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Foldable iPhone Display Production Begins Ahead of Launch Next Year
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About time too! I've only been waiting for 8 years...
Production of foldable OLED displays for Apple's first foldable iPhone have begun ahead of its expected launch next year, Korea's ETNews reports.
The first foldable iPhone's displays are being produced by Samsung Display, who are establishing a production line dedicated to the upcoming Apple device its A3 factory in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do. The production line will make displays exclusively for the foldable iPhone and work on the facility is now believed to be in its final stage. It will be capable of producing 15 million 7-inch foldable OLED panels per year.
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to feature an inward-folding OLED display. It will likely sit alongside the other models in next year's iPhone lineup, including the iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Air, iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max. It will be refreshed annually in the fall just like the other models.
Apple is apparently planning to produce six to eight million foldable iPhones in 2026. While Samsung's production capacity of 15 million displays per year far exceeds Apple's requirements for 2026, the supplier is said to be preparing for new models and increasing sales in subsequent years.
Samsung Display apparently has secured an agreement with provide Apple with foldable displays as the sole supplier for two years. While Apple usually prefers to diversify its supply chain where possible, Samsung has unique technological expertise in foldable OLED displays due to offering its own foldable smartphones, which it has been making commercially since 2019.
As a result, Samsung is likely to remain the exclusive supplier of Apple's foldable iPhone displays for three years and a least be a key supplier thereafter. Samsung Display similarly led Apple's transition from LCD to OLED with the iPhone X and iPhone XS.
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to feature a super-thin design at 4.5mm, a 4:3 iPad-style 7-inch inner display with no visible crease, a durable hinge, a dual rear camera system with wide and ultra wide options, the "A20" chip, and Touch ID instead of Face ID. It could cost over $2,000.
Article Link: Foldable iPhone Display Production Begins Ahead of Launch Next Year
PS. Fire your editor.
Have you seen how the screen's cover is now detaching though across the fold? I saw my colleague's Samsung Fold 7 yesterday. Not good at tall. Not enough testing it seems...
Issues I’ve seen with fold 7 seem to be
Very wobbly on a table and I mean really bad
Punch hole isn’t in a good place as it’s too far on middle
Battery size is still very small
Design wise though it’s really great and thin like other foldables now with a good front display at last
I’m sure apples foldable will be about 9mm too
I’m not sure about that. A folded in half iPad mini makes for a massive phone.
Personally I’d rather have a normal iPhone max folded in half.
I won't buy one, but I hope it does well enough to encourage Apple to try a flip phone next.
They will save that for another day so you will have a reason to buy another one.
It a iPhone , it’s a iPad , it a web communicator, it a iPod ……. It’s one device 😂
The fold 7 is not yet out in the hands of customer ….lol stop taking 🐂 💩
Eagerly waiting to see the device. Hoping that the cameras on it are good. But lack of telephoto lens will be disappointing especially when competitor like the Galaxy Fold is having it. As for the price think it will start at $1999.
That looks quite nice, actually!
The main problem (other than durability and the crease) of foldables so far for me is that the very square aspect ratio of the unfolded screen is quite weird and a little useless, compared to typical tablet aspect ratios. If Apple can make the unfolded iPhone be at least 4:3, it will be much more useful, especially if you can run iPad apps on that thing.
The ideal solution would be a tri-fold like the Huawei Mate XT, which turns into a full-size tablet screen when unfolded. But only if it doesn‘t become too heavy. The Huawei thing weighs 300 grams (16 Pro Max: 227 grams).
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Please give articles a quick proof read before publishing
Serious question, does MacRumors proofread these articles anymore? There is no way the phone will be 4.5mm when folded.
Yeah I’m always going to go for the iPhone with the best cameras.
I’m curious if Apple will keep the Pro Max as the flagship iPhone even though this foldable may be priced higher? Maybe that term has no meaning anymore.
That's only enough for all the YouTube reviewers, so I guess everyone else will wait for version two.
What's interesting to me is how this could become the only machine you need. We're getting to the stage where the iPhone is powerful enough that it could be plugged into a screen and wireless keyboard and, with iPad OS, this phone that folds into an iPad could also work as a Mac. Not for power users working in video production / graphics of course, but for most users an iPhone is already powerful enough to do everything they need day to day, it just lacks the form factor and OS.
I loved my first gen Watch! Kept it until the Series 4 and always ran like a champ
How about iOS on the outer display and iPadOS on the inner display. That would be ideal. I would love it even more if iPadOS was eliminated and they allowed it to run MacOS on the inner display.
It will flop harder than Nokia N9. Especially after G-friends will launch their revolutionary ChatGPT device.
A new iPhone category won’t flop. It will likely sell out quick
If you turn that iPhone 90 degrees you get almost same size screen. So there’s no need for gimmick foldable. I mean for users. For Apple there is the need, need for charging $2000+ for it.