Seemingly, Apple’s product cycle never sleeps, and just days after the Vision Pro launched, it seems that the tech giant is hard at work on future iPhones that ditch the candy bar design for a folding clamshell one.
Thanks to a new report from The Information, we have more insight into Apple’s efforts at developing not one but two iPhones that fold in half vertically in a similar fashion to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip.
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The latest report gives an overview of what (AAPL) – Get Free Report is trying to achieve here and notes that it’s still a bit out, with the device likely not hitting production this year or next, which means that iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 will likely stick with the current design language we’ve seen thus far.
According to the report, Apple wants to keep a folding iPhone’s thickness as thin as current iPhones and include a screen outside like Samsung’s Z Flip and the Motorola Razr. This report doesn’t mention or provide an update on whether Apple is working on an iPhone that folds into a larger device, akin to Samsung’s Z Fold line.
A folding screen isn’t just limited to Apple’s iPhone division; the long-rumored folding iPad is also detailed in this report. Work is evidently underway on a folding iPad mini that keeps the smaller 8-inch screen size, and engineers at Apple are working on a technology to reduce the crease in the middle of the display. It’s a common trait of any folding screen, be it a Galaxy Z Flip or Z Fold, and while it is a distraction you can see and feel, in our testing, it quickly fades away. Still, it seems like an Apple engineering goal to solve and resolve the crease.
Considering that Samsung, Motorola, and OnePlus have entered the folding smartphone market, it makes sense that Apple is speeding up the work in this area.
Aside from the unique form factor, these will all still run iOS, likely with some tweaks and hopefully new functionality that uses the design to its advantage. I would love to see proper split-screen functionality on an iPhone. Apple will likely use learnings from Samsung’s Z Flip and Z Fold, similar to how Vision Pro arrived after the Meta Quest and countless other headsets hit the scene.
Regardless of how far out a folding iPhone is, it would represent one of the biggest changes to Apple’s smartphone lineup.
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Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max in Natural Titanium.
