William Gallagher
A new supply chain report claims that Apple has at least significantly improved the crease problem that plagues folding displays, ahead of its expected iPhone Fold release.
While most reports still estimate that Apple will not launch a folding iPhone before 2027, it has recently been claimed that it is close to selecting a supplier for the display. Now ETNews backs up that report of a supplier being chosen imminently, but also says claims that the iPhone fold will have no or little crease.
To date, all folding screens ultimately develop creases. While a new folding phone might not display any crease initially, after repeated opening and closing, a clear crease develops.
Ultimately a glass screen is a deformable material, and the crease develops from fatigue failure. That's basically the same materiel failure as when you bend an aluminum can over and over, and it tears on its own.
It isn't certain whether Apple has managed to entirely remove the crease, or wrinkles, but one source claims that it has. "In order to differentiate itself from the existing foldable phone, Apple decided to eliminate wrinkles regardless of price," says the source, in translation. "I understand that wrinkles have disappeared with [the material's] new properties."
Said to be based on information from suppliers, this new report also claims that some production will begin in the second half of 2025. The report believes that Apple will release the iPhone fold a year later in the second half of 2026, presumably alongside the iPhone 18 range.
Despite Apple having seemingly not yet decided on the screen supplier, the report says that Samsung Display is expected to get the order. It says that Samsung Display has been developing folding iPhone screens since some time in 2024.
It's also said that the folding iPhone will utilize a hinge mechanism by US firm Amphenol. The company has previously contributed components for the MacBook Air.
ETNews does not have a great reputation for the accuracy of its information, nor of the conclusions it draws from them. Nonetheless, it is certain that Apple has at least been researching folding screens, as it was granted one of many patents on the technology in 2024.
There have also been rumors of an iPhone fold since at least 2019, when Samsung brought out its first folding device. Most recently, a dubious leak claimed to know that the iPhone would fold out to display a 7.74-inch screen.
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9 Comments
Given how technology is marching along in the folding world it's very probable these considerations will be resolved long before Apple releases a folding phone as they are already vastly improved with regards to previous generations.
I've only ever seen one seriously degraded folding screen in the last five years and it was a very battered flip phone of someone waiting at a bus stop.
I spend time in Barcelona every week. Less than I used to but, coinciding with the annual MWC, and the place is jammed solid with just about every kind of phone you can imagine. Folding phones are everywhere during that week.
The Honor V2 is rated for 400,000 folds without significant degradation of the fold. Now, the V3 is here and has been out for a while.
On crease visibility the new Oppo Find N5 has already made it virtually invisible.
"Now let’s talk about that crease. OPPO teased ahead of the launch that there was essentially no crease on the Find N5. It is very hard to find. While I’ve been using the phone, I’ve tried to look for the crease, and it’s almost impossible to see, unless the screen is off. Many have wondered how this will hold up after a year, but I don’t think it’ll change much, since the OnePlus Open I’ve used for 16 months looks virtually the same as day one."
https://www.androidheadlines.com/oppo-find-n5-ultimate-review
Folding screen technology is projected to make significant advances in the near future.
We now have a tri-fold option (Huawei Mate XT with two creases on the screen) and the last time I checked, it included a free screen replacement in the first year if anything went awry. That is the very top end with a retail price to match.
At the other end, where efforts are being made to bring prices down (the Pocket 3 from Huawei next month is expected to have an 'affordable' price), we could see less of an improvement as cost cutting would probably mean older screen technology.
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Sounds vague and unsubstantiated to me.
Unless Apple has found a way around the laws of physics, the crease and eventual cracking, will come.
I would be surprised if market research suggests there is a demand for folding phones. It makes sense for Apple to do some R&D into folding screens. But I don't see a market for them in phones for the foreseeable future. For TVs? HomePods? Maybe.
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While I'd enjoy having a larger iPhone screen some of the time, I love the portability of my current iPhone. Not sure I can have both (or at a price point that is affordable), but Apple has surprised me before (in both good and bad ways). I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with. :-)