Is the foldable iPhone a myth, or is Apple actually finally getting ready to release the phone that so many iPhone users have wanted for years? Funnily enough, it is Samsung — Apple’s largest smartphone rival in the United States — that seems to have confirmed the existence of the foldable iPhone.
President of Samsung Display, Lee Cheong, met with reporters a few days back, and let slip that the company was manufacturing OLED panels for a North American client. That North American client is almost assuredly Apple, and those panels are being made for next year’s foldable iPhone.
Yes, according to a myriad of leaks and reports from various sources across the industry, the foldable iPhone will launch next year alongside the iPhone 18. Apple apparently has a new marketing tactic in store for its foldable: it will be marketed as the top-end model to get, above the iPhone 18 Pro Max. The foldable iPhone, if this is true, will not be treated as a separate category.
Samsung does the opposite, which is why the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will be coming out months in advance of Apple’s first foldable phone, though long after the Galaxy S26. Also, according to leaked foldable iPhone specs, Apple’s foldable will probably not even be as good as this year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, let alone next year’s Galaxy Fold.
That’s not a big surprise, though, as the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is one of the best phones that we’ve seen in years. In fact, our Galaxy Z Fold 7 review literally dubbed the phone a winner, a title that it will carry with it into the next year and beyond.
Lee Cheong’s statement finally puts to rest the question of whether Apple is actually planning on releasing the foldable iPhone in 2026. While many reports already alleged that, there were still some skeptic who wondered if the phone would be delayed.
Apple took so long to enter the foldable market because it wanted to make the perfect foldable: a phone that has a completely invisible display crease. If reports from within the supply chain are to be believed, however, Apple has had to give up on that ambition for now.
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