Apple Develops a Foldable Clamshell iPhone
Apple is building prototypes of at least two iPhones that fold widthwise like a clamshell, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. If Apple ends up launching a foldable iPhone, it would be one of the biggest hardware design changes in the product’s history.
Foldable phones can be smaller and more portable than typical smartphones and take photos without the help of a stand when they are unfolded at a 90-degree angle. Such phones have become more common after Samsung Electronics released the Galaxy Fold in 2019. Motorola, Google and a number of Chinese brands have since released their own foldable devices, but they are relatively niche because of their high retail cost and fragility compared to traditional smartphones.
The Takeaway
• Apple is building prototypes of two foldable iPhones
• Engineers have struggled with display durability and crease
• Apple discussed first releasing a foldable iPad
The foldable iPhones are in early development and aren't on the company’s mass production plans for 2024 or 2025, the person said. Apple recently approached at least one manufacturer in Asia for components related to two foldable iPhones of different sizes, they said. The products could be canceled if they don’t meet Apple’s standards, they said.
An Apple spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Apple has explored foldable products for more than a decade but its leaders’ interest in them has fluctuated, according to interviews with multiple former Apple employees and a review of its patent filings. Apple CEO Tim Cook began asking the company’s designers and engineers about the possibility of a foldable iPhone as early as 2018. Also that year, he reacted positively to a demonstration by Apple’s designers and engineers of a 7-inch foldable display, that person said.
Two problems may stand in the way of a foldable iPhone. Apple’s engineers have struggled for years to overcome the technical challenges of building such a device, and its designers haven’t come up with enough compelling features that would make consumers want one, especially given its high retail cost compared to non-foldable phones, according to three people with direct knowledge of the effort.
Former Apple employees said Apple’s first foldable product would likely be the iPad, a lower-profile device that would test consumer appetite for a foldable iPhone. Apple has been working with South Korea’s LG and Samsung, both of which have been involved for several years in making foldable displays for the foldable iPad prototypes, they said. Some details of a foldable iPad were first reported by Chinese, Taiwanese and South Korean media.
Apple’s industrial design team has wanted to develop a foldable iPhone whose displays face the outside when the phone is shut, the person said. However, Apple hardware engineers struggled with the design because the devices are prone to breaking when dropped, they said. The industrial design team also wanted a foldable iPhone that was half as thin as current iPhone models so it wouldn’t be too thick when shut. But limitations on battery sizes and display components made it difficult for hardware engineers to meet these requirements, they said
Apple paused its work on foldable iPhones around 2020 and turned its attention to an inward folding iPad similar to the size of an iPad Mini. Such a device, with a roughly 8-inch screen, could be thicker than a foldable iPhone because people wouldn’t carry it in their pockets, and wouldn’t need to pass the stringent drop tests required of the iPhone, said a former Apple employee. Engineers working on the foldable iPad are trying to eliminate the crease in the middle of the display that forms after repeated folds, and they want to design a hinge that will allow the display to lie completely flat as opposed to having a small bump or dip in the middle. Those issues would make it difficult for the iPad owners to use an Apple Pencil.
Foldable phones haven’t exactly been hot sellers, partly because they cost significantly more than traditional phones. Owners of foldable devices from Samsung, Motorola, Google and others have complained that some of the screens and hinges can break or become deformed over time. Samsung has improved the quality of its foldable devices over time, according to display analysts. Google last year also faced similar complaints over broken screens in its first foldable phone, the Pixel Fold. It slashed the price by more than 20% to $1,400 less than six months after its release in June.
Apple has repeatedly shown the ability to succeed where others have failed, however. Last week it launched a mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, after spending nearly a decade trying to solve issues related to the lag between a user’s movements and what they see on their screen, along with fitting its advanced components into a small form factor. Such features had tripped up other companies in the past.