We’ve been hearing reports of a folding iPhone for a great many years now, and the most recent of these suggest that it may finally arrive in late 2026.
There are two approaches Apple could take with this product, and so far we haven’t seen a consensus view as to which would be better …
Option 1: The flip
The first approach is the a top-down fold, where the opened device has a similar sized screen to an existing iPhone, and it folds down to a very pocketable device with half the height and width, at the cost of twice the thickness.
This approach is typically referred to as a “flip” design and is effectively a re-imagining of a dumbphone format popularized by the Motorola Razr:
A modern example of this is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6:
There’s a small screen on the outside of the folded device, useful for notifications, and it then opens up to a main screen inside:
Option 2: The fold
The second approach is to have a folded device the same size as an existing iPhone, which then opens out into a larger screen, something like an iPad mini.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 is an example of this. On the outside, you have one full-height display:
It then opens up to reveal a twice-the-size display inside:
Another possible way to use this design is a laptop-style clamshell, as imagined here by designer Antonio De Rosa:
Which approach should Apple take?
Which approach do you think Apple should take – flip or fold?
When we asked this question way back in 2021, the majority of you had no interest in a folding iPhone, but among those who did there was no clear consensus on which would be the better form-factor. There was a small preference for a flip design, but there wasn’t much in it.
This time around, we’re separating the questions, to find out first how many would buy a folding iPhone (if it came in your preferred format), and second which design Apple should adopt.
For the first question, Samsung’s precedent suggests that it would be an expensive option, priced well above any existing iPhone model, so please take this into account when answering.
Please answer each, and share your thoughts in the comments.
Images: 9to5Google, and Antonio De Rosa
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