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Apple Insider Unveils Folding iPhone Release Schedule
Industry insider Jeff Pu suggests a late 2026 release date for Apple's foldable iPhone, citing increased visibility in the supply chain for folding technology. Before the foldable iPhone, Apple may introduce a hybrid MacBook/iPad with a 20-inch screen that folds into a 13-inch laptop-style device, expected by late 2025. Apple aims to unify iPadOS and macOS, potentially allowing seamless operation on a hybrid tablet/laptop device, with insights from the hybrid's development influencing the foldable iPhone's design, slated for late 2026.
As Samsung prepares to debut the Galaxy Z Fold 6, many are wondering when Apple will join the folding smartphone frenzy. Now, an industry insider has proposed a date.
Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities has provided information on the anticipated iPhone release date, citing "increased visibility" in the supply chain that would provide Apple with the folding technology. This would date the mass production of a foldable iPhone until late 2026.
Before that, Pu believes Apple's foldable revolution will begin with a larger model, specifically a hybrid MacBook and iPad. This would include a 20-inch screen that would function as a standalone tablet before folding into a laptop-style device equivalent to a 13-inch laptop.
Apple is working to bring iPadOS and macOS closer together so that software can operate on any platform without increasing developer workload. By late 2025, the two operating systems will have undergone two further generations, perhaps allowing a hybrid tablet/laptop device to run contentedly in one mode or the other.
The lessons learnt during the bigger hardware development process, the software required for the revolutionary moment, and feedback from developers and users will all contribute to the next iPhone, with Pu predicting a late 2026 release date that corresponds to the iPhone 18 family.
Apple has usually been late to the party when it comes to new developments in mobile technology, allowing other laptop and Android smartphone manufacturers to establish the basis for folding displays. With the release of Samsung's Galaxy Fold in 2019, Pu's timeline would see a folding iPhone seven years after the first major consumer smartphone to use the technology.
This should be viewed as a rapid and aggressive timeframe for both the tablet/laptop hybrid and the eventual iPhone. However, the extended lead times required for the resources to build the volume of sophisticated screens that Apple would want before a launch may appear this early.
Industry insider Jeff Pu suggests a late 2026 release date for Apple's foldable iPhone, citing increased visibility in the supply chain for folding technology.
Before the foldable iPhone, Apple may introduce a hybrid MacBook/iPad with a 20-inch screen that folds into a 13-inch laptop-style device, expected by late 2025.
Apple aims to unify iPadOS and macOS, potentially allowing seamless operation on a hybrid tablet/laptop device, with insights from the hybrid's development influencing the foldable iPhone's design, slated for late 2026.
Source: FORBES