The snowball of foldable iPhone rumors that have been rolling downhill for years may have finally merged into something tangible. The latest reports claim Apple is closer than ever to creating a squashable iPhone, though we’ll still have to wait at least two years to see it in action. This latest rumor hints Apple’s next iPhone innovation will be a flip phone similar to the recent Motorola Razr and Razr+ or the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
According to a report from The Information based on two anonymous sources, the next big iteration on the staid iPhone formula will arrive sometime in 2026 at the earliest. The site previously reported that Apple was working on a clamshell-style foldable that squashed from a standard-size phone along its midpoint. According to the report, Apple has started reaching out to components suppliers in Asia to source new foldable parts.
The folding iPhone’s internal code name is dubbed V68. We have to note that there’s still time for some parts of the design and manufacturing process to go awry. Apple has patented several folding screen designs over the past few years, one with a waterfall display and another detailing a “self-healing screen.”
Apple reportedly wants to develop a foldable without a crease. That issue has plagued all other foldable makers, from Samsung to Google. The one phone closest to nixing the crease was OnePlus with its OnePlus Open, but it perhaps wasn’t as perfectly smooth as the engineers at 1 Infinite Loop might demand. Based on the latest hints and rumors, both companies are working on sequels to both phones.
The Cupertino company also reportedly needs this design to be extra thin so your regular iPhone user won’t feel like they have a plus-sized lump in their pocket. Most foldables have a cost that can cost as premium phones like the iPhone 15 Pro. Apple has previously tried to uncover ways to keep costs down so that it might entice regular iPhone users.
Apple’s next smartphone, the iPhone 16, might see radical size changes from the iPhone 15. The Pro model might be even bigger than the run-of-the-mill 16, while the Pro Max could be a mammoth 6.8 inches. If the big phone trend keeps going in that direction, we may need to have something that folds up to keep it from poking out of our pockets.
There are other reports this year from supply chain analyst Ming Chi Kuo that claimed Apple was also developing some sort of folding MacBook. While Apple may just be experimenting with the entire foldable ecosystem, we would still enjoy seeing what the Cupertino, California company can develop. The last few folding PCs we’ve used, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 and the HP Spectre Fold, didn’t have much more to offer than its folding gimmick that make them worth more than a few minutes’ consideration.
Apple will have a lot riding on its shoulders with any new foldable, but if the company wishes to make up for a recent slump in iPhone sales, it will need to intrigue users with enough new features to make switching worth the hassle and the price.
