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 been curious enough to ask me about it.
'Is Apple really making a foldable iPhone?' was the most common phone question I received during the holidays and the answer made me think. Apple doesn't need to make a foldable phone. Rumors about Apple's foldable phone are doing a good job of beating the competition.
Still, it seems very Apple complaint, right? By leaking rumors that it won't make a foldable phone that has a noticeable crease, Apple is directly calling attention to the biggest apparent flaw of all its competition.
I say “apparent” because it's only a defect if you've seen a foldable phone but never used it. The crease isn't an eyesore, but it's visible, so Apple can highlight the issue for its own fans, who will never realize it's not a problem for foldable device owners.
It's a little cool and a little mean. Apple is carried away by rumors that it would not deign to create a folding phone. Foldable phones have an inherent flaw, and by implication, Apple only creates flawless phones. You can win at the flip phone game by calling the stupid game, packing up your 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 looking for a material that is as strong as glass, but can be folded in half without revealing a crease. I don't see how this is possible (please send me this story on five years in which I am proven wrong!).
I think there will always be enough wrinkles in the glass to give Apple an excuse to never make a foldable phone. Then you can always let the rumors do the work of implying that the competition made a defective product with a wrinkle.
It makes more sense for Apple to skip foldable phones than to make a foldable one. Foldable phones are not very popular, especially in the United States, where Apple is more 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 that sells mini tablets.
You can buy an iPhone 17 ($799 in the US) and an iPad mini ($499 in the US) for just over 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 launch an iPhone Fold? I'm not sure that will ever happen. Apple has many other fantastic products already on the market, ready to mature into something even greater.
Apple Vision Pro is just the beginning of Apple laptops. We could see smaller glasses or even smart glasses before the iPhone Fold. Apple Watch gains more advanced health tracking and communication features with each generation. Even accessories like AirPods are gaining more robust features with each generation, including live translation and health tracking, making them much more than the simple earbuds they originated from.
I'm losing hope of getting an iPhone Fold and I attribute the rumors to the competition. The iPhone Fold is a red herring: it is a distraction that is 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.
