Apple’s display supplier reportedly solved the biggest technical challenge slowing the acceptance of foldable phones: the ugly screen crease where the display bends.
With that hurdle cleared, production of components for the slim, folding iPhone supposedly will begin later this year.
Folding iPhone with no crease is on the way
Samsung already released the sixth generation of its Galaxy Z Fold, and a range of other companies make foldable Androids, too. However, handsets of this type remain a niche product, popular in Korea and Europe but nowhere else. The visible screen crease is one of the factors holding folding screens back, but that might change when Apple gets into the market.
Previous leaks indicated Apple would never produce a folding iPhone with an unsightly screen crease. And apparently, the problem finally got a solution.
“Apple has started preparing to produce a foldable iPhone,” reported ETnews (in a machine translation) on Sunday. “Apple is said to have significantly improved the display crease, which was considered the biggest drawback of foldable smartphones.”
An unnamed “industry insider” told ETnews that “in order to differentiate itself from the existing foldable phones, Apple decided to eliminate wrinkles regardless of price. I understand that wrinkles have disappeared with new properties.”
The supposed breakthrough comes from Samsung Display, which will supply the foldable panels to Apple. Samsung Display reportedly developed what’s called Ultra Flexible Glass (UFG), which reduces the thickness of the glass in the area where it needs to bend, reducing the tendency to crease.
Opens like a book
AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac
Foldable handsets come in two typical designs. This most recent report from ETnews and one from The Wall Street Journal in December both said Apple picked a book-style design, in which the folding iPhone essentially opens into a small iPad. The alternative folding design is a “flip phone” style, with a horizontal hinge in which the screen is taller than it is wide.
The design Apple reportedly chose will sport a vertical hinge. The screen supposedly will be bigger than the 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple’s largest current model.
Another of Apple’s design goals — aside from not having a screen crease — is that the device be no thicker than a current iPhone. To meet the goal, it reportedly created very slim prototypes in 2024.
Folding iPhone in 2026?
With the problem of the iPhone crease now overcome, Apple is reportedly ramping up to put the product into production. The company should make final supply chain decisions this spring. Then, production of components would begin in the second half of the year, according to ETnews. That falls in line with the Wall Street Journal report from December that predicted the folding iPhone would launch in 2026.
The price of the folding iPhone is unknown, but it’s likely to be quite high. The Samsung Z Fold 6, a foldable Android that uses the book-style design Apple supposedly adopted, starts at $1,900.
A folding iPad, also without an unsightly screen crease, could follow the foldable iPhone.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
