Recent rumors suggested that the foldable iPhone Flip could arrive in 2026 — following the launch of a foldable iPad in 2025. However a new report from TrendForce (via 9to5Mac) claims that may not be the case. The market intelligence company claims that the foldable iPhone won’t arrive until 2027 at the earliest.
The report suggests Apple is still at the stage of “evaluating component specifications and performance”. Meaning that development on the phone is still in the very early stages, and likely means a 2026 launch is increasingly unlikely. On top of that Apple apparently has “strict requirements for crease and reliability”.
The crease has been a sticking point for a lot of foldable phones, and in some cases has proven incredibly difficult to hide. Despite the efforts of Samsung and other phone makers, it seems that phones without a visible crease at least some of the time are a rarity.
Not to mention the fact that the crease is a weak point in the screen, and the more it folds the more likely it is to get damaged over long periods of time. Then there’s the problem of dust and debris getting into the hinge and causing all kinds of havoc from the inside. So foldable devices are definitely not the kind of thing a phone maker can rush into.
Foldable devices are definitely not the kind of thing a phone maker can rush into.
Of course that leaves us with the question of whether Apple is taking a little too long to develop the foldable iPhone. Apple is known for taking its time with new products, rather than chasing trends, and it makes sense that it wants to avoid Samsung’s mistakes with the original Galaxy Fold. But it gets to a point where it may be waiting a little too long.
After all, the first foldable phones arrived in 2018, with Samsung launching the first Galaxy Fold the following year. If the iPhone Flip arrives in 2027 it means Apple is almost a decade behind that trend. The only thing Apple still has going for it is that foldable phone adoption has been slow, and that means it has the opportunity to pick up a good slice of the market.
We’ll have to wait and see how this pans out, but whatever happens it’s clear that the foldable iPhone Flip will not be arriving soon. Be sure to check out our iPhone Flip hub for all the news and updates on the foldable in the interim. But if you’re looking for something arriving a little sooner, be sure to check out our iPhone 16 hub for all the news on Apple’s next iPhone.
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Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor
Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.
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