Will Apple introduce a folding iPhone in 2026? Analyst says it will
Has Apple really run out of surprises? Image c/o: Jacinta Iluch Valero/Flickr
Speculation Apple intends to introduce a folding smartphone has intensified in recent months.
Now there are claims Apple’s folding iPhone may fold its way into our reality as soon as 2026, according to one well connected display industry analyst, who expects this will be more like a folding screen device than a flip up phone.
While critics say the move to foldable represents Apple’s attempt to breathe life into what they see as a dated design, Apple probably sees the current iPhone design as iconic. Because it is.
That is why its design is more or less imitated by every other smartphone.
Folding furthur!!!
But progress does demand some forward motion, and I think there are a growing number of iPhone users who look at their friend’s Galaxy Z Fold smartphones and kind of wish Apple made something like those.
Chances are, it will, according to the expert Ross Young. He believes that if Apple does indeed introduce a folding iPhone, it will be more like that device.
Which means you’ll get twice the display space when the device is unfolded, making it closer in size to an iPad mini. That may also introduce some other design opportunities for Apple – it could, for example, introduce a whole range of devices at different sizes. Foldable phones and foldable iPads could all be included in that range, leaving the field free for the company to offer other designs as well.
If Apple made a foldable…
Of course, if Apple does decide to get into the folding smartphone space, it will only do so if it feels it can deliver a product that is superior to what’s already available.
In part, that superiority will be built around the thinness of the device, given Apple’s track record for introducing ever thinner devices; another important component will be (cough) the components, in this case probable use of one of Apple’s superpowered and yet low energy processors.
I have said before and probably will need to again, but Apple Silicon’s ability to combine power with performance at low energy has unleashed new product opportunity for the company’s product designers. Its future design battalions will be able to put processors inside all kinds of shapes and sizes of device.
In the case of the iFold (or whatever the rumor-mill decides to call it as speculation intensifies, if it intensifies) that means a pro-powered thin device with a fantastic screen, highly resilient in use and with no trace of a line down the middle between the two sides of the display. It may also imply dual use, so you can still access device features without opening the screen.
Supported by then by Apple Intelligence v.3, you should be able to get the machine to transact literally dozens of tasks with a few words, and the device itself will have contextual intelligence designed to ensure it is always useful to you. (At least, that’s what Apple Intelligence promises to be.) That screen also means you will be able to use it like an iPad, or an iPhone, for the best of both worlds. Used with a Mac, you’ve suddenly got that completely portable all points computing experience.
I think there may be quite a lot to like.
Get ready for the hype machine
The anticipated hype around any such device will deliver additional benefits across the Apple ecosystem. And, of course (on previous form) Apple will eat a copious portion of any existing competitor’s lunch once its product arrives. It always does – that’s also what Young’s display analysis company predicts.
In a report exploring stagnation in the foldables biz, at present a two horse race between Samsung and Huawei, Display Supply Chan writes:
“Although the market has stalled and will decline for the first time on a panel procurement basis in 2025, there is reason for optimism. Apple is expected to enter the foldable market in 2H’26 and given their dominant position in flagship smartphones could generate significant growth for the foldable smartphone market,” that report states.
“Any improvement in form factor, functionality, use cases, durability, etc. could drive new demand for this market. As a result, 2026 is expected to be a record year for foldables with over 30% growth and with over 20% growth projected for 2027 and 2028 as well. In addition, we expect at least one other brand to adopt a tri-fold in 2026 and expect to see the first slidable laptop in 2025 with more models coming in 2026.”
Trifold?
Which kind of begs the question:
Will Apple’s folding device be a trifold phone? “It’s a phone, it’s an iPad, it’s even a small Mac,” some might say. I’ve a feeling this particular hype machine is one that’s about to begin bubbling…
It may also be important to point out that Apple has had teams working on foldable iPhones from time to time for years.
Apple has been developing technologies that could be deployed inside a folding iPhone since at least 2014, when the first patents for such a device appeared in Europe. More Apple patents appeared in 2016 and 2017, as I noted several years ago.
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