Apple’s long-rumored iPhone Fold has yet to arrive, but the rumor mill still believes it is on the way. Here’s all the latest rumors on release year, the screen, and other features.
While other device manufacturers have embraced the idea of foldable smartphones, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip ranges, Apple has steered clear of making its own version. All of its iPhones and iPads continue to be solid, flat devices with fixed screens that won’t bend.
That’s not to say that Apple hasn’t been working on one in the background. Development of a foldable iPhone, often referred to as the iPhone Fold, has been speculated about for years, and leaks certainly put forward the idea that Apple’s actually going through with it.
With the very real possibility of a foldable smartphone on the horizon, this is what the rumor mill says to expect from the iPhone Fold, if it actually arrives.
iPhone Fold release schedule
Apple obviously hasn’t hinted at any potential release date for the iPhone Fold, and it won’t until it’s ready to do so. That hasn’t stopped analysts from predicting when they think the model will ship.
When it comes to the iPhone Fold, one of the earliest examples goes back to September 2021, when analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted a release by 2024. Obviously, that was a bit optimistic, but more recent speculation offers the same years-away forecasts.
In 2024, those claims insisted that it could arrive by 2027 at the earliest. A plausible timeframe, and one that will take a long time to disprove.
Some of the rumors of a 2027 launch even claim that Apple intended for a late 2026 release, but it got delayed into the following year. Again, this is entirely plausible from a manufacturing standpoint, as Apple can always delay releases for many different reasons.
A February leaker proposed that, based on the current sampling process, manufacturing of the model could start in early 2026. Given Apple’s lengthy production schedules and other rumors, this rumor may lend itself to a 2027 release for the model.
However, ETNews in late February said in its rumor report that some production will begin in the second half of 2025 with a release later in the second half of 2026. This is somewhat earlier than the 2027 predictions, but with such a complicated device, Apple could be more cautious than normal and take more time to fine-tune manufacturing ahead of the release.
Ultimately, no-one really knows when it will be launched, except that there is a consensus that it’s a few years away from becoming a reality.
iPhone Fold display
The main buying reason for the iPhone Fold is to have a flexible display. By having an iPhone that unfolds to a larger screen, users can enjoy more screen space for apps, games, and so on.
However, it’s quite a challenge to create a folding screen that’s reliable for consumers. That sort of work relies on getting assistance from key partners in the supply chain.
Back in April 2022, reports were surfacing that LG Display was working with Apple on the display. However, those reports dealt with it from a standpoint of a foldable iPad or a MacBook OLED display, not an iPhone.
One month later, the reports about the iPhone display started to flood in.
An unfolded iPhone Fold could offer iPad mini-style screen estate
In September of the same year, Apple was reportedly working with LG Display and Samsung Display on screens that won’t crumple. This apparently involved developing hybrid OLED panels that combine the inflexible sections of glass with flexible plastic substrate panels for the bending bits.
This is entirely likely to have happened, as Apple has to work with its key supply chain partners to develop new screens for its products.
The use of both glass and flexible plastic substrates is also highly plausible. The glass elements will provide the usual rigid iPhone display consumers know and love, while the plastic fulfills the bending requirements for a foldable device.
A February 2025 leaker claimed the display for the iPhone Fold could be “comparable to two 6.1-inch iPhones folded together, resulting in a total size of over 12 inches.”
The mathematics of that supposed measurement is somewhat wrong, as it would realistically be a screen size in the ballpark of 7.5 inches, which is similar to the 8.3-inch iPad mini.
That leaker also insisted that the display would be exclusively developed by Samsung, which contradicts the earlier LG Display claims, and a January report that Apple was still working to decide on a foldable display supplier.
The same month, Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station claimed the large folding screen would have a 5.49-inch outer screen to allow it to work like a normal smartphone. The inner screen, to make it look more like an iPad, measures a somewhat realistic 7.74 inches diagonally.
iPhone Fold versus creases
A foldable smartphone has to not only be sturdy for everyday use, but it also has to deal with extra fatigue. The process of folding and unfolding can cause wear on a display, especially in an area where the fold can develop into a crease, which can eventually deteriorate.
Apple, like other folding phone companies, has to design the iPhone Fold to counter this weakness.
Patent speculation from 2022 introduced one concept of a folding iPhone that puts the display on the outside, instead of the screen being on the inside of the fold. This is one way to beat the problem, as the screen doesn’t have to deal with the typically tight radius of an internal fold, and instead has to deal with being permanently exposed to the elements.
Folding the iPhone Fold could stress the screen with a crease
Analysts have also cottoned on to the external display idea, proposing it as a possibility at least once.
Apple has also considered internal screen fold designs too, but with very complicated hinge mechanisms. The idea was for there to be added supports for the display at its most vulnerable point, so it would be OK for users to press down on flexible sections.
Patents have also proposed the idea of using stretchable displays. However, it seems unlikely for Apple to go down that route for the iPhone Fold for the moment.
An ETNews report from late February 2025 said that Apple’s folding iPhone may not be plagued by a crease at all. A source doubled down on claims Apple was working hard to avoid wrinkles in the display, which can emerge over time.
iPhone Fold or folding iPad
The nature of a folding smartphone is that it will create a larger viewable area when unfolded, if designed like a book rather than a clamshell. That size increase could make it a very large iPhone, or possibly something more.
If the size of the unfolded display is sufficient enough, it could feasibly be considered similar in size to an iPad mini. That could make the iPhone Fold a two-in-one device, switching between a smartphone and a tablet.
The iPhone Fold could be really compact when folded, compared to an iPad mini
Samsung actually offered a confident prediction that Apple’s first foldable device in 2024 would be a tablet. This was quite believable at the time, due to Samsung being a key display partner for Apple.
Ming-Chi Kuo also offered that a foldable iPad could arrive by 2024, just one year later. But, others at the time insisted that a foldable iPad-style design wasn’t on the way that year, including Ross Young of DSCC.
We at least know that a 2024 launch didn’t happen.
A lot of guesswork
The problem with rumors about a brand new device category from Apple is that there really is no guarantee that any of the rumors are actually correct. Part of this can be down to some fanciful leakers working from iffy data or wanting to make a splash from a big prediction.
However, a lot of it is down to Apple itself. Leaks for new hardware types don’t tend to come out from Apple, but they do tend to solidify and accelerate the closer it gets to actually shipping the hardware.
The problem is that we’re nowhere near that point. We are still in the very early stages, when Apple has yet to solidify its plans properly.
Another issue is the nature of production, and Apple’s long development and production schedules. Each annual upgrade to the iPhone family takes two years to produce, and there can be a lot of changes in those early stages that can impact what happens later.
The iPhone Fold will be catching up to competitors already offering foldable devices to the public
It’s also so early that no-one can really pin down what the other specifications for the iPhone Fold could be. While it’s likely to be a copying of the premium components inside a Pro-tier iPhone, we can’t say those details with any precision.
A dubious leak from February 2025 from social media sharer Jukanlosreve, formerly TechReve, had a stab at the specs. The list seemingly included a 5,000mAh “3D Stacked” battery cell system, a new ultra-thin Meta Lens front camera, and rear Main and Ultra-Wide cameras.
It would theoretically be 4.6mm when unfolded or 9.2mm when folded, making it thinner than the M4 iPad Pro.
However, the account has a very patchy track record when it comes to leaks. Add in the supposed timeframe for release of 2027, and it becomes quite dubious.
Timeframes and core specifications will remain fluid for the moment. Until Apple gets close to releasing the iPhone Fold, we won’t know what’s actually inside it.
