Apple’s inaugural foldable iPhone may not arrive until 2027, as reported by Japan’s Mizuho Securities (via The Elec).The investment bank indicated that the delay stems from Apple needing additional time to finalize critical design features, including the hinge mechanism, which other rumors have suggested involve the use of Liquidmetal alloy. Apple is reportedly taking extra time to ensure durability and seamless integration, amid challenges in sourcing reliable parts that meet its stringent quality standards.
Hartley Charlton for MacRumors:
The device is expected to feature a 7.58-inch inner display and a 5.38-inch outer display.
The report added that expected production of display panels for the foldable iPhone have now decreased from 13 million to nine million units. A launch in 2026 is still said to be possible, but if it goes ahead as planned, device production in the first year of release may lag behind panel production by as much as five to seven million units.
The firm corroborated reports that Apple plans to delay the launch of the iPhone 18 to the spring of 2027, launching alongside the iPhone 18e. The iPhone Air 2, iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max are scheduled to launch in the fall of 2026, likely alongside the first foldable iPhone if it is not delayed.
MacDailyNews Note: Mizuho Securities further reported emerging activity in the supply chain to restart development on an 18.9-inch foldable MacBook, with the earliest potential launch slated for 2028 or 2029.
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Apple should go ahead with iPhone 18 in Fall. iPhone Fold will be a status iPhone for a long long time and will not have any connection with iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max sales because iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone i8 Pro Max are ‘work’ phones. iPhone Fold will get approximately same number of customers whether sold on Jan 3, Apr 4 or Aug 21, some 3 dates I chose at random. Do not throw away your Bread and Butter while chasing a day-dream.
Do not worry about Samung or Huawei or others, all of their phones would be showing a crease as you found out in your testing. Otherwise I would not be reading this. Why do people wait for Apple? Because they know they will get something better.
Do iPhone 18 in Fall 2026, Do iPhone Fold on May 11. Another random date I introduced.
Adding any mechanical hinge to a premium phone, which doesn’t solve a problem, is like adding an engine crank to a Tesla.
If you really need to fit a giant phone in your pocket, how about getting a smaller phone?
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.explicit.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.0ess3zETilMZojt5PF05hgHaEK%3Fcb%3D12%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=6c44dea68b5cab77eeb6f7eddd530cc1dec3eff8d66a4a1e98025f1444d6be14&ipo=images
Samsung and Apple regarding Foldable Phone.
Hare…..and Tortoise.
“Delayed” because Apple never intended to release it. Folding is a gimmick that customers pay a premium for and quickly get tired of, just to get a less durable phone with complex hinge and damage-prone screen. That’s why the once tiny outside screen meant for notifications steadily grew until it’s now as large as typical non-folding screen. Customers didn’t want to constantly open and close their folding phones once the novelty wore off. And that’s why Apple released iPhone Air instead, the opposite of a folding iPhone.
Do not write off iPhone Fold with a knee-jerk reaction. iPhone Fold is needed and is going to be very useful whenever it comes to the market.
What you have written about folding phones from other companies is exactly what Apple does not want to happen to her iPhone Fold. Apple wants its customers to use her iPhone Fold through the full lifecycle till it becomes ‘Vintage.’ without a crease.
What I guess happened is that hinges gave up in full life cycle testing and hence the redesign and delay. Foldable phones are useful and are needed. And Apple wants to make sure that iPhone Fold goes through its full lifecycle.
Apple cares about her own iPhone Fold. Jf other companies pre-announce and sell it and develop creases is their problem. Apple does not want to get her image tarnished by creases that develop before its lifetime.
I will not be surprised if there are more delays. These are ‘Analyst’ delays. Apple never announced an iPhone Fold officially.
If you’re replying to me, it’s not a “knee jerk” reaction. I’ve been saying it since there have been rumors about an “iPhone Fold.” You are correct that Apple will NOT release a folding iPhone that’s like how I described folding phones from other companies. And THAT is why Apple will NOT release a folding iPhone, “delayed” indefinitely. Today’s Apple avoids mechanically complex products made from fragile materials. Apple highlights ultra-tough screen surface and rigid uni-body construction. If a large screen must fold, it is overly complex and fragile.
I partly agree and partly disagree with you. Apple’s horizon is not infinity.Her horizon is when the product becomes ‘Vintage.’ If Apple achieves that Horizon with its HINGE, she will develop that product and sell it.
Apple’s Warranty may be three years but its actual horizon is till ‘Vintage.’ Yes, Apple goes for tough materials, you are very right. But a combination of ‘tough materials’ or what you call ‘fragile,’ is a question of what I call ‘fragile’ and what you call ‘fragile.’. Your horizon is infinity, Apple’s horizon is ‘vintage.’.
Apple WILL develop iPhone Fold and it WILL be creaseless till it is ‘Vintage.’ I WILL bet on it.
I said nothing about “infinity” or “vintage”… You’re just making stuff up because you can’t refute what I actually said, about the DESIGN being overly complex mechanically and fragile. The screen that must fold along a crease is fragile by design. The hinge needed to bend the screen is also fragile by design, if hyperextended accidentally. Also, you should know what you’re saying. Apple’s standard warranty is ONE year, not three. But AppleCare is now paid monthly (or annually), UNTIL CANCELLED (could be much longer than three years). The “vintage” classification means Apple is no longer obligated to service a particular product 5 years after it is NO LONGER MANUFACTURED. So(for example) if a product is in the lineup for 2 years, it doesn’t become “vintage” for up to 7 years (from date of purchase). That’s Apple’s potential “horizon” for your folding iPhone that won’t break (won’t even “crease”) until it’s “vintage.” No wonder Apple decided to go with iPhone Air instead.
I will use very simple words so that there is no disagreement.
1) Apple usually makes products that keep on working for at least 6 years. (Assumption Vintage = 6.) That is what I call a ‘Gentlemen’s agreement.’ I do not want to bad mouth but I have to, but the common practice prevalent is the product will keep on working for warranty number of years, if it works for more years than that it is buyer’s luck. By calling ‘Vintage’ and ‘Obsolete,’ Apple has actually given us their internal number not in numerical way but in an anecdotal way. It says to me that if I buy this product I will be able to use this product for at least six years.
2) Regardless of what of warranty deed says Apple wants a very small number of the products to get bad and come for repairs in and their goal for this is to have that number below what they have decided internally. They do not publish this number but they usually have this number in mind when going for designing the next version of product. When you make more than millions of something some of them are going to get bad in three years. When there is first time for a product the number is high, say the number is 3% of sold. As the time goes they want to decrease this number.
3) When that product hits ‘Vintage’ it is their ultimate test of what thet have achieved,
4) So If I am Apple When I start testing for iPhone Fold to be sold, I want no more than 1% to show a definite crease at Vintage. I have conservatively marked that my consumer will do at least 100,000 open-shuts at a minimum and 1,000,000 at maximum, I have tested that throughly for that many cycles. And I achieve that less than 1,000, I can start to manufacture and sell that iPhone Folds.
And THAT is precisely why Apple decided to go with iPhone Air… BECAUSE Apple knows they cannot meet YOUR stated high expectations for an Apple product, applied to a folding iPhone that YOU describe, lasting 6+ years without a visible crease at the screen’s fold line after folding/unfolding over 20,000 times (conservatively estimating 10 times per day X 365 days per year X 6 years). But I CAN readily see iPhone Air lasting even longer, because no moving parts except a few side buttons. I used YOUR reasoning to predict (in “simple words”) that Apple will NOT release a folding iPhone. You confuse your current expectation with future reality.
The only things that is left for me to say is
1) The ‘Liquidmetal’ hinge will last 20,000 open-shut cycles or even much more than that.
2) The Samsung display will last without creasing 20,000 cycles or even more than that.
3) You are assuming that current industry has not progressed beyond 1900s.
4) We WILL see an iPhone Fold. The question is not ‘if’ but ‘when.’