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The Latest Foldable iPhone Rumors: What's Changed and What We Know Now

Two grand? I guess the product cycle is too long to account for economic issues but there is a bit of an “affordability” crisis lately. Which is politician doublespeak for everything got too damn expensive, no one is making more money, and I’m still in the pocket of major corporations.

Only people that can really afford a $2K phone are, to be honest, rich people.

I mean $2,000? That’s almost a tank of gas! 😉
 
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IIGS User said:
Two grand? I guess the product cycle is too long to account for economic issues but there is a bit of an “affordability” crisis lately. Which is politician doublespeak for everything got too damn expensive, no one is making more money, and I’m still in the pocket of major corporations.

Only people that can really afford a $2K phone are, to be honest, rich people.

I mean $2,000? That’s almost a tank of gas! 😉
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Adorability has to do with external factors and confidence, why underestimate what people can or cannot afford.

High-end brands are still in business.
 
lusty said:
It’s thicker than the screen on a Surface Laptop and those have always had FaceID.
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No, they have not.
Windows Hello is not FaceID.
FaceID uses a dot projector to make a 3D model of your face, all on device.
Windows Hello, and most other facial recognition features across other phones and computers, simply just use a picture from the front camera. Not only is it significantly simpler, but it’s also significantly easier to fool.
 
IIGS User said:
Two grand? I guess the product cycle is too long to account for economic issues but there is a bit of an “affordability” crisis lately. Which is politician doublespeak for everything got too damn expensive, no one is making more money, and I’m still in the pocket of major corporations.

Only people that can really afford a $2K phone are, to be honest, rich people.

I mean $2,000? That’s almost a tank of gas! 😉
Click to expand...
Something that is being avoided in this entire conversation is that, according to recent information, almost 60% of iPhone purchases in the US are done on an installment plan via a carrier.
Almost no one is paying full price, and certainly not upfront.
So the $2000 sticker price is not going to be that shocking to most people, it’s going to be more like $30 a month instead of $24 a month over three years or whatever.
 
Lounge vibes 05 said:
No, they have not.
Windows Hello is not FaceID.
FaceID uses a dot projector to make a 3D model of your face, all on device.
Windows Hello, and most other facial recognition features across other phones and computers, simply just use a picture from the front camera. Not only is it significantly simpler, but it’s also significantly easier to fool.
Click to expand...
Windows Hello uses an IR camera, so it's quite a bit different than what some Android phones offer. This probably doesn't make it as reliable or secure as Face ID with its dot projector, but there's more to the story than "just a picture from the front camera".

They'll be more than 7 years late to the foldable party only to have similar compromises to their competitors products, if not more. Heck, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold at least has Magsafe (or "Pixelsnap", but it's pretty much the same thing).
 
The ultra name is stupid and they should drop it from their other products.

I like the dimensions they went with. It is something different and probably more comfortable / portable in the hands.

The lack of telephoto camera / wireless charging is a mistake but probably on purpose for gen 2.

I am ready to upgrade from my 14PM so right now it's 90% 18PM and 10% Fold.
 
MacRumors said:


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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To summarize, we know nothing.
 
Moukee said:
Windows Hello uses an IR camera, so it's quite a bit different than what some Android phones offer. This probably doesn't make it as reliable or secure as Face ID with its dot projector, but there's more to the story than "just a picture from the front camera".

They'll be more than 7 years late to the foldable party only to have similar compromises to their competitors products, if not more. Heck, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold at least has Magsafe (or "Pixelsnap", but it's pretty much the same thing).
Click to expand...
To me it sounds like every Apple product launch ever.
I’m not sure why people are being so weird about this, it literally sounds like every Apple launch that has ever happened.
The original iPhone had compromises over other phones, not to mention Apple’s own iPods.
The original iPad didn’t even have a camera, had a sub-720P display and 1/4 of a GB of RAM, even less than the iPhone 4 it shared a chip with.
The original Apple Watch… Just straight up sucked. The thing was horrendously slow, the OS was barely a thing and it wasn’t even officially waterproof.

Yes, Apple‘s first foldable iPhones will have compromises over their thicker, likely heavier, 19+ years in the making slabs. This isn’t news.


Also, again, who has said it won’t have wireless charging? I have seen that absolutely nowhere. It will have a glass back just like the iPhone Air, so MagSafe won’t need a visible glass window like it does on the pros, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.
 
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Eggtastic said:
The lack of telephoto camera / wireless charging is a mistake but probably on purpose for gen 2.
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Literally, no one has been reporting on it lacking wireless charging, where does this rumor keep coming from?
It doesn’t have a wireless charging window because the back is glass, not aluminum. The iPhone Air, and every iPhone from the 8 to the 16 Pro, all had wireless charging without a visible external window.
The back is obviously glass so when it’s unfolded both sides feel uniform, and because it’s likely easier to build them that way.
 
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The Face ID makes sense less because of the size then of the folding nature. Face ID is not just used to unlock the screen but for all the secure interactions (password inputs on websites, settings, purchases, etc). You’d need 2 Face ID modules not just one, where as the button works both open and closed.

The MagSafe is another problem: making it a hair thicker for the magnets means less ugly bump, so that’s an aesthetic win. In its current iteration, if an internal MagSafe ring was below the cameras bump, it would eventually cause the phone to slide into a vertical orientation when the screen is open because the weight distribution is off, unless the phone also had the case-style orientation magnet, but then you couldn’t easily rotate on a stand. Not saying a new magnet arrangement unique to iPhone fold/ultra/book isn’t possible but there’s not a lot of room for the current MagSafe ring to work with existing Qi2 chargers as it is.
 
Lounge vibes 05 said:
Literally, no one has been reporting on it lacking wireless charging, where does this rumor keep coming from?
It doesn’t have a wireless charging window because the back is glass, not aluminum. The iPhone Air, and every iPhone from the 8 to the 16 Pro, all had wireless charging without a visible external window.
The back is obviously glass so when it’s unfolded both sides feel uniform, and because it’s likely easier to build them that way.
Click to expand...
People conflate MagSafe with wireless charging. 16e lacked MagSafe but had wireless charging. The magnets likely could get left out of the 1st gen Fold/Ultra/Book like the 16e, possibly brought back for Ultra 2: Electric Boogaloo
 
Lounge vibes 05 said:
No, they have not.
Windows Hello is not FaceID.
FaceID uses a dot projector to make a 3D model of your face, all on device.
Windows Hello, and most other facial recognition features across other phones and computers, simply just use a picture from the front camera. Not only is it significantly simpler, but it’s also significantly easier to fool.
Click to expand...
Tell me you know nothing about Windows Hello without telling me…
Surface has a special sensor and always had. It uses infrared just like FaceID. Some Logitech webcams also have a Windows Hello sensor but most do not and therefore cannot be used for that purpose.

Do some research before making assumptions next time. Windows Hello is more secure than MacOS biometrics if you actually care to look into it with an open mind.
 
BeatsByTim said:
It's hard to imagine Apple chasing design gimmicks like this, but I guess that's the world we live in now.
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People have been saying this for years, but once Apple finally drops it and the hype machine kicks in, I bet the majority of naysayers on Macrumors will want one, with price being the only thing holding them back.
 
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HaHaRich! said:
People conflate MagSafe with wireless charging. 16e lacked MagSafe but had wireless charging. The magnets likely could get left out of the 1st gen Fold/Ultra/Book like the 16e, possibly brought back for Ultra 2: Electric Boogaloo
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Okay, but what is this based off of? It’s not being reported anywhere, as far as I know absolutely no reputable source has said it won’t have MagSafe.
There is absolutely no reason to believe that it won’t have MagSafe, that’s ridiculous.
Literally the only reason people keep saying it won’t have MagSafe is because the dummy units don’t have a Glass window for it, not exactly anything reputable to go off of.
 
If it's $2,000 they are just making it to add prestige to the brand and not really for people to buy, just like the Vision. It's not a serious product. The Neo is a serious product that's flying off the shelves.
 
numberfive said:
market share
2023: 1.4%
2024: 1.5%
2025: 1.6%

massive like this?
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And what share do Apple have? 1.6% of global mobile market when the handsets are $2K is absolutely huge. That’s most of the high end non-Apple market globally. If Apple joins, expect that to jump to 10-15% since Apple are weighted towards high end of the market. It won’t even affect iPad mini sales as there is almost no overlap there.
 
lusty said:
And what share do Apple have? 1.6% of global mobile market when the handsets are $2K is absolutely huge. That’s most of the high end non-Apple market globally. If Apple joins, expect that to jump to 10-15% since Apple are weighted towards high end of the market. It won’t even affect iPad mini sales as there is almost no overlap there.
Click to expand...
popularity implies growth, folds market has already plateaued.
there is no visible proof of the popularity that you alleged, let alone ‘massive’
 
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