The iPhone Fold, Apple's first foldable smartphone, remains on track for September 2026 despite conflicting signals that emerged this week. On April 7, Mark Gurman published a reassuring report in Bloomberg about the project's progress, after an article in Nikkei Asia had cast doubt on the launch timeline's solidity.
A Week of Turbulence for Apple Stock
On Monday, April 6, Nikkei Asia reported that Apple was encountering more significant difficulties than expected during the engineering test phase of its first foldable smartphone. According to a source cited in this report, "It's true that more issues than expected have emerged during the early test production phase, and additional time will be needed to resolve them and make necessary adjustments."It's true that more issues than expected have emerged during the early test production phase, and additional time will be needed to resolve them and make necessary adjustments.. This publication was enough to cause Apple's stock price to fall during trading.
The reaction was swift. On the same day, internal sources close to the matter provided a very different version to Mark Gurman, an Apple specialist journalist at Bloomberg.
Gurman Contradicts Nikkei: Launch Still Scheduled for September
According to Mark Gurman in Bloomberg, the iPhone Fold is still scheduled for September 2026, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The product's complexity could limit available volumes at launch, but Apple is aiming for a release around the same time as its non-foldable models, or slightly after. The report is careful to specify that the timeline is not definitive, with the release still about six months away.
This is a notable turnaround. Earlier this year, Gurman himself had indicated he expected the iPhone Fold to be released slightly after the iPhone 18 Pro, without ruling out September. The latest update confirms that Apple remains, for now, on track.
A Product Already Standing Out on Paper
Beyond the timeline, the device's expected features are already fueling comparisons with the competition. The iPhone Fold would integrate an approximately 7.8-inch internal display with an iPad-inspired interface when unfolded, and an approximately 5.5-inch external display, according to Bloomberg. Apple has reportedly resolved the display quality and durability issues that have long affected foldable smartphones, while significantly reducing the visibility of the crease.
On the software side, iOS 27 will be designed with specific features for the foldable format, including iPadOS-inspired split-screen multitasking, according to Mark Gurman in Bloomberg. This software-hardware pairing is one of Apple's traditional strengths and could represent a real competitive advantage against foldable Android devices.
Apple vs. Samsung: A Market to Conquer
The launch of the iPhone Fold represents a late but anticipated entry into a segment that Samsung has occupied since 2019. The global foldable smartphone market represented only 19.3 million units sold in 2024, according to IDC. Despite this still modest volume, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo anticipates between 3 and 5 million units shipped for the iPhone Fold upon its launch, with an estimated price between $2,000 and $2,500.
Facing Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8, the iPhone Fold would distinguish itself with its chip A20 Pro, a slightly larger inner screen (8.3 inches versus 8.0 inches for the Z Fold 8), and superior crease reduction technology. However, Samsung would retain an advantage with the S Pen stylus, which is still absent on Apple's side.
A Launch to Watch Closely
The situation remains fluid. Gurman himself recalls that six months is a sufficiently long period for the timeline to evolve one way or another. Apple has not officially communicated on the existence of the product, and all available information at this stage comes from sources close to the matter or supply chain leaks. For industry observers, the real question is no longer whether Apple will launch a foldable iPhone, but under what availability conditions and at what level of finish it will arrive on the market.
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