Seamless hinges for the iPhone Fold may be copied by rivals, and by Apple itself for an iPad Fold.

A new rumor claims that a version of Apple's method of making a seamless hinge for the iPhone Fold will be replicated by others, suggesting that it works the best.

The idea seems to be that Apple will effectively train Chinese manufacturers on how to make the perfect hinge, and then may use the idea itself for an iPad Fold. Although most recent rumors have claimed that Apple has postponed working on a folding iPad, or may never release one, and opinions are divided over whether that's a shame or not.

Now in an especially brief and easy-to-mistranslate posting on China's Weibo social media site, leaker Digital Chat Station says that Apple is leading the way with its seamless hinge solution. It appears to say that this, or a non-patented equivalent, will be adopted by rival smartphone manufacturers.

Depending on the machine translation used, it is possible that this same posting is actually claiming that the iPad Fold will have this hinge. If there ever is an iPad Fold, that would appear to be obvious, though, since there are clear cost benefits to having one design.

However, whichever translation is the more accurate, they both center on the hinge and that doesn't yet appear to be this perfect solution. Most recent reports concerning the iPhone Fold are that it is failing its manufacturing tests, because of the hinge.

Details are very sketchy, but it appears that the hinge fails in some way after repeated opening and closing. There is no indication of how many repetitions cause whatever the problem is.

However, it's a key issue that is at least causing a delay, and could conceivably require a redesign.

With the iPhone Fold, sources disagree over whether the issue will mean Apple delays a launch into 2027 or not. But if an iPad Fold is coming at all, it is believed to be some years away, so this issue is unlikely to have the same impact.

Note that while Digital Chat Station is a serial leaker, he or she is not one with a great track record. One recent leak was the claim that the folding iPhone would be called the iPhone Ultra.