Apple won’t make an iPhone Fold until foldables are perfect, so I don’t think we’ll ever see a foldable iPhone
Rumors have been circulating for years that Apple is considering a foldable iPhone, and even people who don’t follow all the smartphone rumors have become curious enough to ask me about it.
“Is Apple really making a foldable iPhone? “” was the most common phone question I received over the holidays, and the answer got me thinking. Apple doesn’t need to make a foldable phone. Apple’s foldable phone rumors are doing a pretty good job of beating out the competition.
However, this seems to be a very Apple complaint, right? By leaking rumors that it won’t build a foldable phone with a visible crease, Apple is directly calling attention to the biggest apparent flaw of all its competitors.
I say “apparent” because it’s only a fault if you’ve seen a foldable phone but never used one. The crease isn’t distracting, but it’s visible, allowing Apple to highlight the problem to its own fans, who will never realize it’s not a problem for foldable owners.
It’s a little genius and a little petty. Apple is following rumors that it would not deign to create a foldable phone. Foldable phones have an inherent flaw, and by implication, Apple only makes flawless phones. He wins the folding phone game by calling the game stupid, packing his ball, and going home alone.
When I’m wrong about Apple’s foldable, send me this story
Will Apple ever make a foldable phone? I am less convinced than ever. If the rumors are true, Apple is expecting a material as strong as glass, but capable of folding in half without revealing a crease. I don’t see how this is possible (please send me this story in five years when I was wrong!).
I think there will always be enough creases in the glass that Apple will have an excuse to never make a foldable phone. Then he can always let rumors do the work by implying that the competition made a defective product with a kink.
It makes more sense for Apple to ignore foldable phones than to create one. Foldable phones aren’t very popular, especially in the United States, where Apple is most dominant. Foldable phones are also very expensive.
It costs a lot more to buy a foldable tablet than it does to buy a comparable phone and mini tablet separately. And Apple is one of the only tablet makers selling mini tablets.
You can buy an iPhone 17 ($799 in the US) and an iPad mini ($499 in the US) for a little more than half the price of a Galaxy Z Fold 7 ($1,999 in the US).
Foldable rumors are a useful distraction while Apple works on… everything else
When will Apple release an iPhone Fold? I’m not sure this will ever happen. Apple has many other great products already on the market, ready to become something even bigger.
Apple Vision Pro is just the beginning of Apple’s portable head-mounted displays. We might see smaller glasses or even smart glasses before the iPhone Fold. Apple Watch gets more advanced health tracking and communication features with each generation. Even accessories like AirPods get more robust features with each generation, including live translation and health tracking, making them so much more than the simple earbuds they came from.
I’m losing hope on an iPhone Fold and attribute the rumors to the competition. The iPhone Fold is a red herring: it’s a distraction that’s more successful as a rumor than as an actual product. Apple doesn’t need to sell an iPhone Fold to beat the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. It just needs to fuel rumors that foldable phones aren’t good enough for Apple.
