Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that claims the forthcoming iPhone Fold will use under-screen Touch ID are wrong.
The necessary thinness of the iPhone Fold has already made it seem unlikely that it will include Face ID, though Ming-Chi Kuo does not go so far as to say it cannot happen. He now, though, doubles down on saying that the iPhone Fold will not have under-screen Touch ID.
Specifically, Kuo writes in his blog that Touch ID will be used on the iPhone through the side button. Apple introduced this side-button Touch ID in 2020 on the iPad Air 4, at the time calling it an "incredible feat of engineering."
Face ID is not expected — although Kuo says only that it may not appear — specifically because of the space requirements for the technology. Touch ID under the display has definitely been investigated by Apple, which has even been awarded a patent on the technology.
Yet that patent concerned both Touch ID and Face ID, so conceivably the major constraint for either is the size of the components required. However, even if Apple has solved how to register touch, or face, through a display, it may yet be that the technology is too expensive for mass production.
Speaking of manufacturing, Kuo has also reiterated his previous claims concerning timescales and projected sales volumes. He says that the final design will have been completed by the end of Q2 2025, and production slated for the end of 2026.
Kuo presumably expects the iPhone Fold to launch alongside the iPhone 18 range. He predicts sales of 3 million to 5 million of the iPhone Fold during 2026, rising to a potential 20 million in 2027.
That figure, though, also includes sales of a second-generation iPhone Fold, which Kuo seemingly predicts will be released alongside the iPhone 19 range.
Kuo is once again providing a great deal of specific detail — he also reiterates his previous claims of the iPhone Fold being between 9mm and 9.5mm in thickness, and between 4.5mm and 4.8mm when opened.
But Kuo's reports now always vary between information from his supply chain sources, to his presumptions based on his previous experience with Apple. Once more, he has failed to say which this report is.
Nonetheless, he has previously proven to be one of the more accurate Apple leakers. Although he has did first claim that the iPhone Fold would be released in 2024 — and feature under-screen Touch ID.
