Rumors of a folding Apple smartphone have circulated for years, but will those actually come to fruition in 2022 with an iPhone 14 Fold? It wasn't that long ago when folding phones were nothing but a tech geek's fantasy. There were reports and leaks of various companies working on folding phones, but year after year, nothing ever came of them.
Then Samsung announced the Galaxy Fold in March 2019. Since then, foldables have only become more and more popular with each year that passes. Samsung's on its third generation of the Z Fold and Z Flip, Motorola's released two foldable Razr handsets, and companies like Huawei and Oppo have launched foldables outside of the U.S. Noticeably absent from the folding race, however, is Apple.
Given the constant growth of folding smartphones and rumors of a folding iPhone, is Apple planning to release an iPhone 14 Fold later this year? Unfortunately, all signs point to no. The latest rumors indicate there will be four iPhone 14 models — including the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Max, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. There's no expectation that we'll also get an iPhone 14 Fold alongside them, meaning a folding smartphone from Apple is highly unlikely in 2022.
A Folding iPhone Is Coming, Just Not In 2022
But it's not all bad news. Although we don't anticipate an iPhone 14 Fold, it's widely believed that a folding iPhone is coming at a later date. Some reports claim that a folding iPhone could launch as early as 2023. Other sources say not to expect an iPhone Fold until 2024 or 2025. Those different dates are all coming from reliable sources, so it's difficult to say when exactly Apple will launch a folding iPhone.
What's even less clear is what the folding iPhone will look like. The most likely outcome is that Apple's folding phone has a similar form factor to the Galaxy Z Fold — meaning there will be a small outer display that opens up to reveal a larger 'tablet' display. Apple's also reportedly creating an 'iPhone Flip' that'll look more like a Galaxy Z Flip. It's likely that both form factors will be available at some point, but it's unclear which version will launch first.
As you can see, there's more that we don't know about the iPhone Fold than what we do know. Apple's almost certainly creating a folding iPhone and should release it within the next couple of years. But what it'll look like, what specs it'll have, or how much it'll cost all remain mysteries. We know for sure that an iPhone 14 Fold probably isn't happening, but when Apple gets to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17, that's when things could get exciting.
Source: Ming-Chi Kuo