Apple is finally ready to fold, seven years after Samsung proved it possible
Seven years after Samsung first bent the smartphone into a book, Apple is preparing to fold—not in defeat, but in deliberate arrival. Expected this September, the iPhone Fold represents the measured patience of a company that has long preferred to perfect a form rather than pioneer it. At $2,400, Apple is not merely entering the foldable market; it is declaring that its version of the future carries a premium worth waiting for. Whether consumers agree will say as much about the meaning of innovation as it does about the price of a phone.
- Apple is set to unveil its first foldable iPhone in September 2026, entering a market Samsung has dominated for seven years with a device that aims to outshine every competitor on the shelf.
- The crease-free 7.8-inch inner OLED display and Liquid Metal hinge directly target the two most persistent criticisms that have haunted foldable phones since their debut.
- Dropping Face ID in favor of a punch-hole camera and a power-button Touch ID marks a rare and deliberate trade-off, signaling that thinness and screen real estate won the internal argument.
- At $2,400—significantly above Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7—Apple is not chasing the foldable crowd but betting that its brand can command an entirely new price ceiling in the segment.
- Bundled into Apple's 50th-anniversary product lineup alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, the Fold arrives as the company's most symbolic hardware statement in years.
Apple has spent seven years observing as Samsung, Google, and others folded their phones in half. Now, as the company marks half a century in business, it is finally ready to join them. If the rumors hold, this September will bring the iPhone Fold—a book-style device that represents Apple's long-anticipated entry into a market that has existed since Samsung's Galaxy Fold debuted in 2019.
The device is built around a 7.8-inch inner OLED display that reportedly eliminates the crease long considered an unavoidable flaw of foldables, paired with a 5.5-inch outer panel. Both screens use punch-hole cameras rather than Face ID, a trade-off made in service of thinness, with Touch ID relocated to the power button. The hinge is constructed from Liquid Metal, a material Apple has never before used in an iPhone—a technical gamble that signals serious confidence in durability.
Inside, the A20 Pro chip and 12GB of RAM will power iPad-like multitasking features, while a 5,500mAh battery—the largest ever in an iPhone—and up to one terabyte of storage round out the specifications. Four cameras complete the package.
The starting price of $2,400 is where Apple's ambition becomes most legible. Considerably more expensive than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the iPhone Fold is positioned not as a device for everyone but as a statement of premium intent—a foldable for those who have already bought everything else. Launching alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup during Apple's anniversary year, it is the company's most consequential gesture yet: an acknowledgment that the future of phones may not be flat, offered at a price that insists Apple's version of that future is worth the wait.
Apple has spent seven years watching Samsung, Google, and others fold their phones in half. Now, as the company marks fifty years in business, it's finally ready to join them. Sometime this September, if the rumors hold, Apple will unveil the iPhone fold—a bookstyle foldable that represents the Cupertino giant's belated entry into a market segment that has existed since 2019, when Samsung introduced the Galaxy Fold.
The wait, Apple's engineers seem to believe, will have been worth the delay. Leaked renders suggest a device wider than its closest competitors, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The inner screen stretches to 7.8 inches with an OLED panel that reportedly eliminates the crease—a persistent annoyance on existing foldables. The outer display measures 5.5 inches, creating what Apple calls a compact form factor. Both screens will use punchhole cameras for selfies rather than the Face ID notch that defines current iPhones, a trade-off made to keep the device thin. Touch ID will live on the power button instead.
The hinge represents perhaps the most significant technical gamble. Apple plans to use Liquid Metal, a material the company has never before deployed in an iPhone. If the reports are accurate, this choice signals confidence in durability—a concern that has shadowed foldables since their inception. The inner display itself is engineered without a visible crease, a detail that matters more than it might seem to anyone who has run a finger across a Galaxy Z Fold and felt the ridge.
Inside, the iPhone fold will run on the A20 Pro chipset, the same processor expected in the iPhone 18 Pro models launching alongside it. Twelve gigabytes of RAM will handle multitasking, which Apple plans to reimagine using iPad-like features despite keeping iOS as the operating system. Storage will max out at one terabyte. The battery reaches 5,500 milliamp-hours—the largest battery Apple has ever put in an iPhone. Four cameras total: two on the front, two on the back.
The price, though, is where Apple's confidence becomes most visible. The iPhone fold will start at $2,400 in the United States, roughly $225,000 Indian rupees. For comparison, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 begins at $174,999 in India. Apple is positioning this not as a mainstream device but as a statement of premium ambition, a foldable for people who have already bought everything else.
The September launch will bundle the iPhone fold with the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, giving Apple a full roster of new devices for its anniversary year. The company has already released the MacBook Neo, an affordable laptop that signals a different kind of ambition. But the foldable iPhone is the flagship gesture—the moment when Apple finally acknowledges that the future of phones might not be flat. Whether that future justifies a $2,400 entry fee remains the question hanging over everything.
Citas Notables
Apple will use Liquid Metal in the hinge for the first time in an iPhone, a material choice intended to improve durability— Reports on iPhone fold engineering
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did Apple wait so long? Samsung proved the concept works in 2019.
Waiting let Apple study what went wrong with early foldables—the creases, the durability issues, the software that wasn't ready. They're betting that seven years of observation means they can get it right the first time.
The Liquid Metal hinge—is that actually a breakthrough, or marketing?
It's real engineering. Liquid Metal is harder and more flexible than traditional hinges. Whether it solves the crease problem or just reduces it, we won't know until people use it.
Four cameras seems excessive for a foldable.
It's not about quantity. Two screens mean two different use cases—you need cameras optimized for both the compact outer display and the expansive inner one. Four cameras let Apple tune each scenario.
At $2,400, who actually buys this?
People who buy iPhones as status objects, not tools. People who upgrade every year. People for whom $2,400 is what they spend on a phone anyway. It's not a mass-market device.
Will the iPad-like multitasking actually work on iOS?
That's the real question. iOS was built for single-task focus. Forcing iPad behavior onto a foldable screen might feel natural or might feel forced. We'll see in September.