Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone, according to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg News, will incorporate significant updates to the iOS operating system. These changes will introduce iPad-style layouts and support for running apps side by side for the first time, greatly improving multitasking capabilities and making the device more versatile.
This will mark Apple’s long-anticipated debut in the foldable smartphone category. The device is expected to feature a foldable inner display approximately the size of an iPad mini when opened, per sources familiar with the plans. It will also include an external cover screen roughly comparable in size to that of a compact traditional iPhone.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The inside display will use a wide aspect ratio, a departure from the narrower formats of foldable phones currently on the market. That should be a key selling point, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the project is still under wraps.
The Apple design is intended to make the device more appealing for watching video, the people said. It also should be easier for developers to redesign their iPhone apps to more closely resemble iPad software.
Apple is developing new iOS app layouts and revamping its core iPhone programs to add sidebars along the left edge of the screen, similar to many of its iPad apps. Developers will also be able to adapt their iPhone software for the new interface, which will use proportions similar to an iPad in landscape mode.
Despite offering an iPad-like app experience, the foldable iPhone will run the standard iOS — not iPadOS, the company’s tablet operating system. This means it will retain a simpler multitasking system, rather than adopting the more desktop-like interface introduced in iPadOS 26. It also won’t run existing iPad apps out of the box.
While the foldable iPhone won’t run several windows at once like an iPad mini, it will be able to show two apps side by side.
MacDailyNews Take: Based on the Apple A19 Pro, the “iPhone Fold,” expected to be powered by an A20 Pro, will certainly be more than capable of multitasking smoothly.
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