Recent rumors suggest that Apple is conducting research and development for its first “foldable iPhone,” with a potential release targeted for 2026, according to DigiTimes.
William Gallagher for AppleInsider:
According to Digitimes… Apple may have chosen its design, and that overall timescale may be accelerating. Based on various Korean media outlets, the report claims that Apple formally began research in 2004, which is when it also signed a contract with Samsung.
Presuming Apple has a typical two-year product development cycle, the report predicts that the iPhone fold will launch in 2026.
[A] second report from The Information corroborates the detail in the Digitimes account. It adds that Apple has given the folding iPhone a codename of “v68,” but otherwise supports the two-year timeframe, and the iPhone’s basic design.
That design is said to be a top-down one, like the Samsung Galaxy Flop [sic]. So when held in portrait, the top half will fold down over the bottom half.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: “Samsung Galaxy Flop.” Heh, heh, for that Freudian slip.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
I bought a Galaxy Fold 4 recently as a second phone. While durability is a concern, it’s the most fun I’ve had with a smartphone in a decade, with the Surface Duo being a close second. The unfolded screen is way more engaging and useful for both productivity and content consumption than either my iPhone or iPad Pro. Once Apple finally does get a foldable out it will feature a Samsung screen and years of their R&D.
While ecosystem lock-in makes switching from iOS prohibitive for now, I’m increasingly enjoying using non-Apple tech. I appreciate Apple’s reliability but, extremely expensive exceptions like Apple Vision Pro aside, they’re dead boring. I’ve been buying a new iPhone every 3 years since 2008, but I’m going on 4 years this time with no desire to spend any more, especially not on promises of a better Siri that probably won’t meet expectations or a 0.1″ larger screen.
Well you clearly don’t appreciate privacy, you don’t care about security, and you enjoy tortured interfaces.
My close friend wanted to remove photos from his android, didn’t want to pay the Samsung fee to do it, so he used a third party app and was instantly hacked. All accounts drained and all passwords changed. What a nightmare.
Thankfully Apple went with ‘security and privacy-first’ Open AI to infest iPhones going forward 😆
I don’t consider someone who upgrades their phone every 3rd year a reliable source for up to date opinions on tech. The reason why is that their judgment is 3 years old. In other words, if you’re comparing a 3 year old iPhone to a new Galaxy Fold 4, well that’s an unfair comparison. 3 years is a lifetime in tech.
I’ve played with a Fold. It has some wow-factor to it. I look forward to seeing how Apple approaches it. Keep in mind, Apple must mass produce this thing. Samsung doesn’t have to produce the Fold in anywhere near the numbers Apple will.
You actually believe that Apple will mass produce their version of a fold in larger quantities than Samsung when they have all their other iPhone models to also manufacture? I’d think the first version will be a conservative run.
Nick, The Club Members don’t like “leaks” like the above. Going forward, please march in step, as the peace and democracy sector desires a straight-line forward. Progress is the goal.
“Today [1984] we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives.
[Apple’s hammer-thrower enters, pursued by storm troopers.]
We have created for the first time in all history a [walled] garden of pure ideology, where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests of any contradictory true thoughts.
Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth.
We are one [company] people, with one [iPhone] will, one [iOS] resolve, one [Memoji] cause.
Our enemies shall talk themselves to death and we will bury them with their own confusion.
[Hammer is thrown at the screen]
We shall prevail!
[Boom!] 💥