The first foldable iPhone from Apple has been talked about for years, but it hasn’t been produced yet, and the only images we’ve seen of it are sketches found in patents. However, if the most recent leak indicates that this foldable could debut in 2026, that could change really quickly.
Apple is expected to release its first foldable device in 2026 or 2027, according to the Korean website The Elec (via MacRumors). According to the website, Apple’s foldable display would measure between seven and eight inches, placing it in size competition with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, which has a display of seven and six inches.
Such a large size also means this Apple foldable will probably have a book-style design like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold line, rather than a flip phone design like the smaller Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.
A foldable iPhone or a foldable iPad?
Curiously, The Elec claims that it’s unclear at this stage whether this will be a foldable iPhone or a foldable iPad. If the latter, it might replace the iPad mini line, though as the site points out, Apple is also thought to be actively developing an iPad mini with an OLED screen.
This probably wouldn’t be the iPad mini 7, which is thought to be landing fairly soon without OLED, so there’s the question then of whether Apple would really launch both an OLED iPad mini in likely 2025 or later, followed by a foldable iPad soon after.
According to The Elec, Apple might be asking itself that same question, as apparently the company hasn’t actually decided whether to make this a foldable iPhone or a foldable iPad yet, and the specifications reportedly haven’t been finalized yet either, which makes it sound like this is still quite early in development.
Despite that, both Samsung Display and LG Display have reportedly been sending Apple 7-inch and 8-inch screen samples since last year, with Samsung Display likely to be the primary display supplier due to the experience it has developed in creating screens for the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip lines.
Still, it sounds like the information here is very preliminary and that anything could change, so for now we wouldn’t count on Apple releasing anything foldable in 2026 or 2027, but we wouldn’t count it out either.
