Render of a possible iPhone Fold – Source AppleInsider
A new supply chain report claims that Apple has at least significantly improved the crease problem that plagues folding displays, ahead of its expected iPhone Fold release.
While most reports still estimate that Apple will not launch a folding iPhone before 2027, it has recently been claimed that it is close to selecting a supplier for the display. Now ETNews backs up that report of a supplier being chosen imminently, but also says claims that the iPhone fold will have no or little crease.
To date, all folding screens ultimately develop creases. While a new folding phone might not display any crease initially, after repeated opening and closing, a clear crease develops.
Ultimately a glass screen is a deformable material, and the crease develops from fatigue failure. That’s basically the same materiel failure as when you bend an aluminum can over and over, and it tears on its own.
It isn’t certain whether Apple has managed to entirely remove the crease, or wrinkles, but one source claims that it has. “In order to differentiate itself from the existing foldable phone, Apple decided to eliminate wrinkles regardless of price,” says the source, in translation. “I understand that wrinkles have disappeared with [the material’s] new properties.”
Said to be based on information from suppliers, this new report also claims that some production will begin in the second half of 2025. The report believes that Apple will release the iPhone fold a year later in the second half of 2026, presumably alongside the iPhone 18 range.
Despite Apple having seemingly not yet decided on the screen supplier, the report says that Samsung Display is expected to get the order. It says that Samsung Display has been developing folding iPhone screens since some time in 2024.
It’s also said that the folding iPhone will utilize a hinge mechanism by US firm Amphenol. The company has previously contributed components for the MacBook Air.
ETNews does not have a great reputation for the accuracy of its information, nor of the conclusions it draws from them. Nonetheless, it is certain that Apple has at least been researching folding screens, as it was granted one of many patents on the technology in 2024.
There have also been rumors of an iPhone fold since at least 2019, when Samsung brought out its first folding device. Most recently, a dubious leak claimed to know that the iPhone would fold out to display a 7.74-inch screen.
