Apple’s folding iPhone: design, display, and release rumors

Foldable iPhone name: What will it be called?

Many fans and pundits have got into the habit of referring to the rumored device as the iFold, which has at least the advantage of brevity. But there doesn’t seem to be any reason to believe this will be the official title. A more plausible theory, proposed by a UDN report in November 2025, is that it will be called the iPhone Fold.

Expected iPhone Fold release date

According to a series of reports, the major design and specs of Apple’s first folding phone were due to be finalized in the middle of 2025, with production targeted for late 2026. That would mean a launch in late 2026 or early 2027.

So far, this timeline has been suggested by several sources in 2024 and 2025, including The Information, The Wall Street Journal, and analysts Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman. A November 2025 report citing supply-chain sources also supported this timeline, claiming the iPhone Fold was about to enter mass production and was on track for a launch in 2026.

The phone is expected to be complex and expensive to manufacture, so production volume will likely be very limited at first. A second model in late 2027 should see higher production numbers.

Gurman reported in July 2025 that Apple will focus on features for the folding iPhone in iOS 27, which will be released in the fall of 2026.

In a report by ChosunBiz in South Korea, Samsung Display president Lee Cheong announced that it is making “preparations for mass production of OLED for foldable phones to be supplied to a North American client.” Later on in the article, the reporter states that “Samsung Display is known to be the exclusive supplier of OLED to be installed in Apple’s foldable phone to be released next year.”

Foldable iPhone design

In 2024, The Information reported that Apple had made a couple of prototype “clamshell” flip-phone designs, where the top and bottom of the phone fold to meet. More recent rumors in 2025 from Digital Chat Station on Weibo and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggest a “book” style fold, with a vertical fold as the left and right sides come together. This is a similar style to the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.

Luke Baker

The hinge is expected to be one of its most unique features. Some reports have suggested it will be made of a titanium alloy, while analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported in March 2025 that Apple is exploring the use of LiquidMetal for “durability, enhancing screen flatness, and minimizing crease marks” in the screen. Apple has received several patents for hinge designs, and it’s unclear which the company will use in the final design.

On July 14, Kuo reported that Apple had figured out how to get rid of the fold crease by using metal plates to help “distribute and control bending stress.”

A leak from Weibo account Instant Digital at the start of February says the volume buttons will be on the top edge, aligned right. On the back will be two cameras on a long thin “plateau” similar to the iPhone Air, only black rather than color-matched to the phone body.

Folding iPhone display details

Ming-Chi Kuo has also reported on the folding iPhone’s set of proposed design details. He says the book-style iPhone will have a 7.8-inch inside display when unfolded, and a 5.5-inch outer display. Kuo says Apple won’t be satisfied until the phone’s display is completely crease-free when opened.

In July, TrendForce made the same prediction, reporting that the folding iPhone would feature a 7.8-inch internal and 5.5-inch external display. A later report from The Information put the screen sizes at 7.7 inches inside and 5.3 inches outside.

The folding phone is said to be at most 9.5mm thick when folded and 4.5mm when unfolded. For comparison, an iPhone 16 Pro Max is 8.5mm thick, and the thinnest iPhone of all time is the iPhone Air at 5.6mm.

Folding iPhone rumored specs: chip, cameras & features

We don’t know what processor the folding iPhone will contain, but if it launches in 2026 as rumored, it will probably feature an A20 or A20 Pro—some variant of the processor found in the iPhone 18.

We expect most iPhones to use Apple’s own cellular modem and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chips by that time as well. They may even be integrated into the main system-on-chip.

IDG

Due to the very thin nature of the foldable iPhone, and the need for different front-facing cameras when folded up or unfolded, it will reportedly lack Face ID. Instead, Touch ID will be incorporated into the side button much as it is on the iPad Air’s power button.

There will reportedly be two rear cameras (likely a standard wide and ultrawide) and two front-facing cameras, one for when the iPhone is closed and one for when it’s open.

Folding iPhone: Price

Expect the folding iPhone to be a very high-end, ultra-premium model. The very first release is said to cost $2,000 or more… maybe even as much as $2,399, more than twice the highest-end iPhone Pro Max. That’s the prediction from analyst Arthur Liao, who bases his eye-watering estimate on material costs (particularly the panel and hinge) and Apple’s high-margin business model.