Apple's first foldable iPhone now tipped for 2026

Apple might have only had the iPhone 15 series of handsets on sale for a few months and rumors are already circulating in relation to the upcoming iPhone 16 models, but there are tons of people who are more interested in what the iPhone might be like if and when Apple finally folds it in half. The foldable iPhone has been rumored for years, and with competing companies like Google and Samsung already in the market, it's surely only a matter of time before a bendy iPhone arrives. but when?

That's the question a new report by the Korean website Alpha Economy aims to answer with all eyes turning to a future release that isn't actually all that far off - at least not in the grand scheme of things.

That report suggests that Apple has decided that September 2026 will be the release window for its first foldable iPhone, and it's given the team working on making that happen a boost by a significant number of employees from the Apple Vision Pro team onto that project. The Apple Vision Pro has now shipped which means that it doesn't require quite as much work whereas the foldable phone project is very much in the middle of a key period.

Quite what the foldable iPhone will look like or how big it will be is still up for debate however. Rumors have suggested that the device could be more of a foldable iPad mini than anything else, while there have long been claims of a 20-inch foldable laptop being in development as well.