The Mythic Foldable iPhone

Apple has been toying with the idea of a foldable iPhone for years — reports go back to at least 2016 — and it’s even tested displays and likely built prototypes. However, analysts were way off their game on this one, with reports that Apple would preview a folding iPhone in 2021 and Ming-Chi Kuo’s 2021 prediction that Apple would sell 20 million foldable iPhones by the end of 2023 clearly not coming to fruition.

If anything, this proves that Apple works on many things that never see the light of day. A source once told us that many Apple executives saw foldables as just a passing fad, and with Apple selling hundreds of millions of iPhones every year and continuing to increase its market share, it probably doesn’t see a huge need to diversify its smartphone offerings. After all, unlike Samsung and Google, Apple competes on a largely separate playing field where it’s often the company’s own devices that are pitted against each other. A Google Pixel owner can be lured to a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip far more easily, as they both run the same Android operating system, more or less.

While Apple is still sourcing displays for foldable devices, recent reports suggest it’s more likely to tackle a foldable iPad or MacBook before it looks at an “iPhone Flip.” There’s a slight chance we might see an “iPad Fold” later this year, but a foldable iPhone doesn’t seem to be anywhere on the horizon.