It feels like we've been hearing rumours about a foldable iPhone pretty much since Samsung released the Galaxy Z Fold back in 2019. But Samsung's trolling of Apple might finally have got to the Cupertino giant because, for the first time, a folding iPhone (iPhone Fold? iFold?) is starting to sound like it could become a reality.
There are Apple patents for foldable devices, but we've come no closer to seeing a developed concept. But now a reliable analyst has suggested that a folding iPhone could be released as soon as next year The problem is that, based on the rumoured specs, I'm not convinced it will be strong competition for the best camera phones.
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Ming-Chi Kuo has a strong track record on Apple leaks. In a blog post, the analyst at KGI Securities backs up some earlier rumors about a foldable iPhone, which some thing will be called iPhone Ultra. But he also provides more details, which makes the device sound more real.
In line with previous rumours, Ming-Chi says the iFold as we'll call it could have a book-style design with a creaseless 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch outer display. Those dimensions make me wonder if we could also get an iFold Plus and iFold Pro Max, otherwise it sounds like a lot of extra phone for no that much more screen.
Ming-Chi also says the device would have a stainless steel and titanium alloy hinge and titanium casing, which suggests durability and a premium look. It would be just 9 to 9.5mm thick when folded and 4.5 to 4.8mm unfolded. That's thinner than the current Galaxy Z Fold 6, which measures 12.2mm when folded, but it's already rumoured that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 will also be considerably thinner than Samsung's current device.
Kuo claims the phone could get a dual-camera setup with a front-facing camera on hand in both folded and unfolded forms. And the post suggests the phone would have Touch ID but that Face ID may not be an option due to internal space constraints. It would also be a "true AI-driven iPhone" with multimodal functionality and cross-app integration of Apple Intelligence. Ming-Chi suggests the larger screen would be better for AI experiences such as chatting with AI about travel plans while visualizing a map.
But the biggest hurdle for adoption of iFold could be the price. Like Samsung's foldable, a foldable iPhone was never going to be cheap. But the analyst suggests the device would retail at between $2,000 and $2,500, while the Z Fold 6 starts at $1,899 and is often discounted.
What makes Ming-Chi's post convincing is that he provides a possible timeline, suggesting that Apple will finalise specs in the third quarter of this year and begin mass production in the last quarter of 2026. That would mean the folding iPhone could become a reality by the end of next year or early 2027.
The analyst goes further, suggesting that Apple plans to start producing a second-gen model in the second half of 2027, which would suggest that the foldable iPhone would get the same annual release cycle as the standard iPhone.
Ming-Chi predicts shipments of 3 to 5 million units for late 2026, and 20 million by 2027, which are relatively small numbers compared to the 225.9 million iPhones sold in 2024. That could make sense since it remains to be seen how many people will be prepared to shell out for a bit more screen size on a larger phone.
Some people love Samsung's foldables and won't look back to a slab phone after trying them, but it remains a niche form factor. It's sounding that, like Vision Pro, the foldable iPhone may not be a mass product but an expensive novelty for serious Apple fans – and not much of a novelty considering that Samsung's already on it. There's a potential additional selling point of a creaseless design, but it sounds like a device that will still be too small to work on. I might actually prefer a foldable iPad, but let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
