For years, the foldable iPhone has felt like one of those products that Apple was always working on, but never quite ready to show us.
Now, just one day before Apple is expected to finally unveil it, Mark Gurman has revealed just how long that journey has actually been …
An iPhone, a decade in the making.
According to Gurman’s latest reporting, Apple’s hardware teams were researching foldable displays, hinges and related technology well before Samsung helped turn the category into a mainstream conversation with the Galaxy Fold in 2019.
But the project apparently changed direction in a significant way around 2020.
Tim Cook returned from a trip to Asia having seen foldable phones becoming increasingly common in the region. He came away convinced that Apple needed to be part of the category — and pushed the project forward.
That is particularly interesting because Apple’s foldable project wasn’t always an iPhone.
One of the earliest concepts was reportedly closer to an iPad mini that could fold out into a larger tablet.
Eventually, Apple decided that the more compelling opportunity was a foldable iPhone.
And now, after years of prototypes, engineering challenges and design debates, we’re apparently less than 24 hours away from seeing the result.
This isn’t just another iPhone
Gurman describes the foldable as potentially the biggest single design change in the nearly 20-year history of the iPhone.
That feels significant.
Apple has changed the iPhone dramatically over the years — from the original 3.5-inch display, to Retina, to larger screens, Face ID, Dynamic Island and the removal of the Home button.
But the fundamental idea has remained the same.
It’s still a rectangular slab that you carry around in your pocket.
The foldable changes that.
Apple is reportedly working towards a roughly 7.8-inch internal display and a much smaller 5.5-inch outer display, with the folded device designed to be around the size of a passport.
Unfold it, and the proportions apparently resemble an Apple Magic Trackpad.
That’s a very different iPhone.
And perhaps more importantly, it’s a very different way of using one.
Apple has spent years solving the annoying stuff
The most interesting part of Gurman’s reporting isn’t necessarily the screen size or even the price.
It’s the engineering.
Apple reportedly spent years tackling four major problems: the crease, the hinge, flexible cover glass and fitting camera components into the device without sacrificing too much of the display.
with a creaseless hinge – Tom’s Guide / Future
The result is said to be a titanium-and-aluminium hinge system paired with custom cover glass developed with Corning.
Apple’s goal isn’t simply to make a phone that folds.
It’s to make a foldable that feels like an Apple product.
That’s an important distinction.
The company has had the opportunity to watch Samsung, Google and other manufacturers spend years figuring out what works — and what doesn’t.
Apple’s advantage may be that it has been able to wait.
And then there’s the price
This is where things get particularly interesting.
The foldable was reportedly once targeted at $1,999, deliberately staying just below the psychological $2,000 barrier.
More recently, Apple has apparently discussed pricing it as high as $2,199, with higher-storage versions potentially approaching $3,000.
That’s an extraordinary amount of money for an iPhone.
But it’s also worth remembering that Apple has spent years moving the iPhone further into the premium market. The company’s Pro models can already approach $2,000 with higher storage configurations.
The foldable simply takes that strategy to its logical extreme.
Apple isn’t trying to make the cheapest foldable.
It’s trying to make the foldable iPhone.
The timing couldn’t be more interesting
And then there’s John Ternus.
Tomorrow’s unveiling won’t just introduce Apple’s first foldable iPhone. It will also effectively introduce Ternus as the person now responsible for Apple’s next generation of products.
Gurman’s reporting suggests the foldable has become a particularly important showcase for him.
That’s fitting.
Ternus spent years overseeing Apple’s hardware engineering organisation. Now, just days into his tenure as CEO, he is apparently about to stand on stage and unveil one of the most complicated pieces of hardware Apple has ever produced.
Tim Cook helped push the project forward.
Dan Riccio oversaw much of its early development.
Ternus helped push it over the finish line.
And tomorrow, we’ll finally see what all those years of work produced.
Ten years for this moment
Perhaps that’s the most fascinating thing about the story.
We’ve spent years talking about Apple’s foldable as if it were something that might happen eventually.
Now we know that Apple wasn’t simply waiting around to see whether foldables would become popular.
It was working on the technology long before we knew exactly what the finished product would look like.
The company reportedly considered an iPad-like concept, wrestled with hinges and creases, redesigned its approach, changed the proportions and spent years waiting for the technology to reach the point where it could meet Apple’s exacting high standards.
Tomorrow, all of that disappears behind a black curtain and an Apple logo.
After a decade of waiting, the question isn’t really: “Will Apple make a foldable iPhone?” anymore.
It’s: “Was Apple’s decade-long wait worth it? “
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