We Need To Talk About the iPhone Fold..
It is wild how fast the internet has lost its collective mind over a "leak" that has been sitting in plain sight for months. Everyone is currently passing around these iPhone Fold renders like they are top-secret blueprints fresh from Apple Park, but let's be real: this is just a concept based on rumors from way back in early 2025.
The design everyone is obsessed with right now actually came from screen size leaks that we have had a decent handle on for nearly a year. While the exact measurements have shifted slightly, we’ve known since February that the iPhone Fold would be a short/wide passport-style device that opened into what is basically an iPad Mini and had two cameras on the back.
Shortly after those initial leaks, there was a post on the MacRumors forum as well as a YouTube channel showing CAD renders based on what was going around at the start of the year.
So, why is everyone now talking about these renders as if they are official? I think there are two reasons. First, the models got adjusted a bit to match the most recent screen size rumors and then this Reddit post proliferated a 3D printable version. After a few short days, it seemed like everyone was printing this thing out and posting it online without ever mentioning where they got it from or what it was. The source was instantly disconnected from the striking visual.
Then, a large YouTube Channel called FPT posted a video titled “Here's your next iPhone” where they showed what I guess are their own renders of the iPhone Fold, which of course look basically identical to what we had seen made by users nearly a year ago. They presented additional details like the liquid metal hinge and the lack of Face ID as if they were fresh, exclusive scoops, even though these specs have been circulating the rumor mill for ages.
This video neglects to mention that none of this is new information. No the measurements or the dual the cameras. Not the liquid metal hinge or the hinge plates, the lack of FaceID, the return of TouchID, the thickness, the colors or anything else. All the way to the renders, this is all stuff we’ve seen before, some of it almost a full year prior. No source is given or implied. In fact, the word source does not even appear in the video.
Now to be fair, while FPT neglects to mention the sources for this information and how old it is, they also don’t explicitly claim the info is new or that they are the source. Nonetheless, the internet is doing what it does. Overreacting to information was available for a long, long time.
What we have here is a series of leaks, mostly from Digital Chat Station and a series of renders inspired by current iPhone design and informed by 10-month-old screens size leaks that allow us to use some basic math to determine aspect ratio and overall design. Is it cool? Interesting? Of course. Is any of it breaking news? Only if you missed when it broke months ago.