First foldable iPhone may be delayed until 2027 as Apple focuses on reliability and crease issues

midian182

midian182

Posts: 10,235   +138
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In brief: Foldable/flippable phones are one of the areas where Apple has yet to venture. There have been reports that Cupertino would release its first foldable in 2026, but it seems that we'll have to wait until at least 2027 to see an iPhone Flip or Fold.

With Samsung dominating the foldable phone market, and rivals from companies such as Google, OnePlus, and Motorola proving popular, it's long been expected that Apple would join the pack at some point.

In May, an investor note from an analyst with a reliable track record claimed that Apple plans to unveil a foldable hybrid iPad by late 2025, followed by a folding iPhone the following year.

However, market intelligence company TrendForce says a folding iPhone launch in 2026 is "unlikely," and that 2027 will probably be the earliest that we'll see a foldable from Apple.

TrendForce writes that the reason for the delay is that Apple has strict requirements for two of the biggest issues affecting folding phones: the crease and reliability.

Ahead of Samsung releasing its Galaxy Fold (no Z in the name back then) in 2019, reviewers with pre-release units found the screens were breaking due to debris making its way underneath the display via the center crease. It led to the Fold's launch being delayed by months as Samsung tried to fix the issue.

The reliability of foldable phones and the crease have improved with each new generation, but they're still not perfect. As an example, I initially loved my Galaxy Z Fold 4, awarding it a score of 85, but despite comparatively low use and working from home, it spontaneously developed a problem with the hinge that prevented it from opening flat – check out the video below.

In recent videos from tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee showing Apple's iPhone durability tests, John Ternus, Head of Hardware Engineering at Apple, said the company focuses more on making a product that never fails rather than one that isn't super reliable but is super easy to repair.

Masthead: iOS Beta News

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First foldable iPhone may be delayed until 2027 as Apple focuses on reliability and crease issues

 
Should probably concentrate on giving your users the ability to customize the homescreen and add a universal back gesture before you worry about conquering this section of the market but that's just my opinion. Secondly, I feel flip phones need to die until you can actually open one of them with one hand like the old school phones. Foldable phones are fine, they're a tablet mixed with a phone...but a flip phone is just impractical and stupid at the moment.

Why would I want a rectangle that I fold in half to create a much thicker square bulge in my pocket that I can't stack anything on unless it's the same square shape? It has to sit at the bottom of your pocket in order for you to put other items in the same pocket or else you'd fold the phone in half and have it at the top of your pocket, thus creating a huge risk of it falling out when you sit down etc. What's the final solution if your don't want a thick square at the bottom of your pocket with a bunch of crap stacked on top or putting it at the top? Unfolding it, that's what. Talk about pointless. All of this to deal with a crease in the middle and the ability to get SOME notifications etc. working on the tiny front screen? Are you kidding me? Who logically wants a flip phone? Someone who wears jeans 3 sizes too small that's tired of their phone snapping in half every time they sit down? Get real.

A foldable is fine. You open it, it's a tablet. You close it, it's still an entire, fully functioning phone that'll yes, create the same thick bulge in your pocket but you can actually stack things on it as if you weren't playing tetris.

So yea...even if you can easily open a "flip" phone with 1 hand...they're still and extremely stupid product in the SMARTphone market. That design doesn't work anymore. It's outdated, has died and has been resurrected just to die again to appeal to some nostalgia. That's all.
 
fraggleki said:
I don't think most people want a folding iPhone.....
Click to expand...

No, but you can bet the sheep will be standing in line to fork over a ton of money (bet it will
be OVER $2,000) to have one so they can shove it in coworkers & friend's faces.
 
This is the typical excuse that Apple gives when they don't want to implement big changes. And at the same time, they will also find excuses to implement matured technology. In a nutshell, they introduce something as and when they like because they want to play it safe with minimal design changes. A useless rumored change is the smaller bezels for example.
 
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