Apple's Foldable iPhone May Be Hitting Late-Stage Manufacturing Snags

[MacRumors]

Apple's first foldable iPhone is being held up by pricing negotiations with manufacturing partners and an unresolved decision about hinge materials, rather than component or display problems, according to Chinese leaker Fixed Focus Digital.

Apple is expected to release its first foldable iPhone later this year, in the form of a book-style device that unfolds to reveal a screen about the size of an iPad mini. Reports suggest it will feature a 7.8-inch main display when unfolded and a 5.5-inch cover display, but claims of when it will launch have yet to arrive at a consensus, with reports suggesting a release could come as early as September or as late as December.

In a post today on social network Weibo, Fixed Focus Digital cited their own supply chain sources claiming Apple is still undecided on the hinge material, with the company still apparently weighing liquid metal against 3D-printed titanium alloy, which was most recently used in the iPhone Air.

Rumors going back to March last year claimed that Apple had settled on the use of liquid metal for the hinge, which could improve durability and reduce screen creasing. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has previously used liquid metal in smaller device components like SIM ejector pins, but the foldable iPhone will be the company's first major use of the material in a critical mechanical part.

Fixed Focus Digital expects Apple to settle on its preferred material during the device's Production Validation Test (PVT) phase between July and early August, which would be the latest time for such a decision to be realistically made – assuming the device is scheduled to ship this year.

The second, potentially more disruptive issue is allegedly price negotiations with Apple's assembly partner, which the leaker suggested could affect the production schedule. Apple's first foldable iPhone could end up costing nearly twice as much as the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with retail pricing likely to be somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500.

According to Kuo, the foldable iPhone will include two rear cameras, a single front-facing camera, and Touch ID integrated into the power button. The device could measure just 4.5mm thick when unfolded, and between 9mm and 9.5mm when closed.

Fixed Focus Digital previously broke the news ahead of launch about the iPhone 16e name for Apple's upcoming iPhone SE successor.

Article Link: Apple's Foldable iPhone May Be Hitting Late-Stage Manufacturing Snags

 

[Falco McGregor]

Don’t we get an article like this for nearly every new iPhone form factor, occasionally timed within 30 days of an earnings report?

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Don’t we get an article like this for nearly every new iPhone form factor, occasionally timed within 30 days of an earnings report?

Feels like it. Also ones saying the price will be going up and then it ends up not going up.

 

[abatabia]

Here we go again. Every year like clockwork with the late stage snags.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Is Siri doing the manufacturing?

Get her outta there!

 

[winxmac]

iPad mini mini or iPad nano

 

[Falco McGregor]

Feels like it. Also ones saying the price will be going up and then it ends up not going up.

Yep! I also think the quoted prices for this phone are probably way too high. It’s probably going to be in the same ballpark as the Samsung Fold (around 1,999 to 2,099 to start), and if it’s on the higher side, Apple will likely try to soften that blow with having 512gb starting storage. But then again, who knows?

 

[xxFoxtail]

Just yesterday we got an article about it entering trial production.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Don’t we get an article like this for nearly every new iPhone form factor, occasionally timed within 30 days of an earnings report?

Indeed we do. I especially remember the iPhone X, where we were literally getting reports up to the day of the event saying that Apple hadn’t decided if it was going to be an all screen thing with touchID under the display, or just facial recognition technology, and it was causing production delays. Obviously complete bogus.

Focus Digital cited their own supply chain sources claiming Apple is still undecided on the hinge material, with the company still apparently weighing liquid metal against 3D-printed titanium alloy, which was most recently used in the iPhone Air.

Surely everyone knows this is complete nonsense, right? Apple obviously decided which material they are going to use months and months ago. It’s Apple. They aren’t making decisions on a whim two months before the phone is announced.
That’s the kind of thing they might have been able to do back in 2007 when even the best projections were putting their new smart phone at maybe 1 million units in two months, not 2026, everything absolutely micromanaged, supply chain down to a science Apple.
This is the same company who apparently had the Vision Pro pretty much finalized as early as 2020, despite the thing not launching for another four years after.
Obviously, their biggest product launch in years, a brand new line of iPhone, not a niche headset, but an actual iPhone, is going to be finalized months, if not years in advance. As said in the article right before this, the screen sizes of the foldable iPhone were leaked back in April of last year, almost 2 years before the thing was set to launch. No shot they’re still deciding on materials, that’s just silly.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Feels like it. Also ones saying the price will be going up and then it ends up not going up.

Anyone who already knows about the smartphone landscape knows what the price of this phone is going to be, about the same as all of Apple‘s competitors just like all of their other phones.
Look at the latest flagship Galaxy S26 line, all within $100 of their iPhone 17 equivalent.
17 Pro Max: $1199
Galaxy S26 Ultra: $1299

This is how it’s been for the last 15 years or so, Apple even introduced the $999 iPhone X just a month after Samsung introduced the $949 Note 8.
If you look at every other foldable on the market, the pixel fold, the galaxy fold, they are all between $1799 and $1999 retail. That’s obviously the price Apple is going to be aiming for, give or take $100.
They obviously aren’t going to come out with one and start it at $500-$1000 more than their competition, that’s just not going to happen.

 

[Arran]

Just yesterday we got an article about it entering trial production.

I know. And they found a big problem right out the gate. Fast, eh? 😉

 

[switz]

On my new Ultra Watch 3 I purchased last week, I found that the original Siri has been fired. None of the five voice choices are the original voice any more. Hope she gets a pension! 🙄😳😎

 

[Devyn89]

What’s silly to me is the price. You can get a top of the line iPhone 17 pro max and an 11” iPad Pro for the same money as a folding phone.

 

[rjp144]

That’s not an iPhone fold that’s an iPad fold.

 

[svish]

Hopefully the issues will be resolved quickly and it won't lead to delays. Expecting a starting price of $1999.

 

[5aga]

The form factor is interesting. I wonder more about the software and how well iOS will be handle a foldable. Obviously they can modify iOS but what will the Apple gimmick be?