Folding the iPhone is actually like assembling a "Phone".

Last week, the iPhone 17 series and the iPhone Air were officially released. ifanr has conducted detailed reviews of all models available for sale in the Chinese mainland.

In the review, we mentioned that Apple is a trinity of design, technological innovation, and supply chain management, while the Air is the one that prioritizes design but makes many trade - offs.

On the foldable iPhone, which is expected to be the star of next year's new product launch event, we may see an upgrade of this "design - first" concept:

According to the latest revelation from Mark Gurman, an Apple expert at Bloomberg, the foldable iPhone will give the impression of "two iPhone Airs side by side".

Foldable iPhone = Air × 2

We conducted a rough survey and found that among the readers who like the iPhone Air but haven't bought it, a considerable number of them want to wait and see the foldable iPhone next year.

According to Mark Gurman's description, consumers can expect the foldable iPhone to look like "two titanium iPhone Airs side by side", presenting an overall ultra - thin appearance. He also mentioned that the foldable iPhone will be an "achievement in design" for Apple.

Screenshot | Bloomberg

As for the price, compared with the version we reported before, there is no significant change. It will still be around $2000 - more expensive than the Pixel Fold ($1799).

Concept image, for reference only

As a straight - edged phone, the combination of the thickness, feel, and workmanship of the iPhone Air is praiseworthy. However, if two are put together, based on the current body data of the Air, the thickness doesn't seem ideal.

The overall thickness of the iPhone Air is 5.6 mm. Even if two are perfectly attached, the thickness will exceed 11 mm. Moreover, theoretically, there are screens on both sides, and space needs to be reserved for a possibly larger battery.

To be honest, even Apple, a giant in industrial design, hasn't really set the industry benchmark in terms of phone thickness control and battery capacity in recent years. Brands like Honor, OPPO, vivo, and Samsung have years of practical experience in large - fold phones. They broke through the 9 - mm thickness mark half a year ago and are expected to reach 8.5 mm in the first half of 2026.

As Apple's first foldable product, it's unlikely that the foldable iPhone will jump to the top level in terms of thickness in the industry even if it is released next year.

However, there is still good news: It is rumored that Samsung has developed a flexible curved OLED panel using the in - cell solution. Apple will be one of the first (or perhaps the first) phone brands to use this technology.

The in - cell refers to an integration solution that integrates the screen touch layer inside or below the pixel layer. Simply put, it can make the screen module thinner, make the crease on the flexible screen less obvious, allow for a more radical hinge mechanism, and further reduce the weight and thickness of the phone body.

This is the result of Apple's "financial power" on Samsung. Industry rumors suggest that this in - cell flexible OLED panel exclusively supplied by Samsung may be a new solution developed specifically for Apple, in addition to Samsung's self - used Y - OCTA solution.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 is expected to be released in July 2026, and the foldable iPhone is expected to be the biggest star at next year's September launch event. It will be the biggest mystery which model will be the first to use this revolutionary in - cell flexible OLED panel.

Other rumors about the foldable iPhone

Apple is expected to officially launch the foldable iPhone next year. In terms of screen size, previous rumors were close to Huawei's Pura X "wide - fold" solution, with an outer screen of 5.5 inches and an unfolded screen of 7.8 inches.

Regarding the cameras, sources say that the foldable iPhone will have front - facing cameras on both the inner and outer screens and two rear - facing cameras, totaling four cameras.

For the SIM card, the foldable iPhone is expected to make the same trade - off as the iPhone Air: fully adopt eSIM, equipped with Apple's self - developed C2 baseband (eSIM hardware) and N1 communication chip (Wi - Fi, Bluetooth, other radio frequency communication).

Due to the pursuit of thickness and the pressure of industrial design, the foldable iPhone will reuse the high - integration/small - size high - plateau motherboard design of the iPhone Air and may even optimize and upgrade it further. The motherboard of the iPhone Air is basically integrated below the "plateau" of the rear - camera module, leaving as much space as possible for the battery.

We mentioned in a previous review that the iPhone Air is a veritable "test field" for the foldable iPhone, and the high - plateau motherboard is an important step towards the foldable phone. The iPhone Air proves that the main components of an iPhone only need a space the size of the camera deco, and the rest can be left for components such as the battery, screen, hinge, and middle frame, making the foldable iPhone as light and thin as possible.

In terms of body industrial design, analyst Ming - Chi Kuo said that the foldable iPhone will use the same titanium middle frame as the iPhone Air, and the hinge part will use a composite material of stainless steel and titanium.

Image | iFixit

It's worth noting that Apple will spare no effort to reduce the size of components and relieve the pressure of industrial design. For the foldable iPhone, Apple is expected to make greater use of the titanium 3D printing process.

This technology has created an ultra - miniature/high - integration USB - C interface component on the iPhone Air. The teardown report from iFixit shows that 3D - printed titanium saves 33% of material usage.

To achieve lightness and thinness, the foldable iPhone may make a "break - with - tradition" decision: re - adopt the fingerprint unlocking solution, Touch ID. Considering the pursuit of thinness, there's no need for Apple to have a Dynamic Island on both the inner and outer screens. Therefore, we may see a side - fingerprint recognition button module similar to that on the iPad product line on the foldable iPhone.

We've already talked about the price. To maintain the profit - margin inertia, Apple will try to control the cost of the foldable iPhone.

Previously, UBS conducted an analyst survey and estimated that the BOM (bill of materials) cost of the foldable iPhone will be around $795 (equivalent to 5600 - 5700 yuan). This level far exceeds the BOM cost range of $400 - 500 for previous regular straight - edge iPhone models. Even so, this is based on the premise of controlling costs as much as possible (such as memory, camera module, etc.).

In terms of production planning, we reported that Apple entered the preliminary Prototype 1 (P1) stage of the foldable iPhone in June this year.

According to a report from Digitimes citing supply - chain sources, Apple's P1 stage usually lasts for two months, followed by the Prototype 2 (P2) and Prototype 3 (P3) stages. Based on past experience, this phone is expected to complete the main prototype testing stage by the end of this year and then enter the Engineering Validation Test (EVT) stage.

At that time, the EVT work will be taken over by Foxconn and Pegatron, the two main iPhone contract manufacturers. The main purpose of the EVT is to verify the production yield and manufacturability and prepare for mass production (MP).

Usually, the P1 to P3 stages occur about a year before mass production. Therefore, the industry estimates that if everything goes smoothly, this foldable iPhone will be launched in the second half of 2026.

To make way for the foldable iPhone, Apple is very likely to adjust the iPhone release plan next year:

The foldable iPhone will be launched in 2026 together with the iPhone 18 Pro series (and a new Air, if there is one). The standard version of the iPhone 18 will be postponed to the spring of 2027 and launched together with the iPhone 18e.

Coincidentally, as we expected in the review, the standard version of the iPhone 17, which is already on sale, has received a lot of Pro - level features and configurations. It is expected to become a long - lasting "workhorse" for users.

So, Apple may not really need to launch a new standard - version iPhone next year. It can indeed wait until the first half of 2027 to compete fiercely with domestic Android rivals in the mid - to - high - end market.

This article is from the WeChat official account "ifanr" (ID: ifanr). Author: Discovering tomorrow's products. Republished by 36Kr with permission.