The first foldable iPhone is in development. According to Jon Prosser, a leaker well known to Apple fans, one of the designs currently under consideration looks like the Galaxy Z Flip. Several chassis are said to be in testing at Foxconn and foldable OLED screens have been ordered from Samsung. But a commercial release of the product is not envisaged before 2022.
Credit: ConceptsiPhone
Despite Apple’s filing of numerous patents in recent years, the foldable iPhone is not a reality. It must be said that after Samsung’s 2019 setbacks with the Galaxy Fold has certainly had an effect on the release schedule of this first foldable product at Apple. In particular, the testing phases will be much more important in order to avoid a new scandal.
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What shape will Apple’s foldable smartphone take? According to Jon Prosser, very active leaker on social networks and creator of the YouTube channel Front Page Tech, two solutions are being studied in Cupertino. The first is similar to Microsoft’s Surface Duo or ZTE Axon M : two non-folding screens are assembled around a hinge. The second, much more interesting, includes a truly foldable screen. You can find the full video of the leaker at the end of this article. The part on the foldable iPhone is in the last third.
Foldable iPhone would look like Galaxy Z Flip
According to Jon Prosser’s sources, Apple is working more on this second solution. Prototypes look like a Galaxy Z Flip or Motorola Razr. The smartphone would therefore be elongated and would benefit from an external secondary screen for notifications and basic operations. The screen of this device would be produced by samsung. It would therefore be a OLED panel and not microLED as may have been mentioned previously.
No production schedule has yet been set, meaning the product will not be released in 2021. According to Jon Prosser, an exit in 2022 remains possible, but not assured. However, Apple has produced several different cases and has them tested by Foxconn in Shenzhen. The aim is to test the durability of the central hinge. Many patents have been filed by Apple in recent years concerning this hinge which allows a flexible panel to bend safely.
Apple is not the only company to have postponed the launch date of its first foldable smartphone. This is also the case with Xiaomi. We still remember this short video featuring Lei Bin, the brand’s co-founder. Posted on Weibo in early 2019, this footage showed the manager manipulating a foldable smartphone in two places. And Xiaomi then hinted that an exit was near. This will be the case, but only in 2021.
