Foldable iPhone would intrigue despite Samsung's head start
A lot of the analysis pegs the new iPhone Fold coming in 2026, meaning we've got just over a year to wait – but given we've had foldable phones from brands like Samsung, Oppo and Google for a few years now, why would 2026 be the year Apple goes flexible with its phones?
Recommended Videos
For me, it's all about the screen – and that's where history might be repeating itself.
The key rumors so far
While far from substantiated, here's what the current rumor mill is predicting for a potential folding Phone:
Why does this matter? When considering why Apple hasn't entered the foldable market so far, it's important to consider its form here.
It only introduced OLED display technology to its smartphones in 2017, with the iPhone X, despite them being reviewed as some of the best-looking screens for years.
I remember reviewing one of the first handsets to use OLED screens: the Samsung Wave in 2010, a 'smartphone' that pre-dated the Galaxy S, Samsung's first Android phone.
I was blown away by the color reproduction, the inky blacks, and the overall look and feel, and can still remember the excitement over watching content on that display.
However, despite looking vivid, colorful and having amazing contrast ratios, OLED screens also had a few issues compared to LCD – namely, lower brightness, higher difficulty for manufacture (and therefore cost) and potentially screen 'burn in', where a static image can become permanently scarred onto the phone's screen.
The DT Viewpoint: it's all coming together
So it makes sense that Apple will have waited roughly the same amount of time if it does, indeed, launch a foldable phone next year, especially as component manufacturers will need time to tool things up to achieve the level of flexible glass and integrated touch sensors that Apple would want.
Issues around the cost of manufacture mean that getting the level of sharpness needed would be too expensive, but as production processes have improved, it seems likely that the cost threshold for making a viable product is getting closer.
There's been a lot of news recently about greater investment from foldable display component suppliers like Fine M-Tec improving their processes to allow for crease-free displays, which seems like another standard that Apple wouldn't be willing to compromise on.
The resolution rumor of 428PPI for the inside screen is something that gives me pause – that's very high resolution for a foldable, with an iPad mini coming in at around 330PPI and even the latest Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 only offering ~370PPI.
Apple isn't in the business of competing only on spec, so it's either waited this long so it can claim the sharpest foldable display around, or this is something that's a little wide of the mark.
Another spec rumor that I'm waiting to evolve with some intrigue: the front screen of the device coming in at only 5.5-inches. That's iPhone 12 Mini level, and that's a screen size that Apple canned in favor of larger devices.
While I still speak to many people who wish smartphones were a little smaller, it's an interesting idea that Apple would basically model the new iPhone Fold on a size format that didn't perform as well – surely this will end up being a little larger?
Speaking of confusing rumors, I can't see that under-screen selfie camera coming true any time soon though – the latest Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 smartphone doesn't have one (despite its predecessor using the technology) as it seeks to offer the best quality.
Apple hasn't caved to pressure to drop the Dynamic Island on its smartphones (which house the front-facing sensors and cameras). These could be placed under the screen and give it a clean-looking finish, but the result would be lower-quality than with the cut-out.
So what's next? Well, if the iPhone Fold (or whatever it will be called) does emerge in 2026, then we'll start seeing production of the device ramp up in the early part of the year, meaning more leaks will potentially begin to emerge.
There are still several things that haven't emerged yet – likely because, if this timeline is correct, there are still many decisions to be made – such as screen refresh rate or how the software would work. Would it be a hybrid, where the outer screen uses iOS 27 and the inner display working on iPad OS 27?
The answers to these questions will be fascinating, as the foldable phone feels like one of the last smartphone design shifts left to happen, so eventually all brands will join the party – so what will Apple do to stand out?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
a minute ago
- Bloomberg
Most Phones Sold in US Are Now Made in India as Apple Shifts
India has overtaken China to become the top source of smartphones sold in the US, after Apple Inc. shifted to assemble more of its iPhones in the South Asian country. In the quarter through June, India was the largest manufacturer of smartphones shipped to the US for the first time, accounting for 44% of the market, according to Canalys data. Vietnam, home to much of Samsung Electronics Co. 's production, came in second. China fell from having more than 60% of all estimated shipments a year ago to just 25%.
Forbes
4 minutes ago
- Forbes
Apple's AI About-Face Isn't A Failure. It's A Lesson In How To Innovate.
Apple computer, iPad, and Home at home. It's been just over a year since Apple unveiled its long-anticipated foray into generative AI, teasing the launch of a new brain for Siri that would take the iPhone experience to the next level. The company was already late, but at least it had gotten in the game with its own vision. Apple Intelligence, as they called it, would leverage its strength in consumer devices rather than copying the OpenAIs of the world. And yet, one year later, the AI game is still largely being played without Apple. The new Siri hasn't materialized, and the company was forced to announce an indefinite delay at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Senior execs said the new version of Siri hadn't met Apple's high standards, forcing them to go back to the drawing board. The story got even worse when Bloomberg reported that Apple had held internal talks about buying Perplexity and was considering using technology from Anthropic or OpenAI to power the new Siri, rather than its own large language models. For years, people have been concerned that Apple is losing its innovative edge–and they may be right. The company hasn't produced a truly groundbreaking product since the Apple Watch in 2015, and each new iPhone model seems less thrilling and more incremental than the last. Still, the news out of Cupertino may actually be a sign of progress. The fact that Apple reversed course on developing its own AI technology isn't necessarily a sign of weakness. Apple's leadership may be demonstrating a healthy amount of self-awareness and executing a strategy that plays to its strengths. The rest of us might be getting an essential lesson in how companies should manage innovation by focusing on what we're great at rather than wasting resources trying to be something we're not. The Three Big Jobs of Innovation Large-scale corporate innovation can be a complex beast, inviting all manner of methods and systems and metrics. But at its core, innovators need to do three things: 'Dream It,' 'Build It,' and 'Scale It.' The 'Dream It' job is all about exploration. It involves basic research and widespread exploration. It's about asking 'What if…?' 'Dream It' innovation is the kind of work that went on at Xerox PARC and Bell Labs: places where the internet was first invented. It's what Google X was established to do. Some Google X projects look like Project Loon, a short-lived initiative to provide internet connectivity to Africa by launching a fleet of broadcast balloons. Other projects become things like Waymo, the first successful driverless car service. 'Dream It' initiatives are usually too early-stage to worry about things like market share, product refinement, or shipping dates. Places with 'Dream It' cultures encourage freedom, curiosity, and permission to chase questions most firms would never fund. The 'Build It' job is about creating new things. It's about design and prototyping. If 'Dream It' looks like freeform writing, 'Build It' looks like ruthless editing. It's about asking 'How might we…?' 'Build It' innovation is the kind of work that goes on at Nike and IDEO. The best builders focus on a clear vision for their service or product and then iterate it until it delights the end user. Dyson does this in household products like fans and vacuums. The philosophy of its founder, Sir James Dyson, is that 'things should just work properly.' Dyson rejects the popular image of himself as a wild-haired inventor, saying: 'It undermines the testing and rigour of bringing an invention to life, of people working together to achieve something.' He doesn't want to be seen as a 'Dream It' guy… And then there's the 'Scale It' job. This part is critical, because an innovation is an invention that has socioeconomic impact. Scaling takes a finished concept and catapults it to wider success. The 'Scale It' job involves things like go-to-market strategies, channel relationships, staged investment plans, and relentless customer feedback loops. Many dreamers and builders stumble at this point because they don't know how to turn their brilliant ideas into reality. Microsoft is a master scaler. Whether it's Microsoft Office, Azure, Teams, or its OpenAI partnership, the company excels at rolling technology out to millions of enterprise users and making it the industry standard. When it comes to innovation, every company needs to Dream It, Build It, and Scale It. And each of these three jobs require very different types of people, processes, and cultures. Some companies manage to do it in-house by creating subsidiaries or divisions. Others build walls between different parts of the business and try to give each the freedom to focus on what they do best. Years ago, Frito-Lay exec Joe Ennen went so far as to divide his organization into three functions. The goal was to get each group to focus on one specific job, be it dreaming it, building it, or scaling it. Play Your Position Of course, the real challenge is that a company's overall culture will lend itself to only one of these jobs. Frito-Lay has always been best at scaling ideas, not dreaming them up. And when companies attempt to be something they're not, they're like quarterbacks trying to be linebackers. They run into frustration and costly dead ends that waste resources and divert attention from their true calling. It's better to play your position. Most pharmaceutical giants are scalers. Pfizer has been likened to a venture fund, identifying smaller firms that dreamt up promising drugs, then funding and scaling them with its massive marketing and distribution network. The company didn't invent the COVID vaccine – it partnered with the small German biotech firm, BioNTech, that pioneered mRNA-based therapies. And that brings us to Apple. Apple has always been the very best at the 'Build It' job. As Steve Jobs put it succinctly: 'Real artists ship.' And while Apple's era-defining products like the iPhone and iPad have given it a reputation as a genius inventor, its success is actually built on borrowing ideas and turning them into great products. Apple builds what other people dreamed up. Apple didn't dream up the multitouch technology crucial for the iPhone and iPad; it acquired it by buying FingerWorks in 2005. Neither did they invent the graphical user interface or the mouse that became the foundation of the Mac. Those ideas were taken from Xerox after Apple executives visited its Palo Alto Research Center in the late 1970s. The PARC researchers were dreamers – they didn't see the world-changing nature of the cool stuff they'd envisioned. Jobs was a builder, later saying he realized within ten minutes the revolutionary potential of what he saw at PARC. Apple's genius was to edit those unpolished ideas into user-friendly products that could be manufactured at a low cost and sold at accessible prices. It edited down those dreams into tools that felt inevitable once you used them. The iPhone didn't create new technologies. It curated the most promising ones into a compelling experience. Even Siri isn't an Apple invention – the company bought it from Stanford Research International (SRI). That's why it's called Siri. In that light, Apple's search for external help with AI is a smart move. It isn't a betrayal of its innovative identity; it's a reaffirmation of its identity as the builder company archetype. If it can take Perplexity's or OpenAI's technology and mold it into the next great Apple products that delight customers, it will be doing precisely what it did with macOS, the iPhone, and Siri. Ironically, OpenAI has decided to do the inverse. The company just spent $6.5 billion to acquire iPhone designer Jony Ive's startup, IO, this year, with the aim of building 'amazing products that elevate humanity.' What Makes You Great? Any leader struggling with how to approach innovation should start with one fundamental question: Who are we? You should look back at all the things your company has done in the past and determine what you're best at. If you've done better at basic research and developing new ideas, you're likely a dreamer. If you've had more success at rapid prototyping and understanding market needs, you fit the builder mold. If you're excellent at formulating go-to-market strategies, developing sales channels, and engaging customers, you're a natural scaler. Once you have clarity about who you are, you can stop trying to be what you're not and start looking for partners who can fill the innovation gaps. True innovation isn't about doing everything yourself; it's about knowing what kind of innovator you are. Apple's search for a partner that can supercharge its AI capabilities will be fascinating to watch, but it shouldn't cause investors to lose sleep. The time for worry is when Apple stops exploring partnerships to build the next great innovation.
Bloomberg
31 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
China Crypto Firm Bitmain Plans First US Factory in Trump Gambit
Bitmain Technologies Ltd., the world's largest manufacturer of crypto mining hardware, plans to open its first US facility in the coming months, a strategic pivot riding the 'Made in America' boom in digital assets. The company intends to officially open a new headquarters and assembly line in either Texas or Florida by the end of the third quarter. Initial output is expected in early 2026, with full-scale production ramping up later in the year, according to Irene Gao, Bitmain's global business chief.
