could call it the… IDK… “iPhone Mini” or something.

 

[Greenmeenie]

I

I have no doubt that it won't replace the current pro designs until the demand for the pro design plummets in favor of the foldable (if ever)

I agree, it won’t replace the pros. As a photographer, the Pros will always be bigger to pack in all that camera tech. So i will always choose it over the thinner iphone Air with it’s one camera or the foldable iphone. But i guess it’s good that Apple will be giving customers lots of different choices going forward.

 

[buddhistMonkey]

I’m highly skeptical of this rumor. Foldable phones have a singular advantage over standard smartphones, and that is their smaller folded size. In every other possible way, the design is inferior: they’re thicker, more expensive, more prone to multiple points of physical failure, and — at best — they have a crease running down the center of the screen. Like, what’s the allure, exactly? Unless Apple somehow manages to solve all of those design (and physics) issues to their notoriously high standards, I just don’t see them pursuing this dying market for a compromised novelty.

 

[3304614]

Is the foldable market stalling? Good thing Apple isn't in it then.

I was also thinking something similar. If (as display analyst Ross Young posits) the foldable market is stalling, then Apple (seemingly) was right to avoid it.