For years, iPhone users have had to watch iPad owners do something their phones simply could not: run two apps at the same time. That changes this fall.
Apple’s first foldable iPhone, set to debut in September 2026, will ship with a reimagined version of iOS that lets users open two apps side by side on the inner screen.
It is the kind of feature iPhone loyalists have long asked for, and Apple is finally delivering it, just wrapped inside a $2,000-plus device most people will window-shop before buying.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman broke the news Wednesday, March 11, reporting that Apple has been quietly building a new iPad-inspired interface specifically for the foldable’s large inner screen. Apple (AAPL) shares climbed 0.9% to $248 in premarket trading after the report.
Apple iPhone Fold will bring side-by-side apps to iPhone for the first time
Open the Apple iPhone Fold, and the experience shifts entirely. The inner 7.8-inch display lights up with an iPad-like layout, complete with left-edge sidebars in core apps like Mail, Notes, and Files. Two apps can run simultaneously in a clean 50/50 split.
Apple is keeping the foldable on standard iOS rather than moving it to iPadOS, which means existing iPad apps will not work on it out of the box. The company is essentially building a third lane, somewhere between phone and tablet, with its own set of rules.
Developers will get tools to adapt their iPhone apps for the wider layout, and 9to5Mac reports that Apple settled on a 4:3 aspect ratio for the inner screen after deciding that current foldables are too narrow and too creased. Apple believes it has solved both problems.
What the new interface is expected to include:
- Side-by-side split view for two apps simultaneously
- Left-edge sidebar navigation across core Apple apps such as Mail, Notes, and Files
- Picture-in-picture video support
- Stage Manager Lite for up to three floating windows (optional)
- Dynamic Island carried over from the current iPhone lineup
Apple iPhone Fold hardware makes one surprising trade-off
The specs are largely what you would expect from a flagship Apple device in 2026.
The A20 Pro chip, built on a 3nm process, handles the processing load, alongside dual rear cameras with a 48MP main sensor and a 12MP ultrawide. Both inner and outer displays run at 120Hz with ProMotion.
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The surprise is Face ID. It is gone. The foldable’s front panel is too thin to fit the sensor array, Bloomberg reports, so Apple is reverting to Touch ID built into the power button.
It would be the first iPhone with a fingerprint sensor since the third-generation iPhone SE in 2022.
The outer cover screen, around 5.5 inches, gets a hole-punch cutout for the front camera in place of the usual Dynamic Island pill. The inner screen is targeting a crease-free finish, one of the engineering challenges that reportedly delayed Apple’s foldable ambitions for years.
Apple iPhone Fold: key hardware specs at a glance
- Inner display: 7.8-inch AMOLED, 4:3 ratio, 120Hz ProMotion, crease-free
- Cover display: 5.5-inch AMOLED with hole-punch camera
- Chip: A20 Pro, 3nm TSMC
- Biometrics: Touch ID in power button, no Face ID
- Battery: Dual-cell 5,000mAh, 40W charging, MagSafe
- Water resistance: IP68 target
- Colors: Titanium silver, space black, midnight blue
Apple is walking into a foldable market that is heating up fast
Apple is late to foldables, and everyone knows it. Samsung has been selling book-style foldables since 2019, and Google and Motorola are already on their second and third generations. But being late has never stopped Apple before, and the market it’s entering is growing quickly.
IDC forecasts the global foldable market will grow 30% year over year in 2026, a sharp jump from just 6% the prior year.
Apple is projected to capture more than 22% of global foldable unit share and around 34% of total market value in its first year, driven largely by its expected average selling price near $2,400.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the main rival to beat, starting at $2,199 with an 8.1-inch inner display and three-app multitasking.
Apple’s device will cost more and do less on paper, but it brings something Samsung cannot match: an ecosystem of over a billion users already invested in iCloud, the App Store, and Continuity features that tie iPhone to Mac and iPad.
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Apple iPhone Fold price, launch date, and what investors are watching
The device is expected to start between $2,000 and $2,500, with a rumored higher-tier model featuring a periscope zoom lens pushing closer to $2,799. Apple is likely to soften the sticker shock with trade-in credits of up to $800 for iPhone 15 Pro owners and a monthly option through the iPhone Upgrade Program.
The launch window points to a September event reveal, preorders around Sept. 19, and shipping near Oct. 11. iOS 27, which powers the foldable, will be previewed at WWDC in June, though 9to5Mac notes the foldable-specific features will likely stay under wraps until the hardware is officially shown.
Wall Street is watching closely. Piper Sandler and Morgan Stanley both rate AAPL overweight, with price targets of $290 and $285, respectively.
Whether the foldable iPhone becomes a blockbuster or a niche product for early adopters is the central question, but for now, the market is betting Apple gets this right.
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