Why Apple's Foldable iPhone May Be Smaller Than Expected

[iZac]

Dear MacRumors, do you read your own forum? Since May 2025 this has been pretty clear and iZac already made some amazing renders back then in this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/rumoured-iphone-fold-size-concept-drawing-and-renders.2456447/

View attachment 2590312

His renders have been going viral now and sites are even reporting them as leaked CAD files.

View attachment 2590311
Also other users have 3D printed models based of these months ago. So, you have your own forum full of information which is completely ignored, but when someone on X posts a paper printout based on this information it gets posted to the homepage. That's very difficult to understand...

Ah it’s ok, I think they didn’t report it because my renders and estimated dimensions are a bit outdated now (little bit big).

I think Tim (Hardwick, not Cook!) popped onto the tread to point out my CAD’s been doing the rounds recently on other sites and being passed off as supposed leaks from accessory makers! Put it this way, MacRumours hasn’t reported on the German article because they know where it came from

I’m just happy that’s it’s helping people day-by-day - the renders have a couple of thousand views on YouTube now, so I’ve helped a few people!

 

[rembert]

the ‌iPhone‌ mini, a line Apple discontinued in 2022 due to poor sales.

That's not true. At that time Apple had misunderstood the market after having flooded the market for mini-sized phones with the SE-2020, the SE-2022, the 12 mini and the 13 mini, while people who buy such phones will typically keep such a phone for years - no fashion followers. I'm on a 13 mini, my wife on an SE-2022. We would buy the 19-mini, not anything bigger.

Now, about this foldable phone: I look forward to the non-foldable version, only having the outer screen. That's enough for me.

 

[infomofo]

it's a bit of a nightmare for app developers who will now have to design for yet another screen aspect ratio- but that's not really anything new.

 

[subjonas]

a more square inner panel once unfolded, which can be awkward for many types of content, like videos and two open windows in Split View.

How does two open windows in Split View on a square panel look awkward? It would look just like two phones screens side by side. Since we're very used to phone screens I wouldn't call that awkward.

4:3 is just better for video. Otherwise neither has any significant objective advantage that I can tell. Only subjective preference.

 

[ipedro]

They said "unopened." It's too wide as a phone. If you have short fingers, you can't use this comfortably.

Not sure what kind of Alien anatomy you're talking about but people with normal human digits have far better accessibility horizontally with their thumb when holding a phone than reaching vertically. A wider but shorter phone will be far easier to use one handed. Pick up a passport and see for yourself. I can reach 90% of every bit of a passport with just my thumb. I cannot reach the top of an iPhone unless I use it two handed.

 

[HazeAndHahmahneez]

Going to be a great phone that won’t fit in pants pockets. Deal breaker?

Yes that’s def a deal break for many but not the few guys who always walk around with a backpack or the ladies with purses..

If the camera isn't a downgrade (which all rumors seem to indicate) I'd buy this. If not, I stick with the Pro when it comes out.

Yeah, first gen looks like it’ll have a gimped camera system with software to add details and features etc.

I think third gen will start to have better cameras and maybe Face ID etc.

I really hope they end up calling it the "iBook"

I’ve been sayin iPhold but now I’m convinced it should be iPage lol

I like the idea of a rectangler inner display. However, this is a folding phone, not a folding tablet. This thing will be a pain in the ass to hold and talk on being that wide when it’s folded.

Great point. I’d bet on this thing being made of titanium for both durability and weight concern…like anything tho once the muscle memory kicks in you should be good to go…moreover, it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple is counting on ppl using AirPods for this thing.

I feel like that may be what doomed the Air. Some of the tradeoffs might have been tolerable, but downgrading the cameras from even the regular 17 was a step too far.

Definitely, social media centric Americans ain’t havin no gimped ass cameras! Bet your bottom dolla baby.

A passport fits in a pocket. In fact, that universal passport size and dimension ratio was deliberately designed to fit in a pocket.

But you can’t forget about the weight, thickness and rigidity of this thing. This coming from an avid passport user.

if this is the expected design I may for the first time leave Apple and go to the Fold 8 coming out this summer. The form factor of the fold 7 is incredible.

Def don’t recommend this. Not only are you giving over massive amounts of personal data away to that company not to be named…but also the personal data of all your contacts (friends, family, colleagues etc)

No good, guy…

I mean, everything that you're saying sounds absolutely perfect for a mini owner to upgrade to. Small screen, probably great battery life if I only ever use the outer screen, nice and heavy in my hand? Thick enough to hold? And TouchID to boot? Apple may have finally figured out how to part me from $2000 for a simple phone.

Great point about battery use. It surely seems like keeping it folded would lead to longer use. Hadn’t even thought of that…what REALLy intrigues me is how will passwords work…do you need to unlock it after every fold/unfold…and if so maybe the Touch ID will be somewhere very convenient so it’s seamlessly part of the movement process…

The side by side comparison with the Pro Max kind of makes me think it's not worth it. It's still so wide, and opened up it's really not that much bigger than the Pro Max anyway.

Being a 16 max user I’d love to agree with you, but I think this will be one of those scenarios where pictures and videos won’t do it justice…it needs to be experienced and held first hand to get a true feel for it and the expanded screen real estate. Sure it’s not an iPad or Z fold or whatever android mess that’s out there…but it is a glorious iPhone at the biggest size ever released (and surely will keep growing as the years continue…

Why, oh why. Why do we need this?

Options. It’s good to give ppl plenty of options.

I'm a little befuddled by this talk of single-handed use. Can you use a Pro Max single-handed? That's one of the top-selling iPhone models.

Yeah it would be nice to be able to use the foldable one-handed, but it feels like that ship has already sailed.

I use 16 max single handed a lot and I’m fine with it. My hands are probably below average in size, oh poor me.

I feel the same way, but is a trifold feasible?

No idea. Let’s just take it one year at a time…but, it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple keeps this book form and down the road release a trifold and that’s considered the “pro max” of the fold line …

Everyone is different. For me the cutoff was between the iPhone 5 and 6. The 6 was just a tad bit too wide for me to be used comfortably one-handed. The mini barely works.

Comfortable means that you can hold the phone in your palm, with the finger tips firmly holding the opposite edge, while the thumb can reach all UI elements without having to loosen your grip.

Not for me. Comfortable is having a not too heavy phone with good grip…16 max it is, then.

I feel like I am missing that finer points of the design. Feel fee to point them out to me if you see my misunderstanding.

I hear you. This is Apple tho, I believe they’ll pull this off to where many ppl
Not Sold on folds will still want one.. we shall see…

 

[BrHi11]

I like the idea of a rectangler inner display. However, this is a folding phone, not a folding tablet. This thing will be a pain in the ass to hold and talk on being that wide when it’s folded.

It looks to be a slight increase in width and a significant shortening of the device. It shouldn’t be much different from using a current Pro Max.

Also, I might be in the minority here, but I choose to use AirPods Pro’s for all my phone calls. I refuse to hold a device and talk if I have the option. I realize others don’t have the same habits as I do. So, it might be an issue for you and others but that is not an issue that I think should be considered for this kind of device. It needs to be a great consumption and productivity tool and this aspect ratio is a huge win for the inner display and the outer will allow for messaging, calls, and quick interactions just fine.

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

This rumour does answer one of my dislikes of the current bendy phones. Having it unfold to 4:3, and its closed aspect similar to the OG iPhones, make it much more useful.

I can actually imagine a scenario where I could possibly use this! If I still lived a 45 minute train ride away from work, instead of a 2 and a half minute walk, then reading and watching videos on the train would be a bit more comfortable than a regular iPhone. Even if I did still have to travel that much, it’s still not worth all the other compromises to me.

As it is, it would be nothing but a super expensive toy. It does nothing that I use, or want to use, my iPad for, since I think the iPad mini is unusable small and the 11” iPad is barely big enough!

 

[Bluepig45]

All they did was to cut the iPad Mini in half along the short edge, added a hinge, a smaller battery than it needs, bought more glass/screen from Samsung, and like Apple they will start it with 12-16G of RAM (if we're lucky - I'm betting on 8-12), and 256G of base storage. Referencing the iPad Mini, I heard a shorter time line for the iPad Mini will also come in 2026, which will be confusing to most if not all adopters of the iFold. I wonder if it will be certified for Fore Flight?

The promised software functions will be "coming later" in the next software update, or like Apple AI, maybe never. I'm also guessing the embargo to the tech bloggers/youtubers will be saturated with restrictions, and a very short list of allowed talking points.

 

[Bluepig45]

It looks to be a slight increase in width and a significant shortening of the device. It shouldn’t be much different from using a current Pro Max.

Also, I might be in the minority here, but I choose to use AirPods Pro’s for all my phone calls. I refuse to hold a device and talk if I have the option. I realize others don’t have the same habits as I do. So, it might be an issue for you and others but that is not an issue that I think should be considered for this kind of device. It needs to be a great consumption and productivity tool and this aspect ratio is a huge win for the inner display and the outer will allow for messaging, calls, and quick interactions just fine.

I agree your holding the phone issue. My wife and I both drive the iPhone 15 & 17 respectively, prior to that I drove the Samsung Z Fold 6, and she liked holding my phone even over her 15 Pro. Can't imagine her trying to grip this wide monster once folded closed.

 

[blairh]

I can’t even begin to describe how excited I would be if that were being rumored.

2028.

 

[deuxani]

Ah it’s ok, I think they didn’t report it because my renders and estimated dimensions are a bit outdated now (little bit big).

I think Tim (Hardwick, not Cook!) popped onto the tread to point out my CAD’s been doing the rounds recently on other sites and being passed off as supposed leaks from accessory makers! Put it this way, MacRumours hasn’t reported on the German article because they know where it came from

I’m just happy that’s it’s helping people day-by-day - the renders have a couple of thousand views on YouTube now, so I’ve helped a few people!

You are so modest, that’s a really nice trait!

It was just so weird seeing these articles on the homepage for months about the foldable iPhone, increasing to almost daily the last couple of weeks, but always mentioning it would be like an iPhone Mini closed and two Airs when open. While the basic math you used showed a half a year ago what the actual design would most probably result in.

I visit MacRumors daily and love all the rumors about the foldable, so seeing all these incorrect articles were painful 😄 But that is over now, the cat is out of the bag!

 

[spillled typos]

THE MINI RETURNS

 

[UltimaKilo]

First Gen apple product regardless. By the time Apple has enough user input, the design for the second generation is already finished.

That’s why you should always skip the first two gens of a new Apple product, sometimes three. See: iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Vision Pro, etc.

 

[Boeingfan]

It will end up just being a pro max folded in half, like a Nokia clamshell 🥳

 

[haemolysis]

Making the folded device large and tablet-like defeats the whole purpose of ...being ...able to ...unfold it into a tablet.

 

[AgentElliot007]

Could see being okay with this as my biggest gripe of a smaller screen would be losing keyboard width. Obviously not an issue with this format.

 

[ellnicklin]

Conflicted, excited, confused.

So bored of iPhones that I’ve considered jumping ship or going for a 13 mini just for something slightly different, but the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. So the immediate response to a fresh aspect ratio/form factor is fundamentally exciting (although it may be a result of being starved of anything new for a long time).

An iPad that folds down makes more sense to me than a phone that folds out (same thing but different design rationales), and yet I can’t imagine wanting to use a tablet on the go? So it would be for me an exercise in consolidating 2 devices into 1, unfolded at home, folded on the go, for it to be useful. But then the means in which I and many others use their iPad is almost exclusively Mac-like with a Smart Keyboard. But if this could be keyboarded up, an iPad mini with a keyboard is too small for most.

Conflict after conflict.

But after being on a such a downer with so little inventiveness on Apple’s side of the fence (at least in form factor design, plenty of good stuff internally…) for a really long time, I’m staying open and optimistic that they haven’t lost the real magic for a generational leap every now and again, and that this may be the one.

 

[mlayer]

I look at this from the standpoint of traveling internationally with both an iPhone (X, 12 mini, 15 Pro, Air) and a passport in my left front pants/shorts pocket. For me it works with no issues since my wallet is usually in the right front pocket and the two sides balance each other out when walking around. Try it if you've never done it before, and if you don't have a passport I'm not sure what to tell you. I love the idea of having something that's close to iPhone mini-sized when closed (albeit 0.5 inches wider) and iPad mini sized when open, as long as it uses the proper iPhone/iPad apps in each use case and they can instantly share data. I'm less concerned about the sizing than I am the durability, which is what sank all of the early Android foldables. For that reason alone it won't be an instant buy for me.

 

[Boil]

Dear Tim Apple,

How hard is it to make an Apple Watch that unfolds into an iPhone that unfolds into an iPad mini that unfolds into an iPad Pro...?!? ;^p

 

[dampfnudel]

That mockup looks a little too wide unopened to hold comfortably compared to the iPhones we’re used to. It will feel more like an iPad mini mini unopened. Maybe some people will be okay with it?

 

[zenmacx]

I personally hope this rumor is not accurate at all. The outer display being that small would be ridiculous and at that price range it needs to compete the with Samsung Fold. 5.3 inch outer display would be way to small. I for the first time looked at the Galaxy Fold 7 this past weekend and was truly impressed and was hopeful that was the design Apple would do as I have been holding out for a Foldable iPhone but as the rumors get refined closer to this summer, if this is the expected design I may for the first time leave Apple and go to the Fold 8 coming out this summer. The form factor of the fold 7 is incredible.

To offset lagging behind the competition by many years, Apple seems to be grabbing at straws with this diminutive size in an effort to make their folding phone different.

Judging by the comments here, their influence over the Apple Faithful has them buying into the design. The immediate acceptance by many postings bodes well and should help Apple sell this rather odd form factor.

Nothing if not master wordsmiths and world class marketers, Apple can sell ice water to Eskimos. The question is will this iPhone flop like iPhone Air, or will they sell these in large numbers.

The shareholders are watching.

 

[svish]

Disappointing to see a smaller screen. Have tried out Z Fold 7 in store and did not think the outer screen was bad. Have to try out the Apple Fold once it launches to make a decision. Of course software has a huge role to play and waiting to see how Apple will refine iOS/iPadOS for the foldable. Don't know how much Apple is planning to charge for the foldable. Waiting to see whether there will be any unique features enabled by the software. The camera specific features of the foldables from Samsung are good.

 

[ofarlig]

To offset lagging behind the competition by many years, Apple seems to be grabbing at straws with this diminutive size in an effort to make their folding phone different.

Judging by the comments here, their influence over the Apple Faithful has them buying into the design. The immediate acceptance by many postings bodes well and should help Apple sell this rather odd form factor.

Nothing if not master wordsmiths and world class marketers, Apple can sell ice water to Eskimos. The question is will this iPhone flop like iPhone Air, or will they sell these in large numbers.

The shareholders are watching.

I think it rather seems that Apple has an idea of how they see the devices be used and carefully choose a format that best accomplishes that. Having the size of a slab phone that you can fold out is not an effective format for media consumption or for scaling on normal web pages and whatnot. And I don’t see Apple going for a format that promotes multitasking at the cost of content consumption like Samsung did.

 

[cyberhusky]

​

I have small hands and still use my iPhone 13 mini as daily iPhone. And it is very „pocketable“. I also use an iPhone Air. Best design ever for an iPhone very robust and battery life is better than the iPhone mini.
If the rumored iPhone will be as said this would be great. A onehanded usabable and any pocket friendly device. When unfolded I could get rid of my iPad as most iPad apps will run out of the box. This will be Apple biggest advantage they will have thousands of apps available on start contrarely to Android foldables.
And if iPadOS multitasking will switch to iOS 27 as rumored one could really work on it like a Macbook.
So in my last year as a teacher I could leave my Macbook and iPad at home and just use the iPhone Fold (Ultra). Let‘s just hope Apple can really make a crease-free display.