Apple’s latest patent filing relates to foldable display technology which, presumably, would be used on future, foldable iPhone models
Apple has yet to enter the foldable phone market, currently dominated by Samsung, OPPO, Honor, and Xiaomi. But with a reported 60+ million sales in 2023/24 (and growing), it is surely only a matter of time before it wades in with the oft-rumored foldable iPhone.
The First Foldable iPhone Would Be A Huge Deal, As Most New Apple Products Are
Now, a foldable iPhone would be huge. Pretty much anything Apple does – save for its Vision Pro headset – is a runaway success. People don’t even mind paying more for a similar product. This has been the most important component of Apple’s genius marketing and branding since the early 2000s.
And now it appears that Apple is actively developing screen technology for foldable iPhones. In a new patent, Apple’s take on foldable phone displays is detailing, giving us our first real look at how a foldable iPhone might work in practice. Here’s how it’d work, according to Apple’s patent:
“A foldable display may have a display cover layer and a flexible display panel. The foldable display may bend around a bend axis…The display cover layer may be formed from a layer of glass. A recess may be formed in the layer of glass that extends along the bend axis. The recess may form a flexible locally thinned portion in the layer of glass that allows the glass layer to bend around the bend axis. To ensure that the display cover layer exhibits satisfactory impact resistance during drop events corner portions of the display cover layer and other edge portions of the display cover layer may be provided with greater thickness relative to other portions of the display cover layer outside of the locally thinned portion.”
The Patent
When Could We Expect To See Apple’s Foldable iPhone Released?
Just because Apple has a patent for folding display tech does not mean it’ll ever see the light of day – and if it does, it could be years off. Apple has tens of thousands of patents to its name, and the vast majority of them have never seen the light of day inside a commercial project.
Nevertheless, plenty of people are starting to make bets on when Apple will release its first foldable iPhone.
A roadmap from Korean website SamsungPOP, shared on social media last May, suggests Apple could launch a foldable iPhone as soon as 2026. The purported device would feature a 6-inch external display and an 8-inch internal screen, following the book-style format popularized by Samsung’s Galaxy Fold series.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo presents a different timeline. Kuo, known for his often accurate predictions, anticipates Apple’s first foray into foldables will be a MacBook, not an iPhone. He forecasts a 20.3-inch or 18.8-inch foldable MacBook arriving in 2026, powered by a yet-to-be-announced M5 chip.
Meanwhile, in 2024 we’ll just have Apple’s updated iPhone 16 lineup of phones to look forward to.
If Apple Does Release A Foldable iPhone In The Future, It’d Likely Cost Around $2000 – Here’s Why…
Kuo’s report delves into the supply chain details, suggesting LG Display will be Apple’s exclusive partner for the foldable screen, with Amphenol developing the crucial hinge mechanism. The analyst estimates initial component costs at $600-$650 per display and $200-$250 per hinge, though these figures could decrease with improved manufacturing yields.
But the takeaway here, based on the component costs alone, is that Apple’s foldable would not be cheap – or perhaps even competitively priced. Not that anyone was expecting it to be, of course. Taking into account Apple’s focus on profit margin, even a conservative estimate would put the phone’s cost in and around the $2000 mark which is more expensive than everything else on the market right now.
The above estimate is a rough one, granted, based on the following factors:
- Display cost: $600-$650
- Hinge cost: $200-$250
- Additional Component Costs: $400
- Assembly, shipping, and other costs: Let’s estimate this at $100
- Apple’s typical profit margin: 30%
Would you pay $2000 for a foldable iPhone? I certainly wouldn’t but I bet a shed-load of current iPhone users would. And I think Apple knows this which is why a price in and around $2000, while exceptionally high for a phone, wouldn’t likely hurt Apple’s sales.
It knows better than anyone that its fanatical fanbase will pay more for the same, and that is why, should this foldable iPhone launch, it will – pretty much overnight – become the dominant force in the foldable phone market.
