A foldable iPhone may arrive in 2026 after Apple cracked this major design problem
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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Apple's foldable iPhone! Thanks to a Tuesday report from The Information, we have some new details on the heavily rumored foldable iPhone, which I imagine will be called the iPhone Fold.
A few months ago, The Information reported on Apple contacting a manufacturer about parts for foldable phones. Now, it seems Apple is one step further in the process, creating an internal code name for the foldable iPhone: V68.
According to The Information, this move could "[signal] that the idea has moved beyond the conceptual stage and is now an official product in development with suppliers." If true, we might see an iPhone fold launch as soon as 2026.
Of course, it's worth noting that just because the 'iPhone Fold' has an internal code name and is seemingly moving forward in production. That said, this is a positive sign for the future of foldable iPhones. And if Apple is business-savvy — which historically, it is — creating a foldable iPhone soon to compete with Google's and Samsung's foldable phones would be a smart move.
The report from The Information also details a few design specifics, including one major problem Apple may have overcome.
Apple's foldable iPhone design moves forward
According to The Information, Apple's engineers working on the foldable iPhone were facing a big problem: making the phone "half as thin as current iPhone models so it wouldn't be too thick when shut." Now, it seems this problem may have been solved.
Reportedly, Apple has developed a "significantly thinner iPhone, internally code-named D23." If this innovation can translate from a traditional iPhone to a foldable iPhone, Apple's teams can move on to other potential issues, like preventing a display crease after multiple folds and making sure there's a market for the 'iPhone Fold.'
That said, if the foldable iPhone has really moved past the conceptual stage and into the development stage, I'd argue that most major issues have already been resolved.
The foldable iPhone will supposedly "fold widthwise like a clamshell," according to "two people with direct knowledge of the matter" via The Information. This means it'll resemble Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip series, not the Galaxy Z Fold series.
Apple is known for delivering a polished product, even for the first-gen, whether it's hardware or software, even if this means extending its release date. After all, Apple was fashionably late to the AI game, but it seems to have paid off — Apple Intelligence isn't here yet, but it looks quite promising.
If you don't anticipate needing to upgrade your iPhone until 2026, it might be worth holding out for the 'iPhone Fold.' Otherwise, your options include the existing iPhone 15 lineup, or the upcoming iPhone 16 series.
