What’s happened? The much-rumored iPhone Fold has been tipped to arrive next year, and now Wall Street firm JP Morgan has pitched in to add fuel to the foldable iPhone fire for 2026.
- According to reports (via CNBC), a JP Morgan analyst made the comment in a market research note to investors.
- The note said it expected a foldable iPhone to arrive alongside the iPhone 18 in September 2026.
- JP Morgan analyst, Samik Chatterjee, said Apple is expected to “launch its first foldable iPhone as part of the iPhone 18 lineup in September 2026, featuring a book-style fold similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series”.
- Chatterjee also noted the iPhone Fold could cost a princely $1,999.
This is important because: it adds further weight to reports suggesting we will finally see Apple dip its toe in the foldable waters next year.
- Foldable phones have been available for half a decade now, with Samsung having blazed the initial trail with its Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 2 handsets.
- Samsung is now the market leader and has recently launched the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7.
- Other’s have joined in the party, including Google, Motorola, OnePlus, Honor and Oppo all vying to develop the best folding phone.
Why should I care? Apple launching the iPhone Fold would be huge for the foldable market. While a number of Android manufacturers are pressing ahead with their foldable series, the form factor hasn’t exploded in popularity. Apple getting into the game could change that.
- Apple has a history of waiting and seeing how competitors fare with a new technology, how it’s received by the public, and what issues are faced along the way.
- With years of useful foldable information now available, Apple has a clear picture of what works, and what doesn’t – which could bode well for the first iPhone Fold.
- If you’ve been a devote iPhone and Apple user these past few years, you may have been enviously looking at the foldable handsets being developed elsewhere. The food good news is, you might not have too long to wait for your own taste of foldable life.
Okay, what’s next? Before we get too ahead of ourselves, Apple has some unfinished business in 2025 – with the iPhone 17 series expected to launch in September.
- The iPhone 17 series could usher in another new form factor for Apple, with reports pointing towards the introduction of the super-slim iPhone Air.
- And while Apple fans will excitedly be looking forward to the iPhone 18 launch in the second half of 2026, we can’t rule out the possibility of the iPhone 17e arriving within the first few months of the year.
- There’s also no guarantee Apple will launch a foldable phone. It hasn’t made any comments about one, so take these reports with a pinch of salt.
- If the iPhone Fold does arrive in September 2026, it’ll likely be facing even tougher competition as we’d expect Samsung to have launched the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8, and Google to have announced the Pixel 11 Pro Fold ahead of September.
