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Crease-Free iPhone Fold on Track for 2026 Launch as Development Advances

I suspect that like with the iPhone Air and the Vision Pro, the first gen will be a niche product for those who have the money to spend on it. And I'm sure, as with the Air, there will be compromises.
 
Regarding thin robustness and battery vs electronics package efficiency, the iPhone 26 Air paved the way for the iPhone 27 Fold.
 
Hajj.david said:
Fold 7 is selling well and its roughly the same width as the iPhone 17 pro max when folded. iPad when you want and phone when you don't is pretty compelling.
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It’s not selling well, it’s just selling better than the model before.
If they can offer it for the same price as current smartphones, then it will be something. Most people don’t want to or cannot afford to pay more for a smartphone these days. They are satisfied with what they get in a regular smartphone. A foldable screen could motivate some customers to upgrade but again: only if it’s a similar price as a regular smartphone
 
HouseLannister said:
Since I am still waiting on More Personal Siri after a year and half, I have zero faith that this phone will have any kind of decent multitasking experience. Just too far behind a Z Fold phone before it even ships. I am sure it will be great hardware, but the rushed beta software won't be ready for primetime until iOS 28 or 29.
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If it’s ios it’s way ahead of the z fold in my humble opinion.
 
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MacRumors said:


Apple is making progress on the development of the book-style foldable iPhone expected in 2026, according to a report from Chinese site UDN. The device has reportedly entered the engineering validation stage, and Apple is gearing up for mass production.

Apple-Foldable-Thumb.jpg

Citing supply chain sources, UDN says that Apple has solved "the crease problem" that has plagued most foldable smartphones, and the foldable iPhone will be the first crease-free foldable smartphone on the market. We've heard multiple prior rumors about Apple's intensive work on the hinge and display to minimize creasing, so this isn't the first time the foldable iPhone has been rumored to have a seamless screen.

Apple is using an inner screen designed by Samsung, but the panel structure, lamination method, and material process was designed by Apple. Apple worked with its suppliers to come up with a hinge design that prevents a permanent crease, and the hinge will adopt Liquid Metal components. By using Liquid Metal, Apple was able to design an iPhone that has a durable hinge that still has a slim design.

Apple will allegedly call the device the "iPhone Fold," which is the name sites have already adopted when sharing rumors about the product.

There have been rumors suggesting that Apple could delay the foldable iPhone beyond 2026, but if Apple is ready for the engineering validation stage of iPhone development, a September 2026 launch timeline as planned is entirely plausible.

Article Link: Crease-Free iPhone Fold on Track for 2026 Launch as Development Advances
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Others who have been wanting fold and I am sooooooo excited. Hopefully, it will come true next year. It feels a thousand years even ten thousand years. 🎊🎊🎊😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰
 
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krspkbl said:
The crease isn’t the issue.

It’s the soft plastic screen that is going to get wrecked by your finger nail or small bits of dust/debris.

Sorry but I ain’t paying even more money for a phone that is going to be ruined so easily. But hey at least you can just buy AppleCare…

I’ll stick to boring old iPhones with solid glass that I can put a glass screen protector on.
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To me it's both the plastic and the crease that are showstoppers. The most magical thing to me about the very first iPhone was the responsive glass touchscreen. I have never used a screen protector because I've never found one that feels as good as the iPhone display (I've never broken one either), and I don't expect a plastic display to come anywhere close to what we have now.
 
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Alfonson said:
It’s not selling well, it’s just selling better than the model before.
If they can offer it for the same price as current smartphones, then it will be something. Most people don’t want to or cannot afford to pay more for a smartphone these days. They are satisfied with what they get in a regular smartphone. A foldable screen could motivate some customers to upgrade but again: only if it’s a similar price as a regular smartphone
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iFold will sell well. It is Apple!! I bet all of those who have been thinking and speaking negatively will want it when it comes. Apple fold version will be the best one in the folded phone market and sold out.
 
CharlesShaw said:
Aside from luxurious screen real estate, for me a lot of the iPad appeal is not having to worry about running down the iPhone battery as often.
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I can appreciate that viewpoint, though for me the battery is a consumable, nothing more and I don't pay special attention to it. And, with that device I would definitely get AC+ so if the battery were to "fail", AC+ covers that
 
xraydoc said:
Now if the inner screen runs iPadOS so it'll do all the things an iPad mini can do, I'll buy day-one.

If it's "just" an iPhone with a bigger screen, then I probably won't.
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That's a good point, I do have the need occasionally to download photos from my DSLR to my iPad for viewing, honestly don't know if I could do that on my 17PM
 
JPack said:
Laggards will always exist - people asking others to use a smartphone as a pure phone and also shouting at the clouds.

The rest of us have been eagerly waiting for an Apple foldable for such a long time.
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You've been eagerly awaiting an iPhone with fat aspect ratio?
You've been eagerly awaiting an iPhone with side button Touch ID?
You've been eagerly awaiting paying $2,000 for endless compromises?

No one has been eagerly awaiting any of these things. They just stick their fingers and in their ears and ignore them, and just keep chanting "foldable, foldable, foldable" as if somehow it will magically be different than what has already leaked.

Edit: You people crack me up with your downvotes. I'm not the one making the product. Apple is. And what they are making is not good.
 
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Next Year's Headline...

"Apple admits unexpected delay of iPhold 18 due to supply constraints"


2027 Headline...

"California cancer concern over folding screen creates surprising delay in the upcoming iPhold..."


2028 Headline...

"EU lawsuit mandating use of universal plug-n-play folding screens puts temporary pause on Apple's iPhold!"


2029 Headline...

"Apple tables plans for a new folding iPhone in order to put more resources into electric Apple Car"
 
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Is it ‘crease-free’ or are they ‘working to minimize the crease’?

Are Apple and the people that write these articles actually familiar with the term ‘crease’?
 
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