Apple’s approach has reportedly inspired Samsung to start developing the rumored Galaxy Z Fold Wide, but another company will be the first to launch a wide foldable. Later this month, Huawei is launching the Pura X Max in China, which will be the first real test of the design.
However, some people are already painting a bright future for the iPhone Fold because of the success of the original Pura X. A recent report claimed that Huawei’s device is leading the foldable market in China, which is considered a confirmation that wide foldables are destined to succeed.
As tempting as those claims may sound, I don’t think they’re necessarily true. Apple will need more than a new shape to evade a repeat of the iPhone Air, iPhone 16 Plus, and iPhone 13 mini flops.
Apples and oranges
As much as many Huawei fans like to say that Apple will copy the Pura X with the iPhone Fold, I doubt that’s the case. Huawei’s device does have a wide screen, but it’s also a flip phone, not a book style foldable.
Unlike Apple’s rumored design with a sizable external screen and even larger internal display, the Pura X features a rather limited 3.5-inch cover screen. While it can run a full-fledged browser and some first-party apps, that display is not meant to replace the whole smartphone experience.
When unfolded, the Pura X defaults to vertical mode on its 6.3-inch display, just like other flip foldables. Yeah, that display has a 16:10 aspect ratio, but that makes this flip phone unusual, it doesn’t turn it into a book-style foldable.
Even if Apple were inspired by the Pura X, which I doubt, the iPhone Fold will certainly feel very different in daily life. Similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will try to serve as a normal, fully operational slab phone when closed. That’s something the Pura X doesn’t even try.
Success is far from guaranteed
One of the important factors for the success of the Pura X, according to the report, is the well-adapted software and excellent user experience. That includes not only Huawei’s in-house Harmony OS but also “tens of millions of developers” who make their apps compatible with both displays of the device.
While the external display of the iPhone Fold shouldn’t be very different from any other iPhone, developers will still need to adapt their apps for the internal screen. More importantly, Apple will need to adapt iOS 27 to work with the new device without repeating the disastrous launch of iOS 26.
Even if Apple pulls that off, I’m not convinced that the user experience will be excellent enough to make me feel good about spending $2,000 or more on the iPhone Fold. As novel as the renders make it look, I think the phone will feel awkward to use with one hand, and the short external display doesn’t feel convincing.
None of those issues would be a dealbreaker on its own, but they add up to the doubt about Apple’s success. Adding the years of failed concepts to the mix makes the hype even less justified.
We’re still talking about Apple
There’s one way the Pura X is certainly similar to the iPhone Fold. Like Apple in the global market, Huawei has serious clout in China, making its devices more desirable because of the brand.
Just because of the logo on its back, the foldable iPhone will attract a lot of attention, and it’s likely to outsell most of its competitors. Whether that translates into a long-term success depends solely on Apple’s ability to make the phone superb and keep its price low enough to attract people who are not hardcore fans of the company.
Still, I won’t be surprised if the iPhone Fold were to follow the iPhone Air and stay a niche product with little future.
