Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone Fold: 5 Things We Learned This Week About Apple's Foldable

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster


It's been a big week for foldable iPhone rumors. In case you missed any of them, here are five developments that we've covered over the last few days.

3D-Printed-iPhone-Fold-Thumb-2.jpg

Apple is expected to launch the iPhone Fold this September. For everything else we know, be sure to check out our dedicated roundup.

Display Crease

Early reports suggested Apple had solved the crease problem that has plagued many foldables on the market, thanks to a new Samsung-supplied panel that has been described variously as being "virtually crease free" and having "no crease at all." However, the latest report suggests things may have been overstated. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the new display technology Apple is using reduces the crease without eliminating it entirely, and that the result is "not perfect," suggesting it may be wise to temper expectations.

Outer Display Camera

Earlier rumors indicated that Apple has opted to use a hole-punch for the front-facing camera on the 5.5-inch outer display. There are no Face ID components under the display (Touch ID is integrated into the side button instead), but whether it will be encased in a familiar pill-shaped cutout was unclear. Gurman has now confirmed that the small hole-punch cutout replaces the pill-shaped notch that appears on today's iPhones, but that the design will still include a surrounding Dynamic Island interface for system alerts and Live Activities.

Inner Display Camera

Early reports suggested Apple intended to adopt under-screen camera technology in the iPhone Fold's 7.8-inch inner display, making it the first all-screen iPhone. Those rumors may have been true at the time, but it looks like Apple has since dropped the idea. Per Gurman's latest report, Apple apparently determined that the under-display approach "produced worse image quality," and it has now decided instead to use a hole-punch cutout, similar to the one on the outer display.

iOS or iPadOS?

Since the iPhone Fold's inner display will be close to an iPad mini in size with a 4:3 aspect ratio, there had been lingering questions about whether it will work like a standard iPhone when closed and an iPad when open, and which OS it will use. This week, Gurman provided an answer. When the device is opened up, the UI will have an iPad-like layout that supports multitasking with two apps side-by-side. Many apps will feature sidebars on the left of the display, and developers will be given tools to adapt their existing apps for the new interface. However, the device will run iOS, not iPadOS. Gurman said it won't support the full range of multitasking features that are available on the ‌iPad‌, and it won't run existing iPadOS apps.

Storage and RAM

Like the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro/Max, Apple's first foldable iPhone will feature 12GB of RAM, with Samsung set to begin DRAM shipments in the second quarter of this year in line with Apple's production schedule. Korea-based media outlet The Bell reports that Samsung was able to negotiate a substantially higher price than previous memory contracts with Apple. The higher cost is attributed to tightening global memory supply amid the AI server build-out. As for storage options, Apple will offer the device in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities, claims reputable leaker Instant Digital, suggesting the top 1TB option could cost nearly $3,000. For a little perspective, a maxed out iPhone Fold could approach the cost of two 1TB iPhone 17 Pro devices.

Article Link: iPhone Fold: 5 Things We Learned This Week About Apple's Foldable
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/13/iphone-fold-5-things-we-learned-this-week/
  • Haha
Reactions: SFjohn and Z-4195
What about the durability though? A crease really isn’t the main problem with Foldables, it’s the durability.

If this phone is scratchable with your fingernail like every other foldable out there, and falls apart just from looking at it funny it’ll be dead in the water, and Apple’s reputation will be ruined forever.

Some Foldables can be peeled like an orange…

After all, if you’re paying more than double for this phone, and it isn’t as good as, if not better than the pro models what would be the point?
 
  • Love
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: FriendlyMackle, SFjohn, OUsooner08 and 4 others
So basically, all "bad" news, but the price will still be high. Apple probably thinking to save all those items for the "fold 2". Im really torn at this point, I love the idea but i dont want to give up Face ID, nor the 3 camera system, nor do i want to settle for iOS, it would be some much better to offer both so it becomes a true ipad mini replacement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Terry2023
Their USP over all the competitors could have been Pro cameras but seems like it will have the same compromise as all the other Foldables unfortunately 🫠 could have been their big bang moment like "this is our first Gen but no compromises made over competitors on their 8 their Generation"

Crease "free" won't be a selling point by then either with the Oppo Find N6 coming out this month
 
Jamie0003 said:
What about the durability though? A crease really isn’t the main problem with Foldables, it’s the durability.

If this phone is scratchable with your fingernail like every other foldable out there, and falls apart just from looking at it funny it’ll be dead in the water, and Apple’s reputation will be ruined forever.

Some Foldables can be peeled like an orange…

After all, if you’re paying more than double for this phone, and it isn’t as good as, if not better than the pro models what would be the point?
Click to expand...
Two Folds in, no issue here. It even survived a huge desert sand storm in Oman last year.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ifxf and iMac The Knife
Cue the pessimists. Every single time Apple tries something new the same crowd shows up to declare it dead on arrival. No one wants this. Too expensive. Who would buy it?

News flash just because it’s not for you doesn’t mean it’s not for everyone else.
Some of us actually use our phones as serious tools. A foldable iPhone that opens into an iPad-mini-style workspace could be incredibly powerful for productivity, multitasking, reading docs, email, travel, business you name it. And yes, it’ll probably cost $2k+. That’s fine. People drop that much on Starbucks in a year, golf clubs, handbags, or gaming rigs without blinking. Different people value different things.

Personally, I think this is one of the most exciting directions Apple has taken in years. I’ll be buying one day one and using the heck out of it in my career and day to day life. If it’s not for you..great. Don’t buy it. But the constant this will fail because I wouldn’t buy it mindset is honestly exhausting.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
  • Haha
Reactions: xxr, OUsooner08, MasterControlProgram and 12 others
if that render is accurate, it's the widest foldable i've ever seen. it's nealry square when folded shut. those proportions make it a hard "no" for me. honestly, it looks horrible. how does it fit in a pocket. or course, maybe the render is wrong...
 
JoshuaBru said:
No one believed for a second that the screen wouldn’t have a crease
Click to expand...
It's not a crease. It's a Dynamic Isthmus™.

While competitors spent years trying to remove the fold, Apple reimagined it as a beautifully animated strip of pixels that lives directly on the hinge and occasionally displays parts of apps that no longer fit anywhere else.

Apple’s design team spent hours perfecting the Dynamic Isthmus, ensuring it delivers the same level of intuitive usability customers loved in Dynamic Island, except now longer, narrower, and strategically located directly on the crease.
 
Last edited:
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: rbramseyjr, FriendlyMackle, xodh and 20 others
I see this larger screen a benefit to social media hounds. That’s not me! I prefer upgrades to the iPhone’s camera technology. I’ll take a look at the fold when it’s released but I won’t be ordering one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huck
Thankfully this means we’re going to have Face ID and it will run iPad apps as everything Gurman reports is usually wrong. 👍🏻
 
  • Love
Reactions: Huck
Jamie0003 said:
What about the durability though? A crease really isn’t the main problem with Foldables, it’s the durability.

If this phone is scratchable with your fingernail like every other foldable out there, and falls apart just from looking at it funny it’ll be dead in the water, and Apple’s reputation will be ruined forever.

Some Foldables can be peeled like an orange…

After all, if you’re paying more than double for this phone, and it isn’t as good as, if not better than the pro models what would be the point?
Click to expand...
Just curious. Has Apple ever had a mishap in the past that ruined their reputation forever and what makes you think if this did happen a trillion dollar company will lose users in droves especially people who don’t even buy it. Really interesting take….
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: OUsooner08, johnsawyercjs, usmaak and 2 others
No interest in a book style folding phone. This isn’t a phone, it’s a tablet. They should’ve done a vertical fold like the Samsung Flip. I got one a few months ago, my first non-iPhone ever. I love it. Not sure why Apple is trying to make a tablet a phone. Remember phablets? Yeah..
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: OUsooner08, Damian., Farquar and 1 other person
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back