The world's still trying out the iPhone 16 series for the first time, but somewhere within the bowels of Apple's R&D department, there are actual iPhone Flip samples that are being tested.
This nugget of intel comes from Bloomberg chief correspondent and Apple expert Mark Gurman. When responding to an X discussion about Apple ignoring foldables, he claimed that, while Apple has "largely ignored" foldable phones so far, it does have "prototypes with creases they rightfully don't want."
Display creases are a universal problem for foldable phones, so it's not a surprise to hear Apple's dealing with them too. But even if these test devices still have obvious creases, it's interesting to hear Apple is at least working on them, rather than just filing patent after patent as we've seen over the past several years.
Another area Apple has largely ignored. They have prototypes with creases they rightfully don’t want. Foldables are microscopic part of market & the iPhone clearly still is the overall leader. But it’s rare for Apple to bet against or fall behind in so many emerging areas. https://t.co/vNMdi9mzHUSeptember 29, 2024
As Gurman notes, foldables are a small part of the smartphone market. Even if they are given great prominence by manufacturers as the pinnacle of their design talents, standard smartphones, including iPhones, outsell them by a huge margin. This seems to be why Apple's still not released a foldable device, despite rivals like Samsung being on the sixth iteration of its foldables with the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Even though it'll be so late to the party most guests will have assumed it wasn't turning up, Gurman has high hopes for Apple's eventual foldable phone. "I believe in the form factor and a foldable iPhone at Apple expected standards would be the best Apple device to date and change the game," he writes in a follow-up post. And assuming Apple can successfully learn from the best foldables around today, like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Motorola Razr Plus or Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, its first foldable could well be revolutionary, if it ever actually launches.
Other rumors suggest the iPhone Flip could get a a possible 2027 launch, so Apple still has a little time to iron out the crease in the display and any other bugs before it starts building devices. Apple is even tipped to produce other foldable devices before making a folding iPhone, like an huge iPad/MacBook hybrid. However, Gurman does not mention anything to about prototypes for that device in his posts, so perhaps that one's not quite as developed yet.
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