Apple's Foldable: A Catalyst for the Entire Foldable Market
I don’t normally spend any time talking about Apple products, but it seems like the rumors around a folding iPhone are finally heating up to the degree that it makes sense to dive in a bit - even if my main concern isn’t specifically that phone.
What Are The Rumors?
The current word on this folding iPhone is fairly compelling. Apparently we’re looking at something in the size range of an iPad Mini - around 7.8-inches when unfolded. Tech tipster Digital Chat Station went a bit further claiming that the screen would be near a 4:3 aspect ratio, which I honestly love the idea of. The outer screen has been predicted to be in the range of 5.5-inches, making it even smaller than the orignal Pixel Fold.
I’ve long said that to me the most sensible form factor for a foldable phone is one that offers a compact experience on the outer screen, but with none of the drawbacks of a small screen because you can open it. Most folding phones now have massive cover displays and even more massive inner displays. For me, the lessens the utility.
We’ve also seen reports that Apple is looking to use liquid metal in the hinge of this device. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, this “metallic glass” is more resistant to bending and is 2.5 times stronger than titanium alloys. I’m not the engineer we need to interrogate the claims, but apparently this will allow Apple to all but eliminate the crease.
To be clear, Liquid Metal in this context is not literally metal in a liquid state. It refers to a material created through a unique casting technique that results in highly durable, strong, and precise metal components. Apple bought the rights to use a material like this from LiquidMetal something like 15 years ago.
What Will It Cost?
Mark Gurman has indicated that the price for a folding iPhone is expected to be significantly higher than other iPhone models, reflecting the advanced technology and features involved in its design. Recently, Digital Chat Station reported that the anticipated price could be around $2,000. Personally, I expect Apple’s endeavor to outstrip the price we’ve been used to from Google and Samsung. This is the same company that charged $700 for some wheels for your tower. For a product like this, leaning into the higher price as a marketing technique probably makes a lot of sense. Apple is a big fan of using premium pricing to communicate premium products and doing that here might convey to consumers that their foldable is better and less likely to have the issues Samsung’s and Google’s have shown.
Whether or not that ends up being true is another story.
Android Foldables Are Already Established
When Is It Coming?
This is a hard one to pin down, but all indications are that it’s either coming 2026 or 2027. Like with most of this, big pinch of salt here.
What Does It Mean For Android Foldables?
Honestly, I think the existence of an Apple Foldable might be great news for Android Foldables. Their presence in this segment will do nothing but legitimize the concept. It will result in more people than ever buying Foldables and that should encourage OEMs to focus on them even more. Generally speaking, when Apple moves on something like this, the entire market moves. Apple's presence would intensify competition, pushing Android manufacturers to innovate and refine their foldable technology, leading to improved hardware, software, and pricing across the board.
We’ve already seen plenty of evidence that Google is focusing more and more on large screens and productivity features like a desktop mode. It appears as though they are in the process of turning Android into a seamless OS that can move from phone to tablet to laptop - as it might be set to replace Chrome OS. Apple placing a flag in one more place where the two can directly compete will only push things further.