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Apple's First Foldable Displays Nearing Mass Production

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Advanced display panels destined for Apple's first foldable iPhone are reportedly nearing mass production.

Foldable-iPhone-2023-Feature-Iridescent-1.jpg

The Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital" today said that Samsung Display is set to begin mass production of OLED panels for the first foldable iPhone in May 2026. Meanwhile, the user "Fixed Focus Digital" claims that the foldable iPhone's screen may be flatter than many of the existing foldable devices currently on sale, suggesting that Apple has largely solved the crease problem.

Previous reports have variously described the Samsung panel as as being "virtually crease free" and having "no crease at all." Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims that the new display technology Apple is using reduces the crease without eliminating it entirely, but the result is "not perfect."

Rumors suggest that Apple's first foldable iPhone will feature a 7.8-inch crease-free inner display, a 5.5-inch cover display, ‌Touch ID‌, two rear cameras, the A20 chip, and the "C2" modem. It is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18‌ Pro Max in the fall. Production will almost certainly ramp up as we approach that time of year.

Article Link: Apple's First Foldable Displays Nearing Mass Production
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/13/apples-first-foldable-displays-nearing-production/
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I hope they do a much better job than Samsung's own devices. It looked nice on videos, but having seen their latest foldable in store the other day, they look so cheap when opened, it really looks and feels like a cheap piece of flexible plastic. It's not premium in any way, the screen itself doesn't even look nice compared to an iPhone screen, viewing angles are bad, etc.
 
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hugogogo2003 said:
I hope they do a much better job than Samsung's own devices. It looked nice on videos, but having seen their latest foldable in store the other day, they look so cheap when opened, it really looks and feels like a cheap piece of flexible plastic. It's not premium in any way, the screen itself doesn't even look nice compared to an iPhone screen, viewing angles are bad, etc.
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If they can get rid of the glare and improve stiffness, they will have come a long way. I find it ironic that it's Samsung itself who are making these.
 
Macalway said:
If they can get rid of the glare and improve stiffness, they will have come a long way. I find it ironic that it's Samsung itself who are making these.
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It's because Samsung insists on putting a glossy screen protector on it for some reason. Makes it feel like plastic. I also have an Oppo Find N5 and the matt inner screen looks and feels so much better.
 
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Farquar said:
It will start at $1,999 for 256 GB. A 2 TB model will bring it closer to $3k.

As someone who intends to purchase one and give it a shot, I fully expect it to flop miserably, and barely crack 2% of iPhone sales.
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A phone priced this high isn't expected to sell 30 million devices. Even if it's 2% of iPhone sales we're still talking billions in additional revenue.

2% of iPhone sales (slight less than 250 million phones last year) would come to roughly 5,000,000 iPhones. Even if every single fold sold was the $1999 model, that'd be $10B in revenue. Even if you assume everyone is coming from a Pro/Pro Max phone, we're talking about 2-3 billion in additional iPhone revenue.

In reality, the average sales price of iPhone is around $1000-1100 (and sure, most people buying this phone are probably already buying the Pro/Pro Max, but Apple is also going to sell a lot of the higher-capacity folds as well), so we're actually talking significantly more than $2-3 billion in additional revenue.

Long way of saying even at 2% of iPhone sales it's not going to "flop". It's going to be a niche phone; most people can't afford to spend $2k+ on a phone. Not every device Apple makes needs to sells tens of millions to be a successful product.
 
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Macalway said:
If they can get rid of the glare and improve stiffness, they will have come a long way. I find it ironic that it's Samsung itself who are making these.
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and how does that work? Is there some kind of "wall" within Samsung that keeps them from using/learning from Apple tech? I mean other than obvious risk of getting sued for patent violations?
 
With the depreciation of modern phones, paying $2K for a pithy 256GB is far too rich for my blood. Hats off to those who can justify the purchase. 🫡
 
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kobachi said:
If they’re really planning to charge $3000, it better have literally zero crease. That price point commands perfection, period.
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Sounds like that is not possible with a foldable screen. I still believe that bendable screen make more sense for static curved wearable displays, like something worn on a forarem, and foldables should be two flat screens joined by an ultra-precise hinge. Just my two cents...
 
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If this comes in at around 2000 dollars im all in, despite the fact i'm coming from the 16 pro max, i lose a camera, FaceID and the camera control button (which sucks anyway, i only use it to open the camera, and i could do that with the other button by the volume anyway). So yeah, not crazy about going back to TouchID but if it makes sense and is egonomic in the hand, im all for it. (I hate touch id on the ipads though, never feels right and its so much better having face id on my M4 Pro).

THAT BEING SAID...how durrible is this thing going to be? Am i going to have to put this in a ziplock bag when i go for a walk on the beach or when it rains outside? Is the inner screen going to scratch and dent if i dont trim my fingernails daily? Will their eventually be a crease 3-6 months to a year down the road with mutiple openings and closings a day?

Like duribility is a big thing for me. I've never scratched a screen or camera lense, or even the body of my iphones because the first thing i do is buy a screen protector and the best case i can afford.

But this...you cant put a screen protector on the inner display. Im not sure how much a case is going to protect this thing when it has mechanical moving parts. Simple laws of physics. The more moving parts in anything, the more points of eventual failure you have.

Buttons wear out, hinges wear out, etc. Im highly curious about the eventual Jerry Rig Everything Stress test. The Google Pixel Folds for the past few years all break in half when you fold them a certain way but not many people buy them. If this bends or breaks in a simular way, it will make bendgate and antenna gate look weak by comparison.

Im excited for this device, truly, but i also want to know will my 2000-2500 dollar phone last a full year until the next one intact with normal every day use? I think thats a valid concern here.
 
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VulchR said:
Sounds like that is not possible with a foldable screen. I still believe that bendable screen make more sense for static curved wearable displays, like something worn on a forarem, and foldables should be two flat screens joined by an ultra-precise hinge. Just my two cents...
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I loved the CONCEPT of the Microsoft Surface Neo. I thought if they just had a front screen on that and it opened up, it would have been perfect (sans running windows of course).
 
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