WesleyHilliard|48CommentsFacebookTwitterReddit
AppleInsiderissupportedbyitsaudienceandmayearncommissionasanAmazonAssociateandaffiliatepartneronqualifyingpurchases.Theseaffiliatepartnershipsdonotinfluenceoureditorialcontent.
Appleisexpectedtoannouncean"iPhoneFold"withaflexibleOLEDdisplayby2024,andAppleInsiderhascreatedexclusiverenderstoshowwhatitmaylooklike.
RumorsandpatentsshowthatApplehasbeenworkingonafoldingiPhonedesignforyears.However,thetechnologyrequiredforsuchadeviceisstillinitsinfancy,anditisn'tclearwhatformthedevicemaytake.
Eachyear,morerumorsarrivepushingtheexpectedlaunchdateofthe"iPhoneFold"backfurther.InSeptember2021,wellknownanalystMing-ChiKuosaiditmaynotarriveuntil2024.
UnlikeApple,SamsunghasbeendevelopingitsfoldingtechnologyinpublicwiththeSamsungGalaxyFoldandSamsungGalaxyFlip.Appleistestingbothformfactorsforitsfirstfoldable,butmaybeleaningtowardstheflipdesign.
EvenasflagshipAndroiddevicespioneerfoldingtechnology,Appleiscontentbidingitstimewhilethetechnologymatures.Devicesbeingreleasedtothepublichaveencounteredissuesfrompoorsoftwareoptimizationtocreaseddisplays.
The'iPhoneFold'designcouldborrowfromthe'iPhone14'PatentsshowthatAppleexpectstoovercometheseissueswithcomplexhingesanddisplaytechnology.AppleInsiderbasedourrendersoffofafewofthesepatentsandtheSamsungGalaxyFold.
Sincethe"iPhone14"mayintroducearadicalredesignin2022,therendersofthe"iPhoneFold"takeonthosenewelements.Flatsidescombinedwithahole-punchselfiecameraandflushrearcameramodulemakeupthebasicelementsofthisdevice.
Thedisplayshouldn'tshowacreasewhenfullyopenWeexpectApple'sfoldabletoopenandclosewithoutacreaseorseaminthedisplay.FullyclosedthethicknessofthedeviceshouldbeonlyslightlythickerthancurrentiPhones,whileopenitshouldbesimilartothesizeoftheiPadmini.
Itisn'tyetclearhowApplewilloptimizeiOSoriPadOSforthefoldingdevice.Littlemayhavetochangeifthedisplayonlyworksinafullyopenposition.ThereisachancethatApplecouldallowathree-quartersopenorhalf-openmodeforgamingorchatappsaswell.
iOSoriPadOSmaybeusedforApple'sfoldableSomefoldingAndroiddeviceshavemultiplepositionsforoperationandevenanexternaldisplayforusewhenthemaindisplayisclosed.However,itisn'tclearifApplewilladoptthesemorecomplexformfactors.
ForApple'sfirstfoldable,expectittobeaniPhonethatcansimplyfoldopenandshut.Beyondthat,Applemaynotwanttosourtheexperiencewithexperimentalfeaturesorhardwareadditions.
The"iPhoneFold"isrumoredtolaunchsometimein2023or2024.StaytunedformoreexclusiverendersoffutureAppleproductsonAppleInsider.