Overwhelmingly positive first impressions of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 bode extremely well for Apple, which is prepping to launch a folding iPhone with a similar design.
People who went hands-on with the Z Fold8 after its Wednesday launch praise the device’s wide, compact form factor, which makes it easy to carry and improves the content consumption experience.
That’s great news for the upcoming folding iPhone, possibly called the iPhone Fold, which reportedly will arrive later this year.
Samsung’s wide Galaxy Z Fold8 wins over skeptics
Samsung’s unexpectedly well-received Galaxy Z Fold8 may be doing Apple a favor: validating the short, wide, tablet-like form factor rumored for the iPhone Fold before Cupertino needs to sell anyone on it.
This could help Apple, which is typically late to the folding game but determined to outshine the competition, make this type of foldable a mainstream success — especially when you factor in Apple’s advantage when it comes to apps. The full package could turn a very expensive folding phone into something closer to a pocketable computer than a novelty with a hinge.
The Galaxy Z Fold8, which Samsung unveiled Wednesday, carries over the same branding as the company’s previous foldable phones. But it marks a major departure from previous book-style foldables. Instead of the tall and narrow shape used by the Z Fold7 and the Fold8 Ultra, the standard Z Fold8 is considerably shorter and wider.
Samsung called it a “fresh and exciting form factor that provides a new kind of foldable experience built around the way people explore, discover and immerse themselves in their favorite content.”
Early praise for an unusual folding form factor
The Z Fold8’s 5.5-inch outer display uses a relatively broad 16:10 aspect ratio. Opening the device reveals a 7.6-inch display with a squarish 4:3 aspect ratio. Compared to previous foldables, the Z Fold8’s dimensions might seem awkward. But in person, the design appears to work remarkably well.
Dominic Preston of The Verge admitted the phone failed to impress him in photos. However, after holding it, he found that it felt natural almost immediately. He concluded that Samsung’s wider Fold8 “feels just right.”
TechRadar’s Axel Metz similarly described the phone as a passport-shaped oddity that revived his interest in foldable phones. GSMArena praised the two-handed typing experience and said the phone could have a bright future, even if its width makes one-handed typing more difficult.
And in his initial impressions, YouTuber Marques Brownlee said the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 surpassed his expectations and proved surprisingly easy to use.
Bloomberg’s Chris Welch wrote on X Wednesday that Samsung potentially cracked the code for a great folding smartphone, describing the Fold8’s shorter design as “charming.”
“Samsung might’ve nailed the foldable form factor with the Galaxy Z Fold8,” he wrote. “That’s good news for everyone awaiting Apple’s foldable iPhone.”
These are only early impressions, not long-term reviews. Still, they all reveal an important pattern: The Fold8’s unusual proportions work in its favor during real-world use.
Samsung might’ve nailed the foldable form factor with the Galaxy Z Fold 8. That's good news for everyone awaiting Apple's foldable iPhone.
It’s built for entertainment/video, and the shorter design is charming.
Our full story on all of today's hardware: https://t.co/T2b5qnw5Pl pic.twitter.com/JkMHzmXWy3
— Chris Welch (@chriswelch) July 22, 2026
Galaxy Z Fold8 gives a preview of the folding iPhone
All the high praise for the Galaxy Z Fold8 wide design bodes well for Apple’s upcoming iPhone Fold. That’s because the first foldable iPhone will supposedly feature a similar wide form factor.
The timing of Samsung’s redesign is difficult to ignore, given that Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable soon.
The rumored iPhone Fold specifications closely match those of the Fold8: a 5.5-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio, packed into a body reportedly measuring between 4.5mm and 4.8mm thick when unfolded.
The shorter body should fit more easily into a pocket. Plus, the wide outer display leaves more horizontal room for keyboards and webpages. And when unfolded, the 4:3 inner screen should resemble a tiny iPad rather than two narrow phone displays joined together.
Samsung Display will supposedly supply Apple with the iPhone Fold’s display panels. That does not necessarily mean Samsung Electronics knows every detail of Apple’s design, as the corporate siblings operate as separate businesses. Still, the reported supply arrangement helps explain why the two phones could use similarly sized folding screens.
More importantly, Samsung has now put this unusual design into reviewers’ hands. Their reaction suggests Apple will not need to convince buyers that a short, wide folding phone makes sense. Samsung already demonstrated that the form factor feels far more natural than it looks in renders and leaked images.
Apple can make better use of the large folding screen
Even if the iPhone Fold and the Galaxy Z Fold8 end up sharing the same form factor and display sizes, Apple’s foldable will have one key advantage: apps optimized for the big screen.
The folding iPhone should support iPad-like layouts and side-by-side applications when opened, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. That could let users treat the device as a regular iPhone while closed and a compact iPad when opened.
Thanks to the iPad, Apple already has a vast library of apps optimised for large screens. That’s not the case with foldable Android phones. Despite Samsung’s years-long lead on making folding phones, most Android apps are still not optimised for the big screen.
On the foldable iPhone, apps could show additional columns or controls on the inner display. Mail could display the inbox alongside an open message, while Safari could offer a more desktop-like tab layout. Calendar, Notes and Files could also adopt their existing iPad interfaces instead of stretching their iPhone designs.
An advantage for multitasking
The wide Fold8 already shows how well this screen shape can work for games and multitasking. Vadim Yuryev, host of the Max Tech channel on YouTube, praised the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8’s ability to run games across the large display while keeping another app open beside them.
“My favorite part about wide foldables like the new Galaxy Z Fold8 is gaming,” he wrote Wednesday on X. “You have a massive display for full screen games, whether landscape or portrait. Multitasking while gaming is amazing, especially since you can shrink the size of the game window down!”
Features such as drag and drop, split-screen multitasking and tighter integration with the Mac could make the iPhone Fold useful for far more than watching videos.
Apple controls the hardware, operating system and its core apps, allowing it to make switching between the outer and inner screens feel seamless.
My favorite part about wide foldables like the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 is gaming. You have a massive display for full screen games, whether landscape or portrait.
Multitasking while gaming is amazing, especially since you can shrink the size of the game window down! #galaxyunpacked https://t.co/IRIV3cgA0Z pic.twitter.com/N4jRhMKhEU
— Vadim Yuryev (@VadimYuryev) July 22, 2026
Folding iPhone could become a big hit for Apple
The Galaxy Z Fold8 starts at $1,899. Rumors suggest the foldable iPhone will cost between $2,000 and $2,500. That steep price tag will keep the device out of the hands of most buyers.
But Apple does not need its first foldable to match the sales of a regular iPhone. Even a relatively small number of sales could make it a successful new product category, especially at such a premium price. It could also give existing iPhone users a reason to upgrade instead of switching to a Samsung or Google foldable.
Still, considering the positive reception that the Galaxy Z Fold8 is receiving, the iPhone Fold could become a big hit for Apple. A similar wide form factor — combined with iPad-style software and the strength of the iPhone ecosystem — could prove even more appealing than Samsung’s device.
Apple also benefits from entering the market after other manufacturers alredy spent years refining foldable screens, hinges and software. Cupertino’s first attempt will arrive in a far more mature market than Samsung’s original Galaxy Fold did in 2019.
There is already a market — admittedly a small one — for foldable phones. Apple’s entrance into the space will only fuel folding phones’ momentum. And that could help make foldable phones a mainstream product.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
You can reach out to him at mail[at]rajeshpandey.me.
