The iPhone Fold may debut with a crease-free display, and a sky-high price

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Something to look forward to: Smartphone makers have spent years trying to nail the foldable form factor, but most consumers still gravitate toward traditional devices. Apple may be about to shift that balance with a new iPhone model that could be the industry's best shot at a breakthrough, though it will likely require a substantial investment from anyone who wants in early.

Insider sources across Apple's supply chain say a foldable iPhone is coming sooner rather than later. Cupertino has reportedly pulled off a "crease-free design" for the first time, addressing the biggest flaw in current foldables and potentially creating what could be the first genuinely "perfect" foldable smartphone.

The device is expected to launch as the iPhone Fold. Its inner display comes from Samsung, while Apple handled the panel structure, material processing, and lamination process. Apple is said to have rejected Samsung's early display samples until the company's engineers could deliver a panel that met Apple's quality standards.

Apple also collaborated with two Asian suppliers – Shin Zu Shing and Amphenol – to develop the hinge bearings. Together, they have reportedly created a strain-resistant liquid-metal material. The hinge and foldable panel are designed to work in tandem to provide a crease-free experience and a display that's both tough and durable.

Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn has now established a dedicated production line to bring the iPhone Fold to the market, according to the same sources. The device has moved out of the prototype stage and into the engineering verification test (EVT) phase, which determines whether engineering units can meet the intended design goals and specifications. If it clears EVT, the foldable iPhone could move quickly into final manufacturing.

Samsung, Huawei, and other major smartphone makers have been selling foldables for about seven years, with new models arriving regularly. But Apple's crease-free approach could give the company a major edge – potentially turning the foldable business upside down just like it did when the iPhone was first introduced.

Early iPhone Fold models, however, won't be cheap. Even by Apple's standards, the price is expected to be steep. Rumors point to a cost between $2,000 and $2,500, with a likely final price around $2,400. If accurate, that would make the iPhone Fold the most expensive smartphone Apple has ever released.

Masthead credit: MacRumors

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The iPhone Fold may debut with a crease-free display, and a sky-high price

 

[Squid Surprise]

And people will buy them… I’ll wait until they can make a laptop fold from 11in to 32in… that would actually be useful

 

[Mjsun]

Price is steep, but if Apple allows iPad OS Apps to load onto the Fold, they will go a long way towards justifying the price. 100% artificial walled-garden gate-keeping, but nevertheless would be a compelling feature of this “larger” device.

 

[p51d007]

Oh you can bet the Hollywood, uber rich & online "influencer" types will be the first to grab these. It's just another Apple "status" symbal.
Apple on the other hand... Apple better be 100% sure there are no glitches in this thing.
I'm sure they have taken ever folding phone on the market & researched & disassembled them, but sometimes a glitch wikk slip by.

 

[Eldrach]

So..wouldn't this then maybe be called...The Ipad Fold?

 

[Megalomaniac]

The only people who will line up to buy a iPhone Fold:
#1 Need a phone that is visually different so they can show off
#2 Want attention
#3 are financing it through Applepay/ or their carrier.

I have no interest in it - but I wish Apple well (as a shareholder since 2003)

 

[Axeia]

That's a lot cheaper than I expected. Was thinking it would start at 3000 for a model that is RAM starved and 3600 for the next step up. I guess Apple isn't as bad as I thought.

LG solved the crease ages ago with rollable displays.

 

[Kirby1]

It's not that the idea of a bigger screen doesn't sounds nice, it's that all common sense tells anyone who has ever owned a phone that the trade off in durability and reliability to have a screen that is only twice as big is not at all worth it. If there was a fold out screen that was durable, reliable, and got to the size of a small tablet and not just two phone screens side by side, that would be a lot more compelling.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

It's not that the idea of a bigger screen doesn't sounds nice, it's that all common sense tells anyone who has ever owned a phone that the trade off in durability and reliability to have a screen that is only twice as big is not at all worth it. If there was a fold out screen that was durable, reliable, and got to the size of a small tablet and not just two phone screens side by side, that would be a lot more compelling.

We already have that. The Z fold 7 is 8" unfolded. That is comparable to the screen real estate of the ipad mini and bigger then the screens of mini tablets of old like the nexus 7.

 

[acrossthestars]

"that would make the iPhone Fold the most expensive smartphone Apple has ever released" so far...

I know Apple devices are generally expensive; that is pretty well understood at this point. Like, you have to be intentionally dense to look at the trajectory of Apple's back catalogue and come to any other conclusion than "this ain't for the poors", but I have to assume this is going to be a low-quantity, high-cost "first mover" test bed device like the Apple Vision Pro. $2400 is uniquely expensive―the kind of cost that leaves the realm of "mainstream appeal" and lands squarely in "boutique" territory.

My prediction is, the market will love it. Tech reviewers and journalists will praise the amazing technology―most notably the screen (obviously)―and gush over how much of a step up it is from Apple's previous endeavors, like a child beholding Niagara Falls for the first time. "Such majesty..." they'll say. Then, the honeymoon period ends and reality sets in. Where before people were elated to use this brand-spanking new device, with all of its wonders and marvels-of-engineering, suddenly the bills come due and now it's a very different picture. $2400 isn't just "a lot" of money, it's too much "a lot" of money. For what, a really nice-looking foldable? Because there's an Apple logo on it? "What the hell was I thinking?"

 

[toooooot]

If they can actually solve crease issue, I will be impressed.

That's a lot cheaper than I expected. Was thinking it would start at 3000 for a model that is RAM starved and 3600 for the next step up. I guess Apple isn't as bad as I thought.

LG solved the crease ages ago with rollable displays.

It would still have crease, only in the opposite direction.
They all need a different material, a lot more like fabrics,
highly flexible and probably thinner

 

[Axeia]

If they can actually solve crease issue, I will be impressed.

It would still have crease, only in the opposite direction.
They all need a different material, a lot more like fabrics,
highly flexible and probably thinner

Does it though?
Think wrapping paper. When you wrap Xmas gifts you have crease free rolls. If you carefully remove and unfold it from the gift you have creased paper.
The larger the radius the less pronounced the crease up to a point where it stops being a problem entirely.

 

[airbornex]

If Apple really solved the crease problem, that’s basically the holy grail of foldables. Other brands pushed the category forward, but mass adoption needs the kind of polish Apple obsesses over. It’s not that people didn’t want foldables, most just didn’t want the compromises (including price of course, but that's something that will be worked out in the longer run).

 

[acrossthestars]

It’s not that people didn’t want foldables, most just didn’t want the compromises (including price of course, but that's something that will be worked out in the longer run).

The other, bigger problem with foldables is that they aren't repairable. Even if Apple solves the "crease problem", they cannot solve the dust problem, where particles get stick lodged awkwardly in the chassis. Or general wear-and-tear.

 

[netman]

"The device is expected to launch as the iPhone Fold."

Horrible Name... Should be called iFold...!