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Rumors about Apple's first foldable iPhone are picking up now that the device has entered a new testing stage that precedes mass production. If you've been having trouble keeping up with what's new, we've recapped the latest iPhone Fold rumors that have come out over the last few weeks.

Apple-Foldable-Thumb.jpg

Naming

One rumor claims Apple will call its foldable iPhone the "iPhone Ultra," which doesn't seem out of the question. We've been referring to it as the iPhone Fold during the rumor cycle, but it's unlikely Apple will actually use that name.

Samsung already has the Galaxy Fold, and that would be too similar for Apple's tastes. Apple already uses the Ultra naming for the Apple Watch and for the version of CarPlay that more deeply integrates with in-car systems.

Given the $2,000+ pricing of the foldable iPhone, "Ultra" could make sense.
Design

We've heard plenty of rumors about the iPhone Fold's design, but the first alleged dummy models came out this week. We don't know if these are reflective of the iPhone Fold's actual design, but it has all of the design features that have been rumored, and the right sizing.

sonny-dickson-iphone-18-fold-dummy-models.jpeg


The foldable iPhone will have a ~5.5-inch display when closed, making it Apple's smallest current-generation iPhone. When open, it will be around 7.8 inches, so about a half-inch smaller than the iPad mini. It will have a wider 4:3 aspect ratio like an iPad, which is a design that will set it apart from other foldable smartphones on the market. Most foldable smartphones are taller, but Apple is going in a different direction.

There is a raised camera bump that does not span across the entire back of the device, which is expected. It has a two-lens camera system, and a thin chassis. Rumors suggest the iPhone Fold will be as thin as 4.5mm when open, which limits space for the camera. It's so thin that Apple won't be able to use the TrueDepth camera system, and it's going to have Touch ID instead of Face ID.

Release Timing

We've heard a lot of back and forth rumors on release timing over the last two weeks. Some rumors have suggested the iPhone Fold will be delayed past September because of late stage production issues, while others suggest it's on time for a September launch.

In March, a Barclays analyst suggested the iPhone Fold could be introduced in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, but launch later, perhaps as late as December.

Japanese site Nikkei said this week that Apple is running into so many issues that the iPhone Fold might be pushed until 2027, but Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the report is "off base." Gurman believes the iPhone Fold will be available for sale "around the same time" or "soon after" the iPhone 18 Pro models.

If the iPhone Fold does launch in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models, it's likely it will be in short supply. Reports agree that the device is complex and manufacturing isn't smooth sailing. In December, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said production challenges could cause supply shortages into 2027.

Pricing

Apple's foldable iPhone will "cross the $2,000 threshold," according to Gurman. It is not clear if $2,000 will be the starting price point, or if it will come with a lower price tag but have some higher-end configurations that exceed $2,000.

Most rumors have suggested that the iPhone Fold will start around $2,000, though there have been outliers that put the starting price upwards of $2,300.

Read More

There are plenty of other rumors about the foldable iPhone, including details about Apple's work on the hinge, the materials it'll be made of, what camera technology it will use, and more. We have a full iPhone Fold roundup with all of the rumors we've heard so far.

Article Link: The Latest Foldable iPhone Rumors: What's Changed and What We Know Now
 
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i'm sure apple has done sufficient user/usability testing in terms of things like ease of use, stability in hand, holdability, in addition to how stable it will be to be used while resting on a table.
but from looking at the mockup, its just seems to me that this thing is so strange in shape and protrusions that i really wonder about that.

-passport sized unopened
-wide but not tall when opened
-camera plateau on one side only and at that only stretching across a part of one panel
-touch ID instead of Face ID. these days almost all of my apps are required by me to use Face ID that going to a Touch ID for every app and sometimes within apps would be very clumsy.

given the above, who is this device for? what does this form factor solve in terms of user level usability improvements?

its going to be very interesting what this actually turns out to be and general customer reaction to it.
 
I think I’m going to call it iPhone Air Sandwich* until we know what it’s official name is. Mmm, tasty. 😋
What’s the Sandwich made of? iPhone.
What’s in the Sandwich? Air.
What do you get if you pull apart the layers and unfold it? An open Sandwich.

*Do not eat iPhone Air Sandwich
 
At $2,000+ few will buy it unless carriers subsidize some of it or decide to do a zero percent interest plan spread out over 3 years or something similar. It’ll be the Vision Pro Part 2. Plus Apple wants $2,000+ for a device with no Face ID. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some people prefer Touch ID, but I’m not one of them. Face ID, for me, is superior in every way.

Then you got the fact that it’s generation 1 hardware that will be obsolete in a year and we know the iPhone XX, or whatever they call the 20th anniversary edition, is coming next year. That’ll be the one I have my eye on.

The fold just doesn’t seem appealing but if Apple is still the Apple that produced the iPhone X, then maybe the device will surprise me, but I have my doubts.

If I know anybody that buys one I’ll take a look at it, but it’s not the kind of device I’m going to drive 35 minutes to the nearest Apple Store to check out and certainly not a device I’d buy sight unseen based on whatever overhyped marketing video they show at the launch event where every other word is “magical” as if they alone invented a folding smart phone.
 
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Heres the deal breaker for me. If Entry starts around 2300-2500 and it DOES NOT HAVE MAGSAFE...i mean what are you doing apple? Thats one compromise too many. I get this thing isnt going to have FaceID, thats the one notch against it for me i really dont like but i get it. But if this thing is supposed to be basically 2 Iphone Airs stacked together, and the Iphone Air has both FaceID and Magsafe, why cant this have magsafe?
 
That mockup is puzzling. It doesn’t offer much screen space gain compared to ProMax and is too small to be useful as a tablet.
 
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It would seem odd to call a less capable phone the “Ultra” just because it has a folding screen but is inferior in every other way. I guess if price is the metric for which these phones are named then “Ultra” makes more sense. But if the only thing that is specced higher than the Pro is a folding screen, the “Ultra” won’t be very “Ultra”. It may need a disclaimer regarding the inferior authentication, camera, and likely durability.
 
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Samsung already has the Galaxy Fold, and that would be too similar for Apple's tastes.
Too similar? Galaxy and iPhone don’t share a single letter.

I posted this Wednesday:
… There is absolutely no association of Ultra with what will be the most distinctive change in the iPhone lineup so far.

“Fold” was technically wrong anyway because the first thing you do when using it is not to fold it but the opposite. Should be the “iPhone Unfold”
 
Ultra name could be to suss out who's leaking. There are many names possible that describe the phone better:
iPhone Dual (as in dual screen)
iPhone Wide (as in wider screen)
iPhone Double (French pronounciation)
iPhone XF (as in transform)
...
 
It's hard to imagine Apple chasing design gimmicks like this, but I guess that's the world we live in now.
Well remember it was the Android manufacturers who started making larger phones when Apple was still doing iPhone 4/5 and only with the 6 did they "catch up".

From the dummy model it looks like it's more of a flip phone in design and those, historically (Moto Razor), have proved very popular. Easier in the pocket.

Only two cameras though? Hmm. The iPhone Air should have been a lesson there.
 
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