The iPhone Flip is no more, a leaker oddly declares, despite all other reports saying it's still under development within Apple.

Apple's current foldable smartphone plans center around the book-style iPhone Fold. However, while there have been rumors about a second device, referred to as the iPhone Flip, one leaker claims it's an option that's no longer a possibility for the company.

Posting to Weibo on Tuesday, leaker Instant Digital says that Apple abandoned the Flip model. Based on the automated translation of the social post, Apple employees think it is an "unnecessary" design.

The iPhone Flip doesn't have any marketable reason for it to be used, they continue. There's also the problem of its biggest selling point working against it, in the leaker's view.

"Thin" and problematic

The logic behind the Flip is that, while Apple could make it a thin design in general, it immediately becomes thicker when folded up. For a device that apparently will be foldable enough to fit into the pocket of tight jeans, it's an issue.

To get it so small, it would have to be unreasonably thin, which affects the internal space available for components. Add in that it's a small iPhone-like space that is divided in two by a hinge, and it becomes even harder to fit everything in.

Apple's intention to make smaller devices would be better served by streamlining the current "straight" models, namely making current iPhone-style devices much thinner.

A questionable rumor

Instant Digital has a very mixed track record when it comes to Apple leaks. While the account sometimes offers accurate details, such as Camera Control on the iPhone 16, it also posts about claims that lack supportive reporting or evidence, and are later found to be completely incorrect.

Working against Instant Digital here are the number of other reports that insist the iPhone Flip is still on the way.

For a start, there's a patent going back to 2016 that shows a device approximating what an iPhone Flip would look like in diagrams. Other patent filings for foldable devices have since been made public, with a mix of book-style and flip-phone designs.

While Apple is a prolific patent filer, and not everything makes it to market, its work in the field makes it hard to doubt such a model being in development.

In October 2025, another prominent leaker with a better track record said that flip-style foldable iPhones were due in 2028, as part of a longer-term trial of different form factors.

More recent claims were made by the quite reliable Mark Gurman in February, with labs still looking at a clamshell-like iPhone. The iPhone Flip was said to stand more chance of becoming a reality if the iPhone Fold proved to be popular when it eventually ships.

There's also the issue with the claim that the small amount of space divided by the hinge is putting Apple off. That's doubtful for a couple of reasons.

First, Apple isn't one to shy away from an engineering challenge. Cramming electronics into impossibly small spaces is the company's bread and butter, so this is the sort of thing it willingly will work on.

There's also the existence of Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip series of smartphones. If Samsung is capable of releasing multiple generations of this sort of device, that proves to Apple that it is not just possible to produce, but that there's a market for it too.