Some very detailed foldable iPhone predictions just dropped, and you won't like the price

Is it finally time for the foldable iPhone? We've seen some important clues.
By
Stan Schroeder
 on 
Apple logo
This time it might be for real. Credit: NurPhoto / Getty Images

Yes, we've seen numerous rumors about a foldable iPhone in the past couple of years, but this one hits different.

First, it comes from the almost-always reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who shared his latest predictions in a blog post on Thursday. The foldable iPhone, he writes, is likely to be finalized in late 2025 with sales starting in the last quarter of 2026.

But what makes this report interesting is the amount of detail Kuo is sharing, indicating that the foldable iPhone may actually be real and not just a myth.

According to Kuo, the foldable Apple iPhone will have a "book-style design," which presumably means it'll be horizontally folding outwards just like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series. It will reportedly have a 7.8-inch, crease-free inner display, and a 5.5-inch outer display, though Kuo says all the measurements are approximate. The phone is also reported to have a dual rear camera, and an additional selfie camera that will be available both when the phone is folded and unfolded.

The foldable iPhone is also said be 9 to 9.5 millimeters thick when folded, and 4.5 to 4.8 millimeters thick when unfolded. In comparison, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 is quite a bit thicker, measuring 12.1 millimeters when folded and and 5.6 millimeters when unfolded.

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For the hinge, Apple will reportedly use a combination of stainless steel and titanium alloy, while the casing will be made of titanium (just like the current iPhone 16 Pro models). On the side, the phone will have a Touch ID button (likely similar to the one on the 2021 version of the iPad mini)

Finally, the phone will use the same high-density battery cells as the upcoming super-thin iPhone 17; with that phone still being in the realm of rumor, we don't really know much about those cells at the moment.

None of this is set in stone, as Kuo says that final specs will be "locked" in the second quarter of 2025.

With regards to timing, the analyst even goes so far as to predict the next generation of the foldable iPhone, which should enter mass production in the second half of 2027.

About that price. Kuo claims that the first-gen foldable iPhone will retail "above $2,000 and $2,500" — it's unclear what this means, but presumably it could refer to different variants of the device. Despite that hefty price, the analyst predicts that the foldable iPhone will sell well, with shipments reaching 3-5 million units in 2026.

Topics Apple iPhone

Stan Schroeder
Stan Schroeder
Senior Editor

Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.


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