Apple is likely to introduce its first foldable iPhone in 2026, according to reporting from The Information. The move would radically revamp the company’s most popular product.
The US tech giant is understood to have two folding iPhone prototypes, one of which – reportedly known as the “V68” – has been moved into the development phase. Apple is reportedly working to flatten a crease that appears when the clamshell-style phone is unfolded, and to make the device thinner.
Any new entrant to the foldable smartphone market would face stiff competition in China from Honor and Huawei, and internationally from Samsung, which released its latest foldable smartphone earlier this month.
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However, demand for foldables is growing fast. According to Counterpoint Research, global shipments of foldable smartphones saw an almost 50 percent increase in the first quarter of 2024. Huawei has taken the top spot from Samsung, helping fuel Chinese dominance in the category.
Samsung pioneered the foldable smartphone in 2019, a bid to attract new customers that appears to be succeeding: the first quarter of 2024 also saw Samsung dethrone Apple as the biggest smartphone manufacturer globally, accounting for 20 percent of shipment share.
In addition to the foldable iPhone, Apple was also reportedly working on upgrading the camera of at least one iPhone model – introducing a mechanical aperture that allows users to achieve depth-of-field (resulting in a blurred background while an image’s foreground remains crisp and clear). A much thinner iPhone and a MacBook-like foldable were also reportedly in the works for release in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
